Condensation in attic

barriejohn69

We converted our attic last year and had put vertical boards along the front and back (of the roof) so that we could have storage behind them for xmas decs etc.
We just went up there and most of the boxes along the length of the roof were saturated. There does not seem to be a leak as the water is not in one place and there are a lot of drops of water hangng from the underside of the felt which I have assumed are condensation.
We converted 18 months ago so this is not the first winter the new attic has seen.

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm not the best at explaining things so please ask for any clarification.


Thanks in advance

Barrie

Viper_7

Did you do the conversion yourself of get someone in? If the latter get them back.

Have to be very careful with ventilation when converting a loft- or indeed storing anything up there.

What ventilation do you have up there?
Was any Vapour check layers added to the ceiling to prevent moisture entering the loft? or was it just boxed in so the space behind could be used for storage?
Was any of the items touching the roof and preventing ventilation, need free airflow right back to the eves.

ariba10

We had the same problem with our tiled roof and had six ventilation tiles fitted (By a DIY good neighbour)

No problem since.

fotokat66

We have had the same problem. Last week I spoke to a damp specialist who was round to look at another issue (we live in an old house!). he suggested first seeing if the boarding and insulation went all the way to the edges, as if it does, this can cause condensation.

he suggested in the first instance, to cut back the insulation and boards just a bit from the edges to allow the air to circulate more. If this didn't work, then he suggested getting air vents installed.

hope this helps!

barriejohn69

Viper_7 wrote: »

Did you do the conversion yourself of get someone in? If the latter get them back.

Have to be very careful with ventilation when converting a loft- or indeed storing anything up there.

What ventilation do you have up there?
Was any Vapour check layers added to the ceiling to prevent moisture entering the loft? or was it just boxed in so the space behind could be used for storage?
Was any of the items touching the roof and preventing ventilation, need free airflow right back to the eves.

Hi yes we did it ourselves. It was just boxed in so that the space behind could be used for storage. Some of the stuff possibly was touching the roof but not all of it.

Ventilation wise, I doubt anything was added.

andrew-b

The vertical boards you've fitted will be stopping ventilation of the roof space through the eaves . A properly done loft conversion the insulation between the ceiling joists would be removed and insulation fitted between the rafters.

Viper_7

Inadequate ventilation is the issue then.

If you've done this yourselves, double check that everything is above board or you may have trouble selling...

One of many linkys...
http://www.above-it-all.co.uk/house_builders/regulations_planning.htm

barriejohn69

We wouldn't sell it as an extra bed room anyway. The houses either side of us had it done and they've sold fine calling "useful space"