Split Roof Batten

[RandomCo]

Hello all,

A quick question regarding a damaged roof batten on my 1930's house. I was in the loft this evening and noticed that one of the battens has broken in one section, split in another - both points of damage are on the same batten but separated by a rafter. I've lived in the house for approx. 2 years and the previous owners had the entire underside of the loft covered in plastic, trapping loads of moisture. I removed this plastic covering and have since added some ventilation, it's dried out nicely but still get some condensation from time to time. The question is, is this detrimental to my roof, or is this something that I can repair myself? Adding another batten section underneath and screwing (carefully with pilot holes) it to the old batten perhaps? All still seems relatively solid although some of the tiles in the break section move slightly more than others. I'd just have to be careful not to push the nail out of the top side of the tile when bringing this section back together.

Thank you in advance!

Alex

 

[DAZB]

Fitting a support batten or two below it would work well in the method you describe and will stop anything moving downhill.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I'd just have to be careful not to push the nail out of the top side of the tile when bringing this section back together.

Don't use nails, use screws, and drill pilot holes, to avoid splitting the timber.

 

[RandomCo]

Thank you for your replies! I'll give it a try and will update this post with the end result. I plan to use screws to join the battens together, drilling pilot holes before hand screwing the extra batten into position. I'll cut it to the exact width between the rafters and gently tap it into position. I was just wary that by butting another batten up behind the existing one, the presence of this may slightly push the existing tile nails out of the top of the tile (as the tips of the nails have protruded through the exiting batten). I'll see how it goes, thank you again!

 

[catlad]

Cut it 20" you should be able to slide it in , then you can screw it t the rafter.

 

[ChrisJP]

I would use brass screws rather than steel (or indeed "brassed") ones, to avoid rusting in future

 

[RandomCo]

Thank you all again for your insight! Repair completed today using some pressure treated timber, cut to length and some small holes drilled to allow clearance for the protruding roof tile nails. Once some pilot holes had been drilled, I applied some wood glue (particularly in the part of the batten that had split between layers) and screwed it all together. Nice and solid so shouldn't cause any more problems.

Alex