Carpenter advice.....historic rafter "tails"

[EddieWalker]

There is no greater money pit then a "cute" house. I have quite a few clients with cute houses in need of repairs and small budgets to do it. Most hire me to do so much every year, taking on the most pressing repairs first and eventually getting to the entire house. Most end up selling long before we get everything fixed.

You have two options for this repair. If you want to keep the original look, then the decking is going to have to come off and everything needs to be rebuilt, then properly flashed to avoid doing it again.

The other option is to abandon the exposed rafter tail look and enclose it. You will still need to replace the rotten decking, but you can frame in new rafter tails, add a fascia and soffit, and even gutters if you want. Make it like a modern home and be done with it for a lot less time and effort.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Good point on boxing it in with soffits EddieWalker

 

[downsizingnow48]

OPs options are going to be severely limited by what the historic structure renovation guidelines are. If he is real lucky, it is not an actual designated structure, just a "cute" old run down house that will require buckets of money and a lot of work. If it is an actual designated structure, then the permitting process and historic guidelines will be in full force. And it will take more buckets of money and more work.

 

[Peter 315]

I delivered lumber for a few years In Cambridge Ma, Historic district you had to use wood windows, wood siding and wood gutters

 

[Barnbuilder]

Had a friend that worked on a house with same issue. He cut the old tails off made new ones and used a biscuit joined to reattach the new.

 

[EddieWalker]

Had a friend that worked on a house with same issue. He cut the old tails off made new ones and used a biscuit joined to reattach the new.

18 inches is a lot of weight to hold up. Did he have any other bracing or support?

 

[4570Man]

18 inches is a lot of weight to hold up. Did he have any other bracing or support?

It needs more bracing if it didn’t.

 

[Boeing]

Thanks for all the help guys. I sent a inquiry to the FIBERGLASS Pergola company. I don't think that my daughter got a "house inspection" when she bought it....you know how kids are. When I saw it it was after she was the proud owner. Oh well....
The roof is ASBESTOS shingle so I really don't want to remove it. I checked with the code inspectors office and asbestos CAN be covered....but I need to deal with those decks and rafter ends. Maybe 12" of semi matching FIBERGLASS ends is a good idea? Don't know what to do about the decking....dig out and bondo type filler?

 

[Boeing]

Had a friend that worked on a house with same issue. He cut the old tails off made new ones and used a biscuit joined to reattach the new.

Barnbuilder....what's a BiSCUIT Joint/joiner/attach thing?

 

[jfh28]

Thanks for all the help guys. I sent a inquiry to the FIBERGLASS Pergola company. I don't think that my daughter got a "house inspection" when she bought it....you know how kids are. When I saw it it was after she was the proud owner. Oh well....
The roof is ASBESTOS shingle so I really don't want to remove it. I checked with the code inspectors office and asbestos CAN be covered....but I need to deal with those decks and rafter ends. Maybe 12" of semi matching FIBERGLASS ends is a good idea? Don't know what to do about the decking....dig out and bondo type filler?

as others have already said this is a major project......those rafter tails are structural meaning they are supporting the roof loads of the amount overhanging the exterior wall...and with this being in Georgia those hurricane loads can be substantial.......it will have to be spliced back onto the existing rafters a structurally calculated distance....talk to the building department for guidance...if you don't then the overhang will sag, fail, look terrible and be dangerous for anyone that goes on the roof......this also means you will need to do all of them so the distance between them is equal or one span will be larger then the others and one next to it will be shorter and in the front this will stick out like a sore thumb......not to mention you will not be able to match the existing wood thickness as todays 2x lumber is much thinner then what is there......the rotted wood deck will also need to be replaced as its structural not cosmetic and again is dangerous for anyone up on the roof......which unfortunately means removing the roofing.....and if its asbestos that adds in it's own level of complications and will need someone certified in asbestos removal.......its just bad news all around.......sorry.......and the sad part of it is some roof edge flashing and a gutter could have eliminated this from ever happening.....it's definitely not a project I would tackle if I didn't have experience in doing major work on an older home......Jack