Any roofers out there?

[Tobymonster]

After getting into the loft to put the Christmas tree back to bed, I was confronted by a lot of water on the underside of the roof. I put this down to condensation, but I have never noticed it before and it does seem a lot. The drip lines roughly follow the pattern of the slates on the outside and the whole of the underside of the waterproofing is damp when touched. I haven't disturbed, or put new insulation between the rafters or at the eves since I moved in over 5 years ago. Its a Victorian house with slate tiles which have been on for approx ten years. I hope its due to the adverse weather; it did snow today!

 

[Welderpaul]

I know it looks drastic, but i'm pretty sure its condensation. No doubt, like the rest of us you have the heating turned up, and a good few inches of snow on the roof. The hot air is rising and condensing on the underside of the cold felt.
I bet it disappears once the snow goes and its not so cold.

 

[Paul.]

I agree, condensation, It used to happen in one of my old houses until the loft was properly insulated, you need to keep the hot air in the house and not let it reach the loft space.

 

[runnach]

I'm having the same problem with this old place, as said, only condensation, will dry out as and when the temp picks up..........

 

[Welderpaul]

I'd love to know why i have to keep scraping ice off the inside of my van windscreen. Its already in when i open the door on a morning. Condensation?

 

[brightspark]

I'd love to know why i have to keep scraping ice off the inside of my van windscreen. Its already in when i open the door on a morning. Condensation?

yup its wet inside then heater condenses it then it freezes on cold windscreen
the attics the same .good ventilation soon dries it out when the weather improves

 

[campervan]

get your self a ford it comes as standard in my transit and fiesta

 

[Tobymonster]

Cool, that's a relief and just what I was hoping! I can't wait for it to get a bit warmer, the inlaws from Melbourne, Victoria are staying over and I'm fed up with the constant moaning! That and the strange goings on with the room 'stat. The numbers on it seem to increase every time I look at it!

 

[tracer]

i have the same thing in my attic,
all wet and dripping.,

its just the tiles then this black covering.
a lot of roof tiles are not lined up so water gets in.

need to try and repair black lining as some of it has ripped, any ideas of easy fix?

 

[pedrobedro]

If the false floor is sealed it will get condensation no matter what you do, there should be vents in the roof and the eaves to let the air circulate. If the roofing cloth is properly applied the tiles are just decoration on top and an extra layer of insulation. The insulation between the joists looks to go right to the edge so any ventilation you were getting is now blocked.

 

[the snooper]

as pedro said you shouldnt get any condensation most modern soffit boards have inbuilt ventilation but yours will be blocked as pedro said by the insulation

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Even with vented soffit boards you can still get moisture from humid rooms migrating throught the ceiling boards and an un sealed trap door and condensing at the higher parts of the roof , happens alot if you have shower without extractor and no kitchen extractor.

It is also prevelent if you have these cut in sunken ceiling lights where each light in fact is a vent hole to the roof void .

We have recently returned to a fully refurbished & modernised flooded ( crap plumbing by previous owner ) bungalow with two bathroom extractors ..one shower area ,one bath area and a decent kitchen extractor system not a recycler jobby .

Just prior to the return home after a years living elsewhere " Warmerfront " people came and fitted a complete new heating system and fully insulated the pipework in the roof void .
But I could not affort their extra charge of £1, 500 for replacing the damp & damaged insulation on top of the now almost fully dried out ceiling boards.

I had a bit of a think ...... and recalled that ......Your local electricity or gas supplier has by law got to reinverst 1.5% or so of their profits back into energy saving measures to their customers ..usually those on disability or certain other benefits.

We contacted the electricity people and a few days later they did a survey of the now almost useless insulation and also noticed ( I took great pains to point it out ) the " sweating" on the underfelt .

This has resulted in them removing all the trashed insulation and fitting the latest thickness requirements of fibre roll insulation also putting in ten roof tile vent devices in and fitting a thin self adhesive foam door draught strip to the roof void hatch lip to prevent any warm moist air rising up past it.

These roof tile vents are made of the same sort of corrugated plastic that estate agents boards are made from and made as a square bottomless box frame with 50 mm deep sides, so that they can be lozenged like a diamond and slipped down the bottom edge of the seam of the highest roof felt strip .

Now for the clever bit ..inside each lozenge at the mid hinge point is a 40 mm long by 20 mm galv spring ..as you compress the lozenge to insert you also compress the spring and then slide the device down the first available tile to the outside . This in effect lifts the chosen tiles about 6 mm has given me ten high level circulation vents through the membrane and direct to the outside.
These gaps are supposed to resist wasp & bee entry etc.
The roof void is as dry as a bone .

 

[johnny max]

You can stop this with the spray on insulation it seals the whole lot
It has to be done by a contractor
I got my workshop done during the summer it maesures 40x15 it cost 300 euros to do
Had bad condensation probs before not any more
JOHNNY

 

[Bsmith]

I agree, condensation, It used to happen in one of my old houses until the loft was properly insulated, you need to keep the hot air in the house and not let it reach the loft space.

Yep, common problem this year with it being cold so long. If your loft feels warm your insulation or vents are inadequate. You are also loosing your heat. Local council now recommend 12 inches thick insulation.

 

[Welderpaul]

Local council now recommend 12 inches thick insulation.

It had just gone up to 200mm when i did ours not so long ago. Not be able to get in there soon.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

May last year saw ours done to 8 inches by the govt scheme Warmer Front people.

If you get to much insulation will the roof ceiling boards sweat ?
The scenario I have is that , because of moisture in the air from below that does enter the board , it cannot stay evaporated long enough to pass right through the insulation so it re condenses , dampens the insulation , then migrates down to the boards , the cycle then keeps getting recycled and causes probs ?