Condensation in my loft

karan_swindells

We are all suffering with the same problem ,my lagging is getting wet, so I have got a 12ft long by3 ft sheet of large bubble wrap and placed it loose on top of the lagging under the wet side it is working a treat, my lagging is protected and is is so easy to mop up any drips with kitchen roll -No messy fibres etc. The problem is we have not had windy days which blow through the eaves to dry it out. It does go

cwinning

popoliv wrote: »

I have identical problem like other posters with condensation in my loft space. We purchased the house in September and I noticed the condensation when I got the xmas gifts down. I managed to rescue my wife's boxed wedding dress before it was ruined!.
I checked the loft and found that all the eaves seemed to be blocked by polystyrene sheeting which seemed to be purposely shaped to fit eaves gaps. I decided to remove all of these to let air flow through the eaves but still have the condensation problem. My loft hatch is just a wooden board and not insulated and there is only one roof tile vent.
I am considering fitting the easy vents. Has anyone fitted these themselves and how easy are they to do?. Any other suggestions?
For information our house was built in 1996 and is a 3 bed detached.

Hi.....am tearing my hair out too on this one. Removed all insulation blocking vents and had extra over fascia venting fitted but still get loads of condensation. Been told roof/ridge vents will cure it but not so sure! Checked water tanks, loft hatch, airing cupboard pipes and still at a loss. I looked at the easy vents but seem to remember they were £8 or £10 each and having a large loft worked out costly. All they do is `space` the felt overlap to let in some air...something I have done yesterday myself to see if it fixes things. Simply got to B&Q (were cheaper than my local plumbers merchant) and buy a few 3 metre lengths of plastic overflow pipe (think it's 22mm dia)...cut into short 8-10 inch lengths and insert between felt overlaps so pipe runs parallel to the beams. Being round the pipe should not damage the felt...just be gentle when inserting it. This give an air gap between the felt and lets air in from outside.

If anyone else tries it please let me know if it works for you.

Good luck!

kaybee1

Wow! It's not just us then suffering with this problem!

A few months ago, we noticed the boxes in the loft were wet and the felt inside the roof dripping wet. Firstly we thought the roof was leaking! We dug out the original survey we had completed in the house 3 years ago and it recommended that ventilation to the loft needs improving to avoid problems with condensation and now with this very cold snap combined with having the heating on more frequently as we have a 9 month old baby, it has become a serious problem with the ceilings in the house showing wet patches and turning mouldy in places!

We've emptied the loft completely and have running a dehumidifyer in the short term. I had a man come and look at it and he has installed 6 air vents (3 either side) on the sofit/facia (not sure of the exact terminology!) plus he has pulled the existing insulation away from the eaves to allow more air circulation. We looked last night and it is DEF drier up there.:j

Problem is: our existing insulation is SOAKING wet and can't be working efficiently or have any hope of drying out so need to replace it. Anyone got any adivce about this? Don't want to put all new in only to find condensation problem still exists and causes new stuff to get wet again! But I don't think the condensation problem will get better with the wet insulation still there...vicious circle.....Any advice welcomed! Interestingly I see lots of people got this problem after having cavity wall insulation.....we just had ours done in December!!??? Pattern?

Many thanks

cbrpaul

my mum has the exact same problem after having cavity insulation !!

She had an expert in and he said

Due their no longer being a gap in wall cavity, air is unable to rise up from ground vents in the outer walls up through the cavity and allow good air flow through and into the loft space, and push it out through eves etc,,,


She wish she never had cavity insulation done now, even if it was free !!

cwinning

Hhhhmmmmmmmmm!! Interesting.......this house also had cavity wall insulation done by the previous owner!!! Got a couple of fans and a de-humidifier running meantime to keep condensation at a minimum and roofing man out on Saturday to look at some high up vent tiles as we have lower vents ok but nothing to `pull the air` through the loft. My earlier post using plastic pipe does sem to have made a fair difference and for under a tenner and an hours work was worth it I think. Let`s see what the roof man says. He came recommended from a builder we know and I can pretty much bet he will not try and rip us off (that's me seeing the best in people again!)

Will also ask him his view on the cavity wall theory.

kaybee1

I too would be intersted to find out what the expert did about it as we can't undo the cavity wall insulation now....

JW_Builders

The problem with condensation in loft void is not new.
Every year we have phone calls regarding this problem and many callout though council contract.

The more we lag the loft and house the bigger the problem becomes.

It can be help by venting the Void, Roof tiles are the cheaper way, and However airbricks can be fitted. To aloud air to move around the roof space.

Why does it happen I hear you all ask?
: the way the property was built i.e. felt used under tiles is not breathable,
: the change in use of property (bricking up old chimney) stopping air flow.
:Making the property warmer i.e. lagging loft this also stops air flow.
these are only some of the answers.

Roof voids are not built for storages; I know we all do this. However floor boarding the loft void and using it for storage then walking up there the ceiling joist are going to move. Thus you get cracks in the ceiling plaster.

kaybee1

This makes sense, thanks.

I had a man around today to quote for replacing all the insulation as it is now soaking wet under the grant schemes they are advertising. We don't qualify for the grant because even though the exisiting insulation is wet and not working from the condensation, we have too much in depth but they will do a 'top up' job which is costing £185. If we had emptied it before he came so we had none then we would have qualified for the £99 deal. There's no way we are leaving it un-insulated in this weather! We are going to take the insulation out the day before they come then they are going to come and 'top it up' from 0mm to 250mm which is the max they can do. They will also insulate the loft hatch, lag the pipes and the water tank.

Interestingly the man said we needed more ventilation and they could install 'easyvents' as mentioned earlier in this forum....I wonder if they realise that there will be more trouble with condensation as a result of the improvement in insulation and hence are trying ot avoid the problem by installing these are the same time? We aren't having them but our builder is going to put in a lapvent hopefully or tile vent instead.

isofa

Got this problem again this year, it's got much worse since the prolonged cold weather, water dripping on everything in the loft, from the felt between the rafters, mainly on the side which doesn't get the sun, mopping it regularly, but it's ruined all our storage boxes, literally running with water. I have a lot of the loft boarded (over thick insulation) plus carpet over the board, and this is all wet in sections too.

It's a modern house about 15 to 20 years old, no cavity wall insulation (was considering it!), and probably no breathable felt. but plenty of loft insulation. Bathrooms are vented with fans, plenty of air getting from the soffits, it's certainly cold up there! None are blocked with insulation, but there is a lot of water droplets all over the felt, gently dripping on the loft contents. I suspect it'll need more than a few vented roof tiles to rectify, I will get an expert in soon. (If anyone knows any roofing experts with skills in this, in Cambridgeshire let me know).

It must be to do with ventilation and lack of outside wind conditions with the very cold weather.

kriss_boy

cbrpaul wrote: »

my mum has the exact same problem after having cavity insulation !!

She had an expert in and he said

Due their no longer being a gap in wall cavity, air is unable to rise up from ground vents in the outer walls up through the cavity and allow good air flow through and into the loft space, and push it out through eves etc,,,


She wish she never had cavity insulation done now, even if it was free !!

Yup I was warned about how common a problem that was so I opted to forget about cavity wall insulation.

Insofar as the loft mine too was a bit damp. It was because the insulation was pushed too far into the eaves. The loft should be really cold if its well insulated preventing heat from the house rising through the ceiling.

Just make sure its wall ventilated- add a few extra vents in the soffit if need be.