Condensation in loft????

[catmadjax]

Hello everyone, hope you have had a good christmas!

I have a 1984 2 bed house. I recently went into the loft and found that all the felt had lots of dropplets of water, and the timbers are damp in places. Before I moved here, the previous owners had PVC cladding put over the soffits and facia boards. Although they have very small vents in the sofits I recon that they have covered the original vents which were much bigger. I will get this rectified, however, this may sound strange but I used to live in the house next door and when I lived there, I had a leak in the roof. This turned out to be due to mortor that had worn away due to moss in the ridge tiles (we live very near lots of trees). This leak showed the same signs of what is happening now but this time, it is ALL over the felt inside the roof and not just in one place.

Could it be condensation from lack of air vents? or is it possible that most of the mortor in the ridge tiles has cracked? Is there anyway of telling whats going on as I dont want to be ripped off by a roofer if all the problem is is condensation? Does anyone know a good roofer in shropshire that I could trust?

Any help would be appreciated. :lol:

 

[Lime]

Could it be condensation from lack of air vents?

Yes.

It makes matters worse if any water is leaking into the loft and/or warm moist air from the house is getting in.

added.
There can be other causes.
All gas appliances emit flue gases and these form a hot humid plume from the flue pipe.
In some wind conditions this plume is directed up the side of the house or blown back onto it.
The flue gases have been shown to get caught/trapped under any overhang like eaves and is warm and damp.
If it gets into the loft the moisture will condense out very quickly, almost as if it is raining.

 

[catmadjax]

Hi, thank you for that information. I have a condensing boiler positioned on the kitchen wall, the flue to the gas fire itself goes through the loft but i never have the fire on at all. We have had high winds tho a couple of weeks back.

 

[NT]

For all we know water could be getting in from anywhere due to any cause. Have you binoculared the roof to check for missing tiles and defective flashing or fillets? Checked any gulleys? Really I dont see any way youre going to know whats going on unless you check it out.


NT

 

[Penners]

Dealing with moisture problems is invariably a process of elimination. Your problem does sound very much as though it could be condensation, and the lack of soffit vents offers a logical explanation.

In your shoes I would start by getting those soffits properly ventilated. This may well solve the problem. However, if it doesn't, then you have at least eliminated one possible cause of the moisture (and you've created a healthier environment for your roof). You can then move on to looking for other causes.

But it does sound like condensation.

 

[middi]

If you double or treble the insulation value above the ceilings you can have a gale blowing through the roof space, that will definetely get rid of any water vapour or condensation.