Question about the roof construction

[amikhaylov]

Hello,

I am considering purchasing a 3yr old house and just done an inspection on it. One of the inspection findings really confused me. Here's what it says:

"The ceiling joists are usually installed parallel to the roof rafters. The reason this is done is so the ceiling joists stop the bottoms of the roof rafters from pushing out the sidewalls of the home. In this home the roof rafters were installed perpendicular to the ceiling joists.
Sometimes structural ridges or other construction details are incorporated into the design of the home. It is necessary to either obtain documentation from the project architect or a state of NJ licensed professional engineer indicating the existing condition is safe and secure or to install additional supports to avoid movement of the roof and wall structure."

Does anyone on this forum understand what this is about and is it really possible to have a house built in a way where nothing prevents the roof from pushing the walls out. I'm sure going to have a professional take a look at it and going to contact the architect of the house, but I'd be extremely grateful for any other opinion.

Thank you,

Aleksey

[Rich]

Is what they mean is that the roof rafters will push the walls outward without something to hold it in place. In your situation you are going to need collar ties to hold the rafters in place or as suggested in the report ... it would need to have a bearing ridge where there is some sort of end bearing for the ridge. Most likely it would be something like 3 2x6's where the ridgebeam sits within the inner 2x6. These would need to be at each end of the ridge beam.

If neither is present the easiest solution would be collar ties no higher than the upper 3rd of the roof.

[amikhaylov]

Thanks a lot for the reply!

Could the house with nothing to hold the roof from pushing the walls outward pass the inspection. I assume that if there's a need to install new elements in the roof, the current construction is flawed and non-compliant with the regulations. Since I'm considering buying this one and not an owner yet, I need to get to the bootm of thi before I commit to the purchase.

Thanks again for all advice.

[Rich]

Most likely it's acceptable or it would have never gotten final sign off from the building department (assuming that it's in an area that requires building dept inspections). If there are not collar ties I would assume it does have the support at the gable end walls for the ridge beam.
Is what you can do is contact the building department and request a review of the inspections that took place at that location. If there is nothing clear cut that puts you at ease you can contact the inspector or reviewer and ask them specific questions in regards to it.
I guess I should say you should have the real estate agent do this - that's what they get paid for. I agree that you should have closure on the subject before purchasing. Another course could be to find out who designed the structure and contact them to see how they are supporting the roof. If it comes back that the contractor built the house differently than the plans depicted you could have them pay for it or compensate you for it.. it's a long shot but if you really like the house it may be worth it for you.

[grumpydasmurf]

We completed a job like this in Chicago. We had to install callar ties on each and ever rafter because the ceiling joists did exactly as you described. After 40 years the weight of the 3 layers of asphalt shingles started to push the walls outward! There was a sag in the raters because of it and we estimated the cost to totally fix the roof and walls to be nearly 100,000.

[Rich]

Yep.. some of the most costly repairs are foundations and roofs.