Condensation In The Loft

[Elton]

I've just been up in my loft and noticed a few patches where condensation appears to have dripped onto the boards up there.

 

Is there anything I can do to combat this? Should I be worried?

[Ken L]

First check for water ingress as a result of cracked or moved tiles.

If all is well the usual suspect is lack of ventilation in the loft space - make sure your insulation isn't covering any airbricks and if necessary ream out the holes with a pipe cleaner or similar to get rid of any spider webs.

[Elton]

Cheers, Ken. I'll take a proper root around up there later, then. It's rammed full of stuff, which makes it a bit difficult.

[Worms]

I've just been up in my loft and noticed a few patches where condensation appears to have dripped onto the boards up there.

 

Is there anything I can do to combat this? Should I be worried?

You can also have a problem with existing moisture on the tiles freezing which pushes the tiles apart slightly. When it starts to thaw you can get little 'leaks'.

[ColinW]

Make sure the loft insulation hasn't been rammed right up to the tiles blocking off the eaves ventilation. It's easily done fitting thick insulation in older properties that don't have plastic eaves ventilators.

[barry luxton]

Cheers, Ken. I'll take a proper root around up there later, then. It's rammed full of stuff, which makes it a bit difficult.

 

You have water vapour forming droplets, from the rafters? That would mean your insulation is in the rafters and not the floor? That is not unusual if you are making use of the attic. It could mean that you are loosing a lot of heat through your ceilings, creating a warm roof space.

If you need to upgrade your insulation, 'kingspan' generic name for foilbacked foamed sheeting is really good to cut and slot in between rafters or ceiling joists. Expensive, even wicks sell it now. however it don't take up a lot of room and is more effective that glass wool insulation. Current depth of insulation required/ recommended today is approximatly 8 inches. However, kingspan you can get away with half that depth.

 

Correct Worms, sometimes ice and even snow can form or be blown up into the roof space, when melts some people go omygawd, however there is no leak or further action required.

Edited December 21, 2009 by barry luxton

[Brian Carragher]

It's perfectly normal in these temperatures to get some condensation on the underside of your felt when it gets cold, the most common cause at this time of year is opening the loft hatch when the house is nice and warm and the outside air temperature is cold thus resulting in a rush of air to the coldest part of the house/roof but a lot of that is dependant on what type of underfelt is present. Is it the old bitchamastic reinforced felt or is it the new blue breathable felt , its called felt but is actually a woven cloth material, if its the breathable type you should see the white side on the inside of your loft

 

A complex we built last year suffered the same problems as the weather was worse than now and the heating was going full belt and causing condensation in the loft void as we were still working up there with the loft hatchs open

[Andrew Boyd]

If adding insulation to the floor of your loft . . don't forget additional protection to pipes and tank. You can't have too much !!

 

On Jan 4th 13 years ago we came hope and found it raining . . .. . . . . indoors!!