Rotted eaves, advice on how to join

[trenyboy]

Hi,

I'm in the process of renovating, and some of the eaves have rotted due to poor guttering (not sure of the exact name of the roof timber, but it is what the facia and gutter attaches to - forms the pitch of the roof)

There is rot on the ends where they are exposed, and I need to cut off the rot and join a new piece of timber to replace this, however I am unsure how I should go about joining this to ensure it is strong enough to hold up the edge of the roof and gutter (tiled roof). Any advice would be much appreciated.

On another similar issue, I have also located some rot where one of these same beams sit on some sort of bearer which looks to be taking the load of the roof (the verandah roof - with another 5 or so beams). I have isolated and repaired the roof leak causing the rot, however the wood has slightly decayed in both the beam and the bearer. The other beams are fine, what can I do to stop this from rotting any further, or will stopping the leak resolve this?

Again, you help is much appreciated.

Kindest regards,
Trent

[silentC]

You are referring to the rafters. Probably the easiest thing for you to do would be to get some lengths of hardwood or treated pine of the same dimensions and bolt then to the side of the existing rafters. Make sure you have a lap of at least 500mm into solid timber. Hopefully the section where the rafter sits on the wall top plate is still OK. You'll probably need to bird mouth (notch) the new stuff where it meets the top plate if it's an old style roof. Just leave the old rotted stuff in place.

I'm fairly sure that if you remove the source of the leak, you wont get any further rot but some sort of sealant would probably help.

That's a start anyway, no doubt there will be more suggestions

[Bodgy]

I'd go with Silent, ie sister the rotted beams.

I would, however, differ on the rotted ends, I'd cut them off - slightly into the still good area, and treat/seal the ends.

Not life or death tho.

[silentC]

I would, however, differ on the rotted ends, I'd cut them off - slightly into the still good area, and treat/seal the ends.

My reasoning there was that if the fasteners through the roofing are still sound, then it would save you having to fill the holes. Now that I've actually read your post properly, I see it's a tiled roof so yes, by all means cut them off.

[trenyboy]

Thanks guys, i was thinking that attaching to the sides of the rotted rafters might be the only way to go. I've just realised though that there are no facias, the gutters simply attach to the end of the overhanging rafters. As there is probably 500mm overhang and probably only 150mm of rot at worst needing to be removed, would it be strong enough to join simply just the end section with some sort of wood join, or a couple of metal plates so the repairs are not so visible.

The section where the rafter sits on the wall top plate is OK except for this one rafter where the water from the leak has been pooling. The rot is confined to the notched out area of the rafter and the wall top plate at that same area, but may have caused that particular rafter to drop a few mm due to the softness of the wood. There is a lot of good wood left, looks like only surface rot. Is this anything to worry about, or would bolting a longer section to this rafter to strengthen it up do the job as suggested?

[silentC]

So the rafters are not covered by the soffit lining? In that case, it will look crap if you do it the way we described. You really don't want any joins back inside the roof on the other side of the top plate. I've seen it done but I think it's dodgey. I suppose you could trim the old one right back and put a plate on both sides and bolt right through. It's taking the whole load of the roof though.

You might get away with a half lap join if it's only the very tip of the rafter that needs replacing. If you made the lap nice and long and bolt it with a couple of bolts it might be OK. Otherwise maybe a fish plate on either side and bolted through if you don't mind being able to see it.

[Bodgy]

Again, defer to Silent. As the overhang is not really weight bearing at the immediate end, and only holding the gutter, its really a question of aesthetics not structure. With luck your repairs will not go back behind tha lowest batten.

Regarding the one thats rotted where it joins the top plate, I'd sister this in the manner described earlier.

Another alternative, as you're going to be taking the guttering off (presumably) is to add a fascia board, while you're at it. This will tend to cover the repairs to the rotted ends, and distribute the weight of the gutter across all the rafters.

[trenyboy]

Sorry SlientC, the rafters aren't covered by the lining on the overhang, and I definatelt don't want to join back on the other side of of the top plate!

I will need to replace the gutters as they have rusted away, so I could put a fascia on, but I would then need to do this for the remainder of the house which is not my preferred option.

The half lap sounds like it could be the way to go, especially if this area is only bearing the load of the gutter and maybe the botton row of tiles??? Out of the 6 rafters of the verandah, i will only need to join 1-2 ends on, so the gutter will be supported by 4-5 good solid rafters.

Just to confirm, a half lap involves halving the width of each section of timber and joining them so that they fit together as a single length, correct?