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roofing contractors ?

47studebaker
I had built a house 4 years ago (I was there every day, lots of sweat equity). Looks like a BIG "A" frame with 2 bedrooms and a full bath on the second floor. Each bedroom has a closet the lenght of the bedroom and unheated sloped storage behind the closet. This fall the wife opened the storage area and we found water pooled on some of the stored boxes. Got the contractor to come and look (brother-in-law, full time contractor) decided there was too much heat building up and recommended we install additional roof vents and maybe a temp controlled fan/blower this spring/summer. Water stains were evident on the lower edge of the roof joists. Wife just went to bring in some items and saw more water on boxes and actually saw water drop down and hit the boxes. I got a flashlight and discovered the roofing nails showing through the sheeting are rusty and water pooled on the tips of the nails dripping off on to the boxes.

For further info I'm located in north central PA, house faces almost directly south and gets full/partial sun from 8AM till 5-6 PM but is surrounded by woods. Asphalt? shingles were 30 year ELK something brand, nailed with rolled nails in air powered guns. I don't recall the weight of rolled roofing. and the walls are 6", siding is vynal and soffet is vented with those "pink foam channels"

Anyone have any ideas whats wrong or how to fix it.
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • LesWVa
    Sounds as if you do not have the space between the rafters and ceiling joist vented properly.

    If the space is insulated check to see if the eve vents are open and not covered by insulation or other matter.

    If they are covered. Warm air rising hits the colder roof sheathing and this causes moister to form on the underside of the sheathing. If left to form for an extended period of time water will collect and drip onto the ceiling or space below the roof joist. The steeper the roof the more likely it will run down and form pools at the base of the roof truss next to the wall.
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  • Knifecollector
    I would say its condensation. Do you have R-38 beteen the rafters? Are there insulation baffles to allow air to pass between the insulation and the roof sheeting?
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  • 11b6r
    As Les and Knife said- likely is condensation of water vapor. Check down at the eaves- usually vents there in the soffit- be sure insulation has not blocked them. You need more air moving thru the space above the insulation to get the moist air out of there- otherwise the moisture WILL condense on the sheathing for your roof, and drip down. A powered vent (fan) is not expensive to install, but will still need free air flow to work well. You did not say what access is to attic- stair, pull down, hatch- but check that access is weather stripped to keep airflow from inside house to attic.
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  • jimdeere
    Roofs with a steep pitch seem to always have a strong up draft. Could be the warm air being pulled up through the house meets the cold air in the attic and moisture condenses. You probably already checked to bathroom vent duct.
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  • buschmaster
    yup yup

    unless they did a really crappy job putting on the "cap" shingles up top on the ridge, and water is getting under/around those and going right under all the rest of the shingles all the way down the roof, but that's very not likely.

    seeing water all over the roof joists away from the nails shows it's from condensation.
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  • 47studebaker
    attic access is not finished but consists of an access hole 16"x4 feet into the upper attic area. It is closed and has a seal around the edge. Access to the sloped area behind the closet is a 4x6 foot panel that is screwed fast. Heat is propane hot air and central AC, uses silver and yellow fiber panels formed into chambers which feed individual rooms via black plastic and pink fiberglass "hoses" that go to vents located in the rooms ceilings. We installed the W shaped pink foam channels at the soffets and where the walls meet the roof joists. There is no insulation in contact with the bottom of the roof sheeting. I believe R-11 was used on interior walls but outside walls and ceilings were R-38.

    I'm also leaning towards condensation but when I talked to Brother-in-law he thought the tubes feeding heat/AC to the upstairs could be leaking. We have always had a problem providing enough heat and AC to the upstairs.

    Any way he is coming over tomorrow to see what he can see. I'll offer your suggestions.

    THANKS !
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  • slipgate
    You can't just put up a roof vent and expect it to work. The roof needs to be specifically designed for a roof vent system to make sure it is properly ventilated. The best type of attic ventilation is vents on both eve's and a powered fan on one.

    Where are you? Franklin? I used to drive to Scrubgrass a lot when I managed the IT systems for a power plant there.
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