how should the roof look like from inside a loft,i can see few tears in the covering of my room exposing tiles

Question

the sheet on the inside of the roof in the loft, looks like very old sheet of paper with few tears and immediately above you can see the roof tiles. I am not sure whether it is fine or not, plus there is no leakage from the room into the loft.

Answer 1

I hope the paper, as you call it, is black. It should be a roofing paper, sometimes called tar paper, but known as felt or roofing felt by those in the business. It is a thick paper that is saturated with asphalt, and in the US is available in two thicknesses: 15 pound and 30 pound, referring to the weight per 100 square feet. Personally, I would only use 30 pound felt, as the 15 pound felt is too fragile.

Felt is your secondary line of defense against the weather. Properly installed, the roofing tiles by themselves should keep out the water. But over time, and especially if someone has been walking on the roof, the tiles may crack and leak.

The question is, how did the tears occur? Felt does eventually become brittle, but why is it torn? Did you get a new roof, but the roofer didn't replace the felt? Or did the roofer damage the felt during the original installation? It is a mystery.

What you can do is to get a roll of felt from your local building supply and cut a piece to fit over the opening. Very carefully, cement it in place from underneath using Henry Wet Patch around the edges. Take care not to further damage your existing felt. If the crack in the felt extends under the boards supporting the tile, you might first spray insulating foam over the crack. Although this foam will stick to just about everything (including you), it will degrade over time when exposed to light. I wouldn't use duct tape because the adhesive dries out in a few years.

Answer 2

The stuff you can see is building quality paper. It stops dirt blowing into your loft between the tiles. If you mend the splits using gaffer tape (duct tape) your loft will stay cleaner. The paper doesn't have much in the way of insulating properties.

Modern roofing techniques use felt under the tiles. Paper suggests your roof is about 40 years old. (If it was older, there would be nothing under the tiles) If it keeps the weather out, there's no problem.

Answer 3

Ideally you need the roof refelting but this is a costly job and you can see no real benefit from it, although there is.
Try to patch up the tears as although rain may not get in under normal circumstances, if the rain is blown from that direction and is a downpour it might penetrate. Snow under the same conditions could also get through. Best of luck and have a happy New Year.

Answer 4

the tiles will form a water seal,the felt is mainly for draught and extra protection, if no problems leave it, don't rush into spending ££££££££££,hope could be help

Answer 5

not only should you noy see tiles you need insulation there
roof needs stripping off re felting then insulating
cost about £1000

Answer 6

the paper looking stuff is the felt! it will cause probs if left unatended:: if only a few tears it can be patched up from below!!