Our house is 2 years old, in Fargo ND. 2 sconces in the kitchen, on the west exterior wall leaked water from behind the fixtures, running down the wall last week. It did not rain that day or the day before. The roof is a 6/12 pitch with 2'8" overhangs. Siding is LP lap siding. Walls are 2x6 with Tyvek wrap, OSB sheathing, batt insulation, moisture barrier, and sheetrock. Does anyone have an idea where this water is coming from, and what to do about it? There is no other water leaking anywhere that we know of in our house.

What is above the kitchen?

Could anything cause condensation?

Cold fixture with a space above it being warm and having high humidity?

I can find a table of dew points, but you need the temp of the surface and the temp and humidity of the surrounding air.

Our house is a 1 story, so the only thing above the kitchen is the roof.

It rained last night and there was no dripping from the sconces.

It has been humid recently in Fargo. Our home has central air conditioning and we keep it at 76 degrees. This morning the humidity is 87%.

Our roof is insulated and also the soffits are ventilated.

Is this information helpful?

Well it doesn't sound like rain water but unless you have water pipes above, which I can't see in an exterior wall in ND, it has to be.

Perhaps it is rain water that some how gets in the wall but takes some time to leak out of the sconces. Remove the sconces temporarily to see if you get water during the next rain.

Thank you for the great suggestion!

Do you have central air with an air handler/condenser in the attic?

Look for a clogged condensate line, overflowing drip pan, etc...

Thank you for the feedback. We have central air conditioning, and the unit is outside of the house. There is no part of the air conditioner in our roof.

Could it possibly be just condensation from the back of the sconce? It was a humid day, our air conditioning was on and it was set to 76 degrees.

If you use the LAMTEC Dew point calculator, a RH of 87% and a temp of 76 gives you a Dew Point of 74-75, very close to your air temp. However, I bet your output temp at a register is <70. Quite possible that you reached the dew point, particularly on a metal surface. In Atlanta, not uncommon to see water dripping off a supply register, particularly one near the fan. I have seen rust damage to some computer devices-key punch machines(tells you how old I am) when they powered down the computers over a 3 day holiday weekend and kept the air unregulated.

I think you may be right. I looked for the registers, and wouldn't you know it, there are registers in the floor directly below both sconces. Do you think it would make a difference if we did not turn on the sconces on really humid days?

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Originally Posted by carmelpele

Thank you for the feedback. We have central air conditioning, and the unit is outside of the house. There is no part of the air conditioner in our roof.

Could it possibly be just condensation from the back of the sconce? It was a humid day, our air conditioning was on and it was set to 76 degrees.

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While the AC condenser is outside the house, the air handler is normally in the attic. This is where the condensate pan and overflow drains are located. This could be the source of water and condensation.

You (or an HVAC professional) need to get up into the attic and investigate.

You will likley find this as the source of your water leak.

Thank you for your advice. I will talk to our HVAC people about it!