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Question: Hi Mark. I was hoping not to have to contact you, but here I
am as I have an attic moisture problem. I have read your articles in our local
paper over the years. Fortunately I saved one with your contact information in
it, as I now need your help. Long story short, I have a 4 year old colonial.
About 2 years ago I insulated the 3rd floor attic to make a finished room on
one side and storage on the other. Since I completed the work I’ve had a
recurring attic moisture problem. The insulation is actually wet on the cold
side.
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I have had many people tell me how to
insulate the knee walls slopes and the ceiling, and I’ve tried many different
ways but apparently none of the methods I’ve tried seem to work. I just noticed
again wet insulation in the unfinished cold side of the attic, after just this
past spring redoing the insulation again a different way. Any ideas on what
could be causing this problem would be appreciated it.
Answer: Ned, sorry to hear about your attic moisture problem. It sounds
like you have warm moist air working its way up from the lower levels of the
home into the 3rd floor. From there it is working its way into the cold area of
the attic, and finally into the insulation, where it is condensing.
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To solve this problem you really need to prevent that warm moist air from
hitting the cold area of the attic, or having a way to vent the moist air out of
the unfinished attic space. You’re going to either need to install an air-tight
door between the finished and unfinished spaces, or vent the entire space to get
rid of the hot moist air that is entering the attic. I doubt you want to do the
latter as the finished space will need to be very cold.
Also, I assumed you installed insulation in the rafters when you insulated
the attic.
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In the process, did you make sure to use rafter vents so that air could
migrate upwards from the soffit vents to the ridge vent. Rafter vents prevent
insulation from choking off air that should normally move from the soffit
vents to the ridge vent. The attic vent system is important for keeping the
attic area cool and dry, even if it’s simply the small pockets of air between
the insulation and the back side of the roof sheathing.
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Also, did you use faced insulation in
between the roof rafters, and if so did you place the paper-side to the inside
of the home (warm side). If not, you should have, as the paper face helps to
prevent moisture from penetrating into the insulation, where it can condense and
form moisture. If you installed unfaced insulation, you should have stapled
polyethylene plastic to the insulated roof rafters and attic walls to form the
vapor barrier.
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Photo by Mark Donovan |
Another possible culprit for pumping high moisture into the attic is an
improperly vented bathroom ceiling fan. Are you sure that all lower level
bathroom ceiling fans are vented to the outside of the home and not to your
attic?
Finally, are you able to determine if you have a potential roof leak? If at
all possible, check the attic side roof sheathing for water penetration during
a rain storm. Also, I’ve seen cases where windswept rain can work its way into
and under ridge vents, and then drip down the roof sheathing and rafters.
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