Condensation in Attic Dripping down from the Felt onto the Insulation

C

chippy

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Hi All,please can anyone advise me?
I was up in the attic today and i noticed that water droplets{condensation] are covering the entire surface of the felt lining on one side of the roof felt lining.the front side of the roof is dry,there is so much moisture it is dripping onto the insulation which is now quite damp in places.The rafters are also beginning to look very damp with water content.
There are vents in the soffits but there are none in the roof tiles or cable.
The house is a semi-detached and is only 5 years old.
Please can anyone tell me will this effect the roof in time leading to major damage from rot and dampness getting through to the the ceilings etc etc.
Who would be liable for to correct this situation,the builder of the house,the surveyor who signed it off as correctly built or Homebond which the builder has a 10 year gaurantee with.
All your advise would be most appreciated.
JC
 
It could also be a central heating problem. I have heard of overpumping, where the pump is too strong, and there might be a blockage in the heating pipes... the hot water gets backed up into the tank in the attic causing steam.
 
Hi thankyou fraggle for that piece of advise i will check it out.
I have tenants in this house,so i will be out there again to do a few jobs.
I will enquire off the other neighbours if they have had a similiar problem.
 
There should be (inside>outside)
rafters > (breathable) membrane > vertical laths (for ventilation) > horizontal laths > rooftiles

It sounds like in your case the moisture from the inside of the house can't escape and thus condensates at the coldest point which is between insulation and felt.
Common construction mistake.
 
Hi chook thanks for your thoughts,have you any solutions ?
Should there have to be air vents installed in the roof tiles or maybe the gable end of the house?
Will Homebond cover this work that the builder neglected to do as i will be wasting my time chasing the builder.
If left undo could there be major roof problems in the future?
JC
 
Homebond won't cover something like this. Ignore homebond unless the majority of houses in the estate have major faults.

You can't leave the rafters getting wet. I would start by getting an insulation/roofing person in.
 
JC, there should be a continuous path for airflow between ridge and eaves to take moist air away. You need the condensation point to be away from the rafters and insulation, i.e. on the outside of the membrane where the moisture can escape through the vertical path between the bottom set of laths. If you look at the image here:
(I'm not yet allowed to post links, hence the www dot ...)
www dot palktareloghouses.com/index.php?id=15317&lang=en&tpl=1067
you can see the construction I mean. Kingspan also has images and considerations at www dot insulateonline.com/index1.htm?pitchedintro.htm~main
I'm no expert. It's just how I was taught it should be done. I agree with fraggle. Get in an expert.
 
I had this problem last year, apart from the soffit vents being covered with insulation; the extract duct from the shower was not taken the outside, only lying inside the soffit
 
Hi Roker you have hit the nail on the head,i did a further investigation up in the attic today.
The 3 extract ducts have only been taken to the soffit and have not been fitted properly out through the soffit,the timber work around these areas is soaking from moisture.
More Celtic tiger workmanship!!!!!
While i am rectifying this matter i have been advised opening the hatch door will help with drying out the moisture.
Thankyou Roker
Chippy
 
who would be responsible for the ducting of the shower extractors, the electrican ? or another trade ?
 
Should not be difficult to extend these fans to vents. Also make sure that all the vents on the rest of the soffits are clear from insulation as condensation is a common problem in attics where they are not properly vented.
 
Hi Mosstown, it is a plumbers job to duct the vent,but im sure some celtic tiger plumbers will disagree.
Hi Timoney, have you read all of my post? Fans have been vented to a pipe,problem is the pipes have not been connected to the outside world,hence all the condensation in the attic.
Chippy
 
I can fix this problem myself,but has anyone any idea who can i ask to question this builder on his past activities because he is only laughing at my little problems!!!
When a builder puts in the electrics for an immersion heater in the hot water boiler but does not insert an immersion in the boiler and declares when questioned it is not his responsibility,then who is responsible?.
When my own personal plumber tells me the plumbing system in this house should not have been signed off on by the builders engineer because it is not upto scratch,what goverment agency will sort out this builder????
This builder is now presently looking for planning permission up the road for serviced sites, in this day and age, and he has not finished off his last project properly.
Has anyone coped on yet in these planning offices?
Chippy
 
Hi Chook,not trying to be funny but are you reading from some construction manual because you sound like you have never been up in an attic in your life.
Please correct me if i am wrong.
Chippy
 
Chippy you are wrong. I have worked with people on roof renovations on a couple houses in Germany and I now live in a house that needs a new roof so I have lately been refreshing the theory part. And I sleep in an attic every night, literally looking at rafters and roof tiles ...
ps. none taken
 
That's not true. It is not in the plumbing apprenticeship training programme for plumbers to connect and install ducting, whether it is rigid or flexible from extract fans
You are wrong, so don't be blaming the "Celtic tiger plumbers"
The remit of fitting these hoses/ducts normally falls to the builder of the property.
 
Hi Villa thankyou for your imput I expected this answer,so who does the builder employ to fit the {Ducting} then ,please can you tell me.
I have some guttering that needs replacing aswell, i suppose that is not a plumbers job either!!!!
 
chippy said:
Hi Villa thankyou for your imput I expected this answer,so who does the builder employ to fit the {Ducting} then ,please can you tell me.
I have some guttering that needs replacing aswell, i suppose that is not a plumbers job either!!!!
Click to expand...
In most cases it's a general operative(very handy guys) working with the building company who fit the extract pipes/hoses
Guttering and sheet metal roofing zinc, copper, lead etc used to be under the plumbers remit(in this country) but has since gone, big shame.
You need to contact a guttering company if you have guttering problems.
 
It would appear that there are regulation for all of the construction, but no one checks it when complete, even the engineer who we paid when we purchased the house missed a lot of these points. So what is the point of regulation? The House Guarantee scheme will only look at major defects. The builder wins.

Regarding the vents, in my case there was already a vent tile fitted, so it took a builder 30 mins to connect it.
 
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