I just purchased a cape style home in August from my family built by my grandfarther. Well When I had it inspected, we had mold. So I ripped off the roof and put a new one on, (no Mold). Well, last week I notice water stains on my first floor ceiling and window frames. I did some reasearch and I found ice/water under the roof under the insulation. The Condensation only appears to be on the lower end about 4 feet end. This is my crawl space are my crawl spaces. The peak of the house where the gables vents are is dry. The water/ice is on the north side only. I had baffels installed, I have 2 gabble vents and a ridge vent. We also installed vents by the gutters. Why is this happening.
thanks
Fil

skiberger

Are all the exhaust vents venting to the exterior and not into the attic? What kind of heat do you have? If forced air, are all the seams of the duct work taped and not leaking air? Its best to seal all duct joints w/ foil tape and NOT duct tape.
If you have the rafter vents installed into the attic soffit areas of the rafters make sure the insualtion in the floor area is against the vents so you dont loose the air through your ceiling at the exterior wall areas. Being the north side of the attic the sun cant dry the space out.

tkrussell

Just another perspective, to me I getting that you have a joist filled with typical fibreglass insulation, maybe up to and touching the inside of the sheathing? Then under the roofing material the wood is wet?

if this is correct, the batt insulation should not fill the void completely,I know there is a styrofoam channel that can offer the air gap from one end of joist to the other, and both ends need to vent to outside.

This will prevent condensation forming in the layers of roofing by allowing free air venting.

If this is not it, hey worth a try.

labman

You are getting condensation because water vapor is getting into the attic faster that it is getting out. With the ventilation you have, it may be excess vapor getting into the attic. I would carefully go over the entire crawl space caulking shut all holes around wires, pipes, light fixtures, and anything else warm, moist air could manage to escape into the crawl space. Be a little careful of the electrical stuff. You can seal around it, but some of it can't have insulation in contact with it. If you have an access panel from inside, weather strip it. Does the ceiling have a vapor barrier? An easy retro fit is a vapor barrier paint, check Gliden or Sherwin Williams. This is especially important over moisture producing areas such as kitchen, bath, or laundry. With heating prices going the way they are, you have plenty of incentive to fix any leaks.

Are there any exhaust fans venting into the crawl space? Route them outside the house somehow. Is you vent or chimney in good shape? Furnaces produce large amounts of water vapor.

Does incoming air at the gutters have a clear route to the gable and ridge vents? The air must be free to enter the bottom vents and rise to exit the upper ones.

I ended up with a condensation problem after residing my house and covering the trim. I went to all perf panels for the soffit and added ridge vents. I also tightened up the wiring and pipes and used the vapor barrier paint. By reducing the vapor getting into the attic and increasing the air circulation, I eliminated the problem.