The home was built in 1916, Chicago. There’s a bit of ridge beam sag. What I see is some offset rafters and collar ties in some places and not others. Perhaps soot on a few rafters which could’ve lead to this repair. Then there’s this, an old flue chase? With some boards connected to the ridge beam, but not well enough to support it unless it was only temporarily added. Although I recommended further evaluation I have the desire to know more of what I’m looking at.
My guess would be that they removed an old chimney. There is so much going on in that attic that it’s hard to get a sense if anything was done with any kind of quality.
As you can see from that “one terrible picture” there are a few things wrong, but no worries I took many other pictures. Do not comment on my posts. You are always less than helpful. Thanks
Yes it for sure wasn’t connected, that’s why I believed it was used temporarily. Maybe they just used it to prop the roof up during a repair and instead of cutting them up to get out, they left it in the attic.
No, a ridge beam is typically a 2x6 or larger, and would have the rafters either resting on top, or attached with hangers. And that load would be transferred down at the ends, and sometimes at several locations through the attic.
A ridge board is usually just a 1x4 or 1x6, but it’s not load bearing. It’s just a means of attaching all the rafters to so they are all tied together, and keeps them from separating or leaning.
