Last year I installed new vented vinyl soffit on a 1953 home that had no vents. As I proceeded and saw wall cavities I filled the top part of the cavity with a fiberglass insulation, a piece about two feet long where there were no windows. This year I have water stains on my ceiling in four rooms. In one room I actually have water droplets formed on the ceiling on the inside. I went into the attic to discover aluminum flashing installed over missing knots in the 1x material originally used, It was cold and my thought was due to the extremely low temperatures here that it was just condensation on the aluminum. I'm note sure now. Did I do something wrong? My attic has very little insulation and that was going to be my weekend project. The walls have none. What can I do?

I understand the soffit vent portion of your question but can't figure why you were sawing into walls to do this job? Do you have an ice dam problem, since you mentioned extremely low temperature?

The soffit is 2 feet from the brick. It hangs lower than the walls. The wall cavity was exposed when I cut holes in the existing plywood soffit to create air movement to the ridge vent. I stuffed a two foot piece of insulation in the cavity to keep the cold air from moving down the wall space.

Are you saying that the tops of the wall cavity was open to the attic, that would be strange. Is there a ridge vent or anything up high on the roof line to allow the vented air to leave? Your soffit vents just let air into the attic. Get your attic insulation up to R36 as soon as you can since the walls are uninsulated. I had a house just like yours and by the time I sold it the attic was up to R 60. There was no vapor barrier in the attic so I used a paintible vapor barrier on all the ceilings.

No, the wall cavity was not open to the attic. The wall cavity was open on the outside of the house. The brick stopped just above the soffit. Then there was the cavity.
Right now in the attic there is a double sided kraft backed insulation that is about 2" thick, would this serve as the vapor barrier. If not... what product did you use?
There is a ridge vent on this hip roof, I will check tonight to see how big the space at the top is.

If you pull back on the paper and try to split it from the glass it should look black as tar. That would be an acceptable vapor barrier.

I do not have a tar on the paper.

Sounds like you are right about condensation, I have blown-in insulation and the wind over times pushes some of it away from the wall edge and soffit. Then I find dampness and mildew on outside wall edge of ceiling. I go up redistribute the insulation material to cover to end of ceiling and no more dampness. Make sure you have good airflow to keep it dry as well.

That paper does not appear to be a vapor barrier but I am only judging by insulation I have installed. It also sounds like you have 4" too little insulation by minimal standards. You need 6" or more in the ceiling. What state, country do you live?

I live in Central Pennsylvania. I know I need more, I've already purchased blow in to achieve a thirty eight R-value. I was concearned about installing it with the condensation problem. I am going to install it Friday.

The stains are likely caused when your warm room air rises and hits the relatively cold ceiling. More insulation should stop this problem. Since it doesn't appear to be a vapor barrier and not easy to install one now you can use a paintable vapor barrier on the ceilings. They probably need paint anyway due to the stains. Hit the stains with something like Zinnser 123 primer or Bullseye.

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

The stains are likely caused when your warm room air rises and hits the relatively cold ceiling. More insulation should stop this problem. Since it doesn't appear to be a vapor barrier and not easy to install one now you can use a paintable vapor barrier on the ceilings. They probably need paint anyway due to the stains. Hit the stains with something like Zinnser 123 primer or Bullseye.

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What type or name of a product did you use as a paint-on-able vapor barrier?

Its made by Sherwin Williams, LTX vapor barrier primer. $70 for 5 gal but you can get it by the gallon. Google "paintable vapor barrier" and you will find other brands. http://doitbest.com/Main.aspx?PageID=64&SKU=782211

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Originally Posted by ballengerb1

Its made by Sherwin Williams, LTX vapor barrier primer. $70 for 5 gal but you can get it by the gallon. Google "paintable vapor barrier" and you will find othet brands. http://doitbest.com/Main.aspx?PageID=64&SKU=782211

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You've been a great help. Thanks for taking time to analize the problem I have.