You have not said anything. Other than the word salad below
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Well I read “This is the first time Amanda Parra has posted — let’s welcome them to our community!” and what the OP posted, "at the time that we bought it, the roof was charred on the interior from a fire that occurred in the 70s. The affected supports were sistered, and our inspector (who I believe was an engineer) was not concerned about the integrity of the roof at the time - he called it surface charring and felt it was adequately supported. The sister supports have an additional support across the top (pictured). The ridge beam is so charred that it completely is missing in parts, however the inspector felt it did not carry much structural concern.
My replies:
Welcome to the InterNACHI forum, Amanda. A professionally certified community of likeminded home and building inspectors open to discussions of a home or buildings structurers, systems and their components.
Hope to find you well and in good spirits today:-)
Please add more images. Try to include every structural component that was charred. Some images of the eave and connections to the eave and raked ends or gables.
I tend to agree with the roofers to sheath the roof atop the planks, with 5/8" plywood, to strengthen and fortify the roof structurers rigidity, but those are my thoughts.
I see complete sets of rafters with collar ties were installed.
As for, surface charring. Shou Sugi Ban. Been around for hundreds of years. Shou sugi ban, or yakisugi, is a Japanese wood-burning technique that brings out the natural patterns of wood while also weatherproofing it.
Ridge Beam vs. Ridge Board. Likely Ridge Board. Prone to fire degradation. No structural support.
Likely planks are in good shape to install plywood on.
Retain an independent home inspector/SE.
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Here is something for you to consider when determining how to address your roof’s present condition.
Hopefully, you will never have roof damage that results in an insurance claim; however, if you do, it is important to know that your insurance company will be responsible only for restoring your roof to its condition prior to the claimed event.
This means that should there be a partial collapse from weight, tornado, or wind damage, or some other insurable event that damages your roof - your insurance company will be allowed to pay to repair it only to the condition that it presently is rather than to replace it with all new materials.
Thus, (depending upon what you can afford) this might be the right time to have it totally restored so that it can be totally insured.
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excellent opportunity to have some engineered trusses built. maybe give it some vaulted ceilings. Regardless, those charred rafters will give nothing but trouble sooner or later.
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The key question is if the sister rafters are complete. Would they alone hold the roof.
Inspectors are all about finding problems, identifying the right professional for a solution, not actually solving the problem.
Note the “support across the top” is called a “collar tie”.
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Not my best shot, will try for a better one tonight. Hard in that dark vortex
My best efforts at a photo failed due to shutter - will try again today. I didn’t think enough to check it.
When I see fire damage, I always recommend the buyer check with the first department for records on how bad the fire was and check the city to see if there were permits for the repairs, and if no permits were found then get a structural engineer to verify the repairs are ok.
So assuming all that was done, “just put plywood where the planks are” is a pretty common thing to do when replacing cedar roofs in my area. So my gut says that is probably the best answer.
Granted, I live in an area without snow loads or ice problems.
But if you’re worried about what the next inspector will say when you sell, then you’re going to need documentation (permits, etc) and whatever is involved in obtaining them to show to the next buyers.
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Attempting to get to the bottom line here… The repairs look pretty good, just looking at a few pictures from CA. The true problem is there is no piece of paper from a structural engineer or local building inspector that says that the 1970’s repairs were analyzed and deemed to be structurally adequate. Perhaps that piece of paper already exists, then Amada’s first priority is to find it. If that paper does not exist (after inquiring at the AHJ), then her second priority could be to create one (by hiring a structural engineer, perhaps). As others have said, it is not just Amanda’s current piece-of-mind and her insurance company, but also any future buyer and their insurance company. The last resort and brute-force (most-expensive) method is to replace everything.
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