In the crawl space, under my 1970's built:confused: home, there is insulation placed between floor joists. In the middle of the house ONLY, the insulation is dripping wet and the floor joists are dripping moisture. I checked under the insulation and the floor is dry; no moisture. There are no pipes in this center area; no leaks above. What could be the source of the moisture and is it a good practice to place insulation under a house like that?

Where do you live and what has been your daily temperature when this is happening. If the floor joists are dripping wet along with the insulation you more than likely have plumbing issue rather than insualtion problems. Any chance there is a drain pipe or supply line running along the floor of the crawl? Maybe a sump pump nearby?

I live in central NC and we have had a recent drought. That is another puzzle. There are no pipes around this area. The average temp has been around 50. Only these middle boards and insulation are wet - only in the center of the house - where, incidentally, the house moves up a level. There is the main portion of the house and then, there are four regular steps down into the bedrooms and bathrooms. It is the floor joist in the middle of the split that is wet. We have red clay here and the crawl space has always been a little dank and damp. I'm afraid that I am so lacking in knowledge that I don't even know what a sump pump is. Thanks for responding.

First off you will need to remove all the wet insulation and discard it. With your climate and temperature there is zero chance this is condensation so I continue to think plubing. There is likely plumbing inside a wall and its leaking. You should start inspecting the baseboards along the walls directly above this area. You can rent or buy a moisture meter if you want to go high tech but they are pricey. Moisture Meters This might help you find the wetest spot or you can start removing baseboards. Do you have a furnace or baseboard heat in your home?

The house has a heat pack (I think that is what it is called) and it is in the attic. There are vents in the ceiling. I will crawl back under and check again - it just hit me when you said baseboard - the toilet in my master bathroom had been leaking, (at the pipe coming into the wall), and since it is so hard to find anyone to trust to fix things, I just turned the water off there at the wall. Since the pipe coming out of the wall is so old (there are traces of rust on the pipe), could that be the culprit? I'll go under the house and look again. You have been the biggest help! Thanks for your patience. That toilet may be it!

Let me know what you find. Toilets are frequent sources of small drippy leaks. Tell me exactly where you see that pipe getting wet. Try drying it with a paper towel, allow to sit for a few minutes and then wrap it with 3-4 wraps of toilet aper to see what gets wet first. The leak may be inside the wall and not and the stop cock.

Your source of water is probably plumbing and is probably the toilet but here's something else to check. If your heat pack has a powered vent exaust, check the condensation line. Don't know much about heat packs but the new high efficiency furnaces use a powered vent exaust and consendation is created buy the exaust. Just check to make sure the condensation line is clear and will drain. All this is assuming that by heat pack you mean gas pack.

Once we pin down the source of the water we might move this post to another area like plumbing or heating, it doesn't fit with home improvement any longer.

Just wondering... when you say the house moves up a level? Some times they will add another set of floor joists over the first set once the floor has been sheeted to create this "step up". I have seen water supply and waste lines run in the upper floor joists which would not be vissable from the basement or crawl space. Just a thought.
Mike