I normally do all my DIY, but this was beyond me, so I had to get a professional in....which is way it's driving me mad not knowing what's wrong!
I had a leak from an unknown place, and all the roofers I consulted said: need a new roof! had a 1930s roof with tiles straight on the rafters and nothing but (now crumbling) cement to stop any issues. I picked a roofer, had the tiles off, membrane on, tiles back on again (couldn't afford new), and all done, BUT.....
There was a leak. I'd already paid, the roof was convinced that it was just condensation, but I persuaded him to come around and he realised that he hadn't done the flashing proper;y on the attic windows. So, pretty pleased he addressed the problem promptly. However, since then my beams have still been damp. This is driving me bonkers - is it just the beams being slow drying out from the leak? Is there still a leak? Either way, when I've mentioned it to the roofer he keeps coming back to it being condensation again. TBF to him, this IS thing, and I know nothing about attics.
My question is, if this IS condensation, should I be concerned about the level of dampness of the beams? I have a Dryzone moisture meter. The wood on the hatch to the eaves reads 15%, as does the bottom half of the length of the beams. However the top half of the length of the beams, which touch the membrane read 21%. This has gone down since the leak was fixed, it was 26% touching the membrane. If this stays at 21% is this going to be damaging to the beams? Does condensation normally create moisture to this level? The roofer has ventilated properly.
I had a leak from an unknown place, and all the roofers I consulted said: need a new roof! had a 1930s roof with tiles straight on the rafters and nothing but (now crumbling) cement to stop any issues. I picked a roofer, had the tiles off, membrane on, tiles back on again (couldn't afford new), and all done, BUT.....
There was a leak. I'd already paid, the roof was convinced that it was just condensation, but I persuaded him to come around and he realised that he hadn't done the flashing proper;y on the attic windows. So, pretty pleased he addressed the problem promptly. However, since then my beams have still been damp. This is driving me bonkers - is it just the beams being slow drying out from the leak? Is there still a leak? Either way, when I've mentioned it to the roofer he keeps coming back to it being condensation again. TBF to him, this IS thing, and I know nothing about attics.
My question is, if this IS condensation, should I be concerned about the level of dampness of the beams? I have a Dryzone moisture meter. The wood on the hatch to the eaves reads 15%, as does the bottom half of the length of the beams. However the top half of the length of the beams, which touch the membrane read 21%. This has gone down since the leak was fixed, it was 26% touching the membrane. If this stays at 21% is this going to be damaging to the beams? Does condensation normally create moisture to this level? The roofer has ventilated properly.
