Wet bedroom walls- Condensation?

Jeepers_Creepers

It's not really the ambient air/moisture that causes the condensation issue, it's what's coming from the house. At 10oC outdoor temp, I doubt there will be any issue - unless there is zero ventilation up there. But that won't be the case.

Arsenal2019

Had the roofer come out from house insurance today. They won’t pay for it through the insurance as the roof is not damaged. 

He said the roof is in good condition.

He said that my roof is absolutely fine. He stated that it is condensation and that the reason for this happening is because I do not have my roof felted. They say I should get that done, and/or ventilation. But ventilation installed in the roof may not fix the solution 

Jeepers_Creepers

Arsenal2019 said:

Had the roofer come out from house insurance today. They won’t pay for it through the insurance as the roof is not damaged. 

He said the roof is in good condition.

He said that my roof is absolutely fine. He stated that it is condensation and that the reason for this happening is because I do not have my roof felted. They say I should get that done, and/or ventilation. But ventilation installed in the roof may not fix the solution 

Good of them to send out an assessor. I presume it was an experienced roofer.

Your roof is in good condition? Cool - it certainly looks to be, so it's nice to have that confirmed. That means you are unlikely to be replacing it for a loooong time, and quite possibly not at all. In which case you are now looking to sort the ventilation problem, since this is almost certainly the cause.

Ok, he then blamed the condensation on the lack of felt. I'm not a roofer, but that just doesn't make full sense to me. Any felt you add will be as cold as the slates above it, and condensation will form on the felt just the same since there's no ventilation.

Mind you, the only proper way to add felt is to strip the roof of slate first, add felt, and reslate. In which case you'd design in all the ventilation you'd want anyway. But this is, of course, a very costly solution; effectively a new roof.

The only reasonable-cost solution is to add vents of some sort. What was your previous roofer's actual proposition? What type of vent, and where? Was it along the eaves gap, or was it to remove the odd slate and fit a vent in there? And how many?

I suspect that, by now, the actual issue has lessened a huge amount, and will likely clear away completely over the next few weeks assuming the weather remains mild. But it will come back again when the temp falls to near zero and below.

Perhaps another possibility - but it'll be invasive and costly - is to line all the upstairs ceilings with foiled-backed p'board. But no guarantee it'll prevent it fully.

Bottom line - provided the issue isn't being caused by a leak or overflowing gutter, something like that - then it's almost certainly 'condensation'. And for that the cure is simply 'ventilation'.

Arsenal2019

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Arsenal2019 said:

Had the roofer come out from house insurance today. They won’t pay for it through the insurance as the roof is not damaged. 

He said the roof is in good condition.

He said that my roof is absolutely fine. He stated that it is condensation and that the reason for this happening is because I do not have my roof felted. They say I should get that done, and/or ventilation. But ventilation installed in the roof may not fix the solution 

Good of them to send out an assessor. I presume it was an experienced roofer.

Your roof is in good condition? Cool - it certainly looks to be, so it's nice to have that confirmed. That means you are unlikely to be replacing it for a loooong time, and quite possibly not at all. In which case you are now looking to sort the ventilation problem, since this is almost certainly the cause.

Ok, he then blamed the condensation on the lack of felt. I'm not a roofer, but that just doesn't make full sense to me. Any felt you add will be as cold as the slates above it, and condensation will form on the felt just the same since there's no ventilation.

Mind you, the only proper way to add felt is to strip the roof of slate first, add felt, and reslate. In which case you'd design in all the ventilation you'd want anyway. But this is, of course, a very costly solution; effectively a new roof.

The only reasonable-cost solution is to add vents of some sort. What was your previous roofer's actual proposition? What type of vent, and where? Was it along the eaves gap, or was it to remove the odd slate and fit a vent in there? And how many?

I suspect that, by now, the actual issue has lessened a huge amount, and will likely clear away completely over the next few weeks assuming the weather remains mild. But it will come back again when the temp falls to near zero and below.

Perhaps another possibility - but it'll be invasive and costly - is to line all the upstairs ceilings with foiled-backed p'board. But no guarantee it'll prevent it fully.

Bottom line - provided the issue isn't being caused by a leak or overflowing gutter, something like that - then it's almost certainly 'condensation'. And for that the cure is simply 'ventilation'.

my insurance only sent out a roofer to see whether or not I would’ve been able to have a fix, but out of their pocket.... they’re not paying.

The roofer who initially suggested having vents installed is yet to get back to me with a quote. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.
It’s just extremely annoying as so many people have suggested different things; which doesn’t make it easy for when I have to come to a decision for what to do.

Since the extremely bad and cold weather, my ceiling has been nowhere near as bad as what it was. But like you said, it’ll inevitably return when the bad weather does!! 

That being said, I am glad the roof is in good condition 

Arsenal2019

The roofer got back to me who stated it was condensation.

he said he would put two slate vents in the roof for me. Everything £285.

This sound good?

Grenage

That sounds like a reasonable price and plan.

Jeepers_Creepers

Arsenal2019 said:

The roofer got back to me who stated it was condensation.

he said he would put two slate vents in the roof for me. Everything £285.

This sound good?

Certainly sounds reasonable, Arsenal.

I cannot comment on whether two vents will be enough as I'm not a roofer - I'm hoping someone else can confirm? Do you know where these vents will go? The idea is to have a good flow of air up there - there is no such thing as 'too much', the more the better. I think, therefore, that I would have been hoping for two vents on each side of the roof, so that would almost certainly guarantee a good through-flow.

But, I don't know.

If there are no actual roofers on here, perhaps it's worth looking at other builder forums?

stuart45

Better to have front and back, and also at the ridge. It sounds like the roofer is saying that it it might not be enough.

Jeepers_Creepers

I think the roofer suggested there would be no guarantees of it being a complete solution.

But, if this is condensation - and almost certainly it is - a couple of vents (they basically take the space of a single slate?) positioned low along each side (and a ridge one too, ideally) would, I think, almost certainly be a cure.

If you can get a decent draught running through there, you are sorted. I suspect the issue began when the slates were 'mortared' together = no air flow. Coupled with next-to-zero eaves vents, which wouldn't have been an issue before the slates were cemented together.

Arsenal2019

Jeepers_Creepers said:

I think the roofer suggested there would be no guarantees of it being a complete solution.

But, if this is condensation - and almost certainly it is - a couple of vents (they basically take the space of a single slate?) positioned low along each side (and a ridge one too, ideally) would, I think, almost certainly be a cure.

If you can get a decent draught running through there, you are sorted. I suspect the issue began when the slates were 'mortared' together = no air flow. Coupled with next-to-zero eaves vents, which wouldn't have been an issue before the slates were cemented together.

Yes you’re right. The two slate vents would be placed low along the roof, but only at the front of the house- where the issue is.

he states that although it may not 100% cure it, it’ll almost certainly help and is a more cost effective approach than re-roofing a perfectly fine roof