Roof And Attic

Photographs of findings in the roof and attic during home inspections.

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another soffit vent
attic vent
First, your attic needs air flowing through it to prevent problems with moisture and heat. Here are two types of soffit vents and one gable vent. Gable end vents act both as an intake and an egress for air; they also happen to be a great access point for birds, bats, and rodents. Looking for chew marks on the soffit vent on the left for evidence of rodents.

attic vent 2

The air has to have a means to escape, so vents like these are installed. These two types do not use any power, which I like since they save on energy, and they are easier to repair. The one on the left relies on wind to propel the fins to help create air flow, called a whirlygig style vent. The most common
problems that I have seen with them is either rust causing it not to turn or damage to the unit which dents it preventing rotation. Still since it is placed near the top of the roof, the hot air will continue to rise through it. The picture on the right is a ridge vent. You can see that there is a thick shadow line under the shingles at the top of the roof (the ridge). A plastic piece with many vent holes is placed over a gap of the sheathing for the roof. The hot air rises through it.

tree brushing up against a roof
trash in gutter
The most common problem on the roof has to do with debris. In the photo on the right, the tree branches are rubbing against the shingles causing damage, but the leaves help keep moisture and insects on
those shingles to help further damage. I have found so many different things in gutters that I have stopped wondering how they get there. This gutter was so full that it no longer functioned. Having a way to move water away from the building is important, so clean gutter are vital.

damage behind the gutter
If you do not clean them, this can happen. Water spilled down the back of the gutter, causing the wood of the fascia to rot out.

pipe not properly attached
Here is the vent pipe for a water heater. You can see this by the fact that it sits higher from the roof, and has its own spark arrester. Most other tubes coming through the roof are from vents for the plumbing system, and they can sit lower to the home. In the case of this vent, the foundation work on the home lifted the pipes, so now it is not sitting properly on the roof.

exposed nails in shingles
flashing under window
The next most common problem on a roof has to do with nails. On the left, the homeowner resolved a leak by nailing into the shingles. On the right, nail heads holding flashing in place are starting to rust. When these nails rust, they allow water to seep into the building. The solution is to caulk the heads with roofing caulk.

exposed bolts in shingles
This was on the roof of the house next door to the one that I was on, and this may be hard to see in the picture, but this is a common problem with dish installations. Bolts are used to hold the support frame on
to the roof, and they are not caulked. These can also leak water into the home like nails. On another home I saw the cable running down the roof to the interior, and its nails should have been caulked too.

attic structure 2
Going into the attic, you will want to check for insulation. The homeowner discovered that there was no insulation in much of the attic (just around the entrance), so he put these batts of insulation up there.
If you notice, they have a plastic sheathing which makes them easier to work with. On the left, you can see some white/grey staining on one of the beams. This is where you can see past leaks, but if the sheathing does not have a stain, then you are probably looking at an older stain that has been repaired. On the right, you can see some
cables coming down from the ridge holding the duct work for the air conditioning system. Ducts should not rest on the insulation, and they should allow air to flow freely to the vents in the rooms.

crack in stud
Not all cracks are severe, but they do indicate that this stud has been under a great deal of stress. Other studs were put in place near this one to relieve it.

a bent stud under weight
From the same house as the previous photo, the weight of the roof caused this stud to bend.

improper bracing
The homeowner created his own bracing methods in this house to deal with the roof. This brace will not suffice.

Here a contractor added a large beam to the attic structure over the attic entrance. I used my gymnastic skills to enter this space. I am not sure about the thinking behind this addition. The attic had space for extra rooms, but there also appeared to be a problem with the support for the roof. My concern is was this the proper way to deal with this situation. When faced with the need of new roof support and adding several rooms in an attic, you may want to consult with a structural engineer. The weight from the new framing can cause other issues in the home.

This is a picture from the same home as above. The darker brown wood is the original framing. You are looking up at the framing under the roof. Rafters run under this sheathing then there is a brace attaching the rafters from the rear and front roof. The lighter brown beams running right to left in the photo have been added to provide more support to the rafters. Again, this may be too much. On interior and exterior walls of the home, I noticed cracks happening near these supports.

This is a roof truss. We often see framing for an attic which involves joists, rafter, and purlins. A roof truss is engineered to distribute the weight along its length to the wall framing. A roof truss can create more space below. What is the problem with this truss? It has been sitting out in the rain and sun long that it is quite weathered. The integrity of the truss may be compromised.

Insulation against the sheathing causes problems with moisture and ventilation. There should be a one inch air space, which can be achieved with a baffle.

I am not sure why some people do not notice this problem. There was a spot on the roof where there were no shingles or underlayment. In the attic, I could see the light coming through a gap in the sheathing. The Realtor did not understand this to be a problem. Homeowners sometimes fail to understand that light through the sheathing means that there is a problem.

Workspace can be a problem in attics. You need enough room to work; sufficient light; and a path to move to the equipment. In this case the builder added a room in the attic, which left no space for this unit. You have to work on it with the door open. The evaporator coil is behind the wall.

Unless stated that the fixture is designed to have insulation on it, recessed lighting should not have insulation over it or within three inches. In this case, the insulation was pulled back so far that an energy efficiency issue was created.

During remodels roof framing can become an issue. These boards going between the rafters were for the old wood shingle. The sheathing has been placed over these boards for composite shingles. This is not necessarily bad, but in this home, the new addition roof is framed by nailing into the sheathing and these old nailers for the wood shingles, instead of the original rafters.

Many new home designs have attics at multiple levels. Sometimes there will be access to these lower level attics, but in this case there was none. This photograph is to demonstrate that when inspecting, you have to go all over a space. Looking down to this attic, I find that there is no blown insulation. The builder states that there is a rolled batt insulation. That is hard to determine from this angle, but if there are insulation batts, they do not cover the framing, which will allow for thermal bridging (heat transferring from the attic to the room below through the framing).

One school of thought has the idea that the attic space should be inside the building envelope. This means that the insulation should be under the roof sheathing. In the photograph, we see insulation installed under the roof sheathing by the use of chicken wire and hangers (the hanger ha a plate on the end to help hold everything in place, which can be seen in the top left of the photo). This method creates the air space by letting the batt insulation hang well below the sheathing (six inches for this home). This allows air flow from the soffit vent to go to the ridge vent between the sheathing and insulation. The idea is sound, but there is a problem. When I saw a larger AC compressor on the house, I thought that they might have an issue with cooling during the summer. This insulation is only three inches thick. I am guessing that the R-value (the resistance to transfer of heat) may be around an R-13. The current standard among builders in Houston is R-32. I suggest to my clients something closer to R-36 or R-38, but to be really efficient, I would go with R-42. The homeowner could have kept the utility bill low while resolving his problem by adding more insulation for probably the same price as the new air conditioning system.

This is the walkway from where the equipment is located leading back to the opening/entrance for the attic. There is enough space for a technician to move through to the equipment, but what about new equipment? In the space next to the path there should be enough room, but the walkway does not due to roof design, the use of trusses, and the location of the opening and equipment.

This picture has a few problems, but I want to focus on two issues. In the foreground, you see electrical wires that are attached with electrical tape. This connection should be protected by being in a junction box, and the connection should use wiring nuts. The other issue is that we may have asbestos. The dark colored insulation contains white flecks. These flecks are vermiculite. The problem is that this vermiculite possibly is contaminated with asbestos. We are not looking at asbestos insulation, but we should treat this insulation in the same way. To confirm if the insulation does have asbestos, you have to have it tested.

This may not be obvious, but you should be aware of one fact before looking at the picture: this home was built in 1924. The original framing used a different framing method, and different quality of lumber. When damage occurred, a repair was made using newer lumber of the same size as the older lumber. The problem is that the newer lumber is not of the same quality, and a newer framing method was not used to compensate for the weaker lumber.