Roofing Felt 1930's Semi.

[rjb5]

I am considering buying a 1930's semi. I am planning that in about two years time I will convert the loft into a master bedroom.

Going over the property today. I noticed there is no roofing felt, just tiles which seem in OK order. Considering I am not converting for two / three years. What potential problems is the lack of felt going to cause me until I convert loft.

When eventually converting the loft does this mean the whole roof will need felting / re-roofing etc for regs / insulation / sound rather than the rear where the dormer will go.

Sorry for being a bit ignorant, just trying to factor upfront any additional costs into offering price if I proceed with this property.

Many Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Felt is only there as a back-up in case a tile slips or falls off etc and can help reduce leaks during periods of snowy weather (or so the roofers on the Forum say anyway). Many many roofs have no felt and function perfectly well.

Once you install insulation and plasterboard beneath a roof there is no obvious way of telling a tile has failed/slipped etc and the first you will know about it (unless it falls on your head or you spot it one day looking at the roof from outside that is) is a leaky patch on the plasterboard (and lets not forget here that even without a loft conversion, that unless you stick your head through the loft hatch every few days the first you'd know is a damp patch on the first floor ceiling anyway).

As the only way to install a layer of felt (or a breathable membrane nowadays is preferable) is to completely strip the roof and re-tile the cost of re-tiling has to be weighed up against the chances of a failure occurring and the resultant cost. In essence its a bit of a gamble. Re-tiling for peace of mind is arguably going to be a lot more expensive than fixing a leak that may (or may not of course) occur sometime in the future. Building Control would obviously prefer you to add an underlay but (in my experience) will not insist upon it as a re-tile will obviously add an additional couple of grand or so to the total cost.

Ultimately the choice is yours, some on here would say re-felt, others would say not to bother. I've done the drawings for a fair few loft conversions where the existing roof had no felt, all the clients up to now have not bothered re-felting.