Roofers.....

The house (1950’s build) has some kind of lining material tacked on to the inner roof joists below the roofing tiles. It’s now got huge tears/rips in it. I’ve tried a few times over the years to tape it up where it’s torn but it’s never really successful as you can’t get any purchase /pressure on it as you’re pressing on fresh air. I probably need to fix new sections between the joists where it’s torn but I’ve no idea what I’m looking for, is it just the kind of roofing stuff you’d put on a shed roof? What does it do and what am I looking for :oops:
 


The house (1950’s build) has some kind of lining material tacked on to the inner roof joists below the roofing tiles. It’s now got huge tears/rips in it. I’ve tried a few times over the years to tape it up where it’s torn but it’s never really successful as you can’t get any purchase /pressure on it as you’re pressing on fresh air. I probably need to fix new sections between the joists where it’s torn but I’ve no idea what I’m looking for, is it just the kind of roofing stuff you’d put on a shed roof? What does it do and what am I looking for :oops:

Felt?
 
Dunno mate. It looks like it but not really sure why it’s there, is it some kind of waterproofing course or insulating? Don’t even know if it was part of the original build or somebody has added it later. Was applying a layer a felt to the underside of the roofing joists ever a thing?
 
You need Breathable roof membrane , its not the green felt you put on a garden shed .
It sounds like its the old original 50's sackcloth type underlay that just rots/ disintergrates,bits of string type stuff hanging between the joists. Unfortunatley the only way to put the new stuff down is scaffold all the way around your house take all the old tiles off and replace with the new breathable membrane ,and if your tiles are the originals from the 50s you should really replace them ,depending on size/shape of roof you are looking at a few thousand pounds.
 
Dunno mate. It looks like it but not really sure why it’s there, is it some kind of waterproofing course or insulating? Don’t even know if it was part of the original build or somebody has added it later. Was applying a layer a felt to the underside of the roofing joists ever a thing?
Just forget about it if there is no water getting in.

your pissing against the wind anyway by what your thinking about doing
 
You need Breathable roof membrane , its not the green felt you put on a garden shed .
It sounds like its the old original 50's sackcloth type underlay that just rots/ disintergrates,bits of string type stuff hanging between the joists. Unfortunatley the only way to put the new stuff down is scaffold all the way around your house take all the old tiles off and replace with the new breathable membrane ,and if your tiles are the originals from the 50s you should really replace them ,depending on size/shape of roof you are looking at a few thousand pounds.
Or leave it if no wata is getting in
 
You need Breathable roof membrane , its not the green felt you put on a garden shed .
It sounds like its the old original 50's sackcloth type underlay that just rots/ disintergrates,bits of string type stuff hanging between the joists. Unfortunatley the only way to put the new stuff down is scaffold all the way around your house take all the old tiles off and replace with the new breathable membrane ,and if your tiles are the originals from the 50s you should really replace them ,depending on size/shape of roof you are looking at a few thousand pounds.
Spot on mate, that’s exactly what it is.
 
Dunno mate. It looks like it but not really sure why it’s there, is it some kind of waterproofing course or insulating? Don’t even know if it was part of the original build or somebody has added it later. Was applying a layer a felt to the underside of the roofing joists ever a thing?

Is this fixed to the underside of the timbers or sandwiched between the timbers and the tiles? I may have misread your original post.
 
Is this fixed to the underside of the timbers or sandwiched between the timbers and the tiles? I may have misread your original post.
It’s attached to the underside of the timbers but it’s definitely some kind of sacking type material as @Guitar Man is suggesting. There is nothing between the upper side of the joists and the tiles. Sounds a bit like somebody added it as an afterthought.
I’d leave this one to the professionals. I’m sure you have your strengths but DIY doesn’t sound like one of them.
If it’s important mate then I will. If it’s not then bollocks to it, it can see me out :)
 
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It’s attached to the underside of the timbers but it’s definitely some kind of sacking type material as @Guitar Man is suggesting. There is nothing between the upper side of the joists and the tiles. Sounds a bit like somebody added it as an afterthought.

If it’s important mate then I will. If it’s not then bollocks to it, it can see me out :)

If your roof space is dry and so are the timbers then I wouldn’t do anything. I’m trying to think what it might have been put in there for and I can only think to prevent soot getting into the timbers or tiles, but imagine that’s irrelevant now??
 
The house (1950’s build) has some kind of lining material tacked on to the inner roof joists below the roofing tiles. It’s now got huge tears/rips in it. I’ve tried a few times over the years to tape it up where it’s torn but it’s never really successful as you can’t get any purchase /pressure on it as you’re pressing on fresh air. I probably need to fix new sections between the joists where it’s torn but I’ve no idea what I’m looking for, is it just the kind of roofing stuff you’d put on a shed roof? What does it do and what am I looking for :oops:
Yep. Felt. My old house (1980's build) had it and also got a bit shredded. Must degrade with time. If a tile comes off it will keep water at bay until a new tile is put on. Nothing to do with insulation or anything else.
 
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It's the old style roofing felt made of something like tar covered cloth, it should be on top of the joists though not under them. The only reason I can think of for it to be there is maybe the previous owners had condensation problems on the underside of the tiles with water dripping down onto the ceiling below. The felt would help prevent that but not by much I would have thought, you would probably still get condensation on the underside of the felt. What you could do is buy some breathable roofing membrane and tack it to the joists starting at the top and going across the joists. Overlap the next row of membrane by about 6 inches over the first, there's usually a line marked on it to help. Leave the old felt in place as there's no point taking it off and it might help "double glaze" the membrane.

Or spread lion shite about the loft.
 

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