Rafter Too Short at Ridge Board

[Stephen G Sheldon]

I was inspecting an attic in a house approx 50 yrs. old. On one side of the ridge board the rafters were fine. On the other side almost all the rafters were ban inch or two short. Should this be corrected or since its been like this for so long is it not worth worrying about?

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[Brian Thomas]

I would never assume that since its been that way for 50 years that it is fine. You should always write stuff like that up and refer it to the proper specialist. That way its off you. It also looks like some repairs have been made to the sheathing. One side being OSB and the other is planking.

[Richard Stanley]

It hasn't been that way for 50 years. Something changed. There was no OSB 50 years ago.

[Rick Cantrell]

Stephen
Without more information I can only speculate.
I suspect that there has been a room addition or porch added on.
The roof decking was removed (and replaced with OSB) and the rafters extended to span the addition. This raised the rafter tails, thus pulling the rafter heel away from the ridge beam.
If this is what happened, there are most likley many other issues.
If there has not been an addition made, well, I can't imagine what would cause the heel to pull away like that.

[Markus Keller]

If one or two rafters were too short you could maybe assume it was a bad carpenter. You are saying though that they were all too short on one side.
I don't think the issue is that any of them were or are "too short". It sounds like the wall on that side has moved out.
Are there rafter ties, did the exterior wall on that side look like it was leaning when looking at it on the outside, did you notice settlement at grade on that side, was there issues with doors or windows on that side, etc?
I would be looking for the clues as to why that side of the house has moved outward.

[wayne soper]

Did they put a shed dormer on the back and just lift all the rafters to the new height. It looks like the top of the cut is still touching the ridge and the bottom is not, indicating uplift. Also the nails are very clean. If thats the case someone cheated big time. Replacment of all is not a realistic option but sisters with a knee wall might be an option. It will always look wrong though and any inspector will realize what they did.

[Stephen G Sheldon]

a new room was added. It makes sense now. At the time they added on, they installed the OSB while extending the rafters. In the process they leveraged the rafters away from the ridge board.

Thanks for your comments

[Rick Cantrell]

Stephen
Since the suspicions I had were correct, there may be (are) several other concerns as well. I recommend to you, that you recommend to your customer, to have a SE look at it to determine what repairs are needed and how repairs are to be made. Also, a permit was most likely not obtained for the addition.
IE: building permit, electrical, HVAC, maybe gas and water also.
This could mean real problems for the buyer.

The toe of those rafters will one day crack and break.
Then you could have a house of cards, if you know what I mean.

Do not underestimate the problems that could pop up at any time.