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I'll be closing on a house soon with a broken rafter, split opposite rafter and a twisted underpurlin that were all missed in the home inspection.

[Edit] These were missed during the home inspection. There was also mold in the attic from an improperly vented bathroom fan that the inspector found. After the mold was scraped and treated, I went up to inspect and found these. [\edit]

The split rafter I believe is easier to repair, as there is still enough there to sister onto. Is this the correct fix?

The broken rafter, I'm more concerned about sistering, as it is split along the full length. For both cases, I would be putting in new pieces almost the full length, but I haven't seen much in the way of what to do with sistering a broken rafter. Is this the correct fix for a fully split rafter?

The big question is what caused the split and broken rafter, I'm guessing something happened (someone jumped on that spot when they were re-shingling the roof and didn't notice the break?). I don't know if it's safe to assume I can just repair and move on, or if I should get a roofing guy in to take a look at it. I don't see any sagging yet, but I'm still new to this.

For the underpurlin, it is in contact with other rafters in its twisted state, so I am guessing that in that area the roof is sagging and leaning more on the underpurlin to cause it to twist like that. I'm not sure what the fix would be for this either. Adding more wood to reinforce it makes the most sense, just not sure how.

Any advice on if the fixes I'm suggesting are correct and other ideas would be greatly appreciated

Link to pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AdEWIod

Vick L
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  • Do you have a pic with more context of the "underpurlin" (like the other end)? – Huesmann Aug 16 '23 at 12:36
  • If this was missed in the home inspection, how do you know about it? Have you reduced your bid on the house to account for making the repairs post-purchase? Is your housing market still so insane that you had to offer more than the asking price _and_ eat the cost of repairs just to get a house? So many questions... – FreeMan Aug 16 '23 at 13:41
  • I edited the title to match what seems like the question you're asking - what is the cause of the break. Unfortunately, that'll only be a best guess on our part. If you're actually asking _how_ to repair, please [edit] your question (and the title) to make that part abundantly clear. – FreeMan Aug 16 '23 at 13:43
  • solid guesses: workers stomping around, ice dams, uneven load due to seasonal warping of roof or structure, uneven load due to foundation settling. – dandavis Aug 16 '23 at 17:18
  • @Huesmann, I get possession tomorrow, I'll go back up and take more pictures. Anything else to look out for? – Vick L Aug 17 '23 at 00:15
  • @FreeMan thanks for the moderation, I modified my post. I'm looking for advice on if what I'm suggesting is the proper method to repair the rafters and if there is something that I should be looking for to troubleshoot why they broke. I edited the above to mention that there was more, so maybe even humidity weakened the wood, and split it, with a winter freeze? As for the housing market, it is cooling down but it is still crazy, a house is stale on the market if it hasn't sold in 10 days. We can put some conditions, but this got missed until after the deal and I need to eat this cost – Vick L Aug 17 '23 at 00:17
  • Thanks @dandavis, ice dams I didn't think of. I'll watch out for it this winter. If it's any of the other ones, I guess it's less scary and just need to reinforce it. Thanks – Vick L Aug 17 '23 at 00:20
  • @VickL if you're getting more pics, maybe some of the outside of the roof, if you think it's sagging? – Huesmann Aug 17 '23 at 12:11

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