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Roofing

New breathable membrane, old tiles relaid - can see light through the membrane in bunch of places.

Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.49 PM

I've just had a new membrane laid on my pitched roof and old tiles relaid. I was really looking forward to having it done as the roof worried me for a few years but as I went up into the attic to check how it looks, I saw daylight coming through the membrane (no tiles blocking it) in about 20-30 different places. Should I be worried? Shouldn't the membrane be 100% protected by interlocking tiles above for a watertight roof? Cheers! PS: the tiles are concrete on one side and clay on the other. The issue is present on both sides but way more apparent on the clay side. Just to clarify, I cannot see direct daylight, just daylight shining through the membrane (I thought the roof would be opaque given that tiles are meant to be blocking all of it) @Alex, thanks so much, that's helped immensly. Yes, the roofer said the same about the clay tiles so glad to have that confirmed. I have not had it signed off by the Building Regs as I was not aware that was legally required unless I am having the roof covering changed and the roofer never mentioned it. Thanks for flagging it, I will look into it.

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3 Answers

D.Bousie Roofing & Building

Rating: 5 out of 5

Barry

Hi with interlocking tiles you can sometimes see a bit of daylight coming through as they do not sit as tight as roofing slates but you should not be seeing direct daylight coming throug. Hi with the breathable membrane will see a bit more light filtering through as it’s a lot lighter than the old bitumin felt based membranes which also sit a lot tighter than the breathable ones

Answered12 October 2022

ADR Property Maintenance

Rating: 5 out of 5

Boston

Breathe membrane does let light through it is also water proof & will to a certain degree remain so depending on the quality of the membrane about 3 months uncovered, the other problem you have is relaying the existing tiles depends how old they are as the weather erodes them &they get broken cracked over time to put old tiles back onto a new roof in my opinion is at best asking for trouble long term, if the membrane is uncovered it will in fact soak up water & leak, if how ever it is only showing chinks of light it should be fine, What does your roofer say. was it passed by building control and what do they say as all newly covered roofs since October 2010 require building control singing them of.r regardless of if the same tiles were put back it's a few hundred quid for peace of mind. Older Clay pan tiles because they were hand made & only interlocking without being nailed were designed to allow airflow between the tiles to stop them getting blown of the roof this means they don't fit together as good as new ones with a lot of gaps visible especially as new breather membranes unlike slaters felt let's daylight through if as you say there is no direct sunlight getting through then it should be fine. Good luck alex

Answered12 October 2022

A N Welland Roofing Contractor

Rating: 4.9 out of 5

Haslemere

You can usually see daylight in some places even with the old bitumen based felt. It does'nt mean the roof is going to leak. Big patches would give cause to some concern. I recently completed a roof with a dry ridge system and the loft was nicely illuminated.

Answered7 November 2022