Hi, hope someone has ideas about this!
We have a log cabin from the mid-18th century that has an original wooden shingle roof covered with clay tiles. One exterior wall (long side) leans outward somewhat, and the roof appears sunken in some places. The ceiling in the largest room (5X5 m) bows in about 10 cm. The roof trusses are made of slender square pine. Carpenters I’ve talked to think that reinforcing everything visible up in the attic is enough, but I'm afraid this will just create a rigid "triangle" that transfers the load to the unreinforced rafter ends and then creates a hinge where old meets new??
THOUGHTS ANYONE, PLEASE!
We have a log cabin from the mid-18th century that has an original wooden shingle roof covered with clay tiles. One exterior wall (long side) leans outward somewhat, and the roof appears sunken in some places. The ceiling in the largest room (5X5 m) bows in about 10 cm. The roof trusses are made of slender square pine. Carpenters I’ve talked to think that reinforcing everything visible up in the attic is enough, but I'm afraid this will just create a rigid "triangle" that transfers the load to the unreinforced rafter ends and then creates a hinge where old meets new??
THOUGHTS ANYONE, PLEASE!
I got a bit confused because I just read the same text in another thread. I'm responding here since no one else has done so. I would like to know a bit more detail about the roof construction. People weren't as systematic in the 1800s as we are today. I think it sounds like one might need to reinforce with some form of tension rod. My experience is that the timber dimensions are often sufficient (even if deflection was an unknown problem) unless it's a matter of rot.