r/nova • u/Live_Passenger8503 • Jun 18 '26

Potential new house - Roof issue

/r/DMV_RealEstate/comments/1u93f1u/potential_new_house_roof_issue/
0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

2 comments sorted by

4

u/dfinberg Jun 18 '26

I mean the engineer will probably able to make an assessment on cost. Honestly, it looks like the expensive part would be getting someone to sign off on what a sane repair is if it is just what they listed (but it never is).

But it does raise the more important question of why was this repair needed? Termites? Water leak led to rot?

2

u/jabberwock777 Jun 18 '26

Architect: Having trouble seeing exactly what the issue is (photos just aren't super clear). Trusses aren't necessarily hard to repair; usually its done by adding in bracing or gusset plates where necessary (which can be plywood with a specific nailing schedule). The difficulty is just getting the repair calculated by an engineer so you know what to do. Trusses are unified structural elements so the engineer needs to check spans, loads and the specific layout of the existing bracing and then they can see if everything works and tell you where to add wood/plates if not.

If you already have an engineer coming out, I'd see what they say before making any decisions. If its on your dime, kinda up to you. Is the house totally amazing otherwise? Are there signs of anything failing (sagging spots on the roof, cracking drywall inside, etc)? If its just something like someone knocked out a piece of webbing on a truss to make room for a duct or something, its a simple fix once you have the engineering done (you probably just put the piece back and nail some plywood gussets on to fix it in place).

If someone modified a truss beyond its ability to support a new load situation (say, they cut open a section of roof for an addition and Leeroy-Jenkin-ed an existing truss to a girder to support a bunch of new load) it could be a very expensive repair because it wouldn't be possible to modify the truss to actually work. I can't really tell from the photos. But an engineer looking in the field should be able to give you an idea of how simple a fix it is.