my attic seems to leak when the weather changes from cold to warm. i had new vents and whirly birds ,but still

Question

my attic leaks water through my windows and ceiling, when the wheather changes from cold to warm. i recently had my shingles re done, and additional vents and whirly birds installed. my upstairs is small and has crawl spaces that i think are poorly insulated and vapour barriered(not taped). this house was built in the 1930's and renovated in the 70's. i bought 3 years ago and have since installed new windows up stairs and tried to seal windows and crawl space properly, but still seems to leak every year. the attic is very small due to the crawlspaces. maybe the attic has too much ventilation? i have 3 vents, 2 whirlybirds,and 1 dormer vent. the inside of our attic roof has frost on it, and the whirly birds almost always freeze up, and thaw out.

p.s. i live in Alberta,Canada

Answer 1

If this only happens when it gets warm, not in the summer when it's raining and damp, then it's a vapor barrier issue. Every spring I see a variety of houses with this problem. The plastic vapor barrier that is above the drywall or wood that you have on your ceiling is leaking like crazy (I'm guessing wood, since drywall with paint can act as a vapor retarder). That warm moist air goes into the attic, rises, condenses on the bottom of the cold roof sheathing and freezes there. Good roof venting will get rid of some moisture, but not if there's a fair amount of leakage.



I'm betting there's only two ways to fix this.



First option is to pull off the roof finish inside and re-install a good vapor barrier. (NOTE: It does no good to install a good vapor barrier if the drywallers then punch it full of holes while hanging drywall)



Second option is to go into the attic and vacuum out the existing insulation (if it's blown) or pull it out if it's batts and then use a high-density spray foam insulation along the top of the ceiling. Make sure that whoever does this does it RIGHT and gets around all rafter members tightly and evenly. If they leave air pockets it will not solve your problem.

Answer 2

The one lady has a great suggestion you should check the roof flashing or have an inspector check it for you.



You also said that the crawl spaces were had vapior barrior in them, since this is attic space you don't need the barrier it will not allow your house to breath right, this could be causing the leak. Not allowing condensation and moisture to vent properly.

Answer 3

Not really, I've been running the AC the last few days. Got a bit of a sunburn on the beach last weekend. I wouldn't want to live in a warmer climate.

Answer 4

with your saying that you have frost on the roof inside leads me to believe there is moisture, do you have vents (sewer, ceiling fans, bathroom vent fans) that end within your attic?

either that or insulation is still allowing too much heat into this area. more a thought to check than an answer, sorry. you might look at:

http://www.homeadditionplus.com/attic_info/Frost-Forming-In-Attic.htm

Answer 5

It sounds like you simply have a leaky house. And that the flashing on your roof was not done right.



At the first opportunity, you might want to have your house inspected and get a reliable contractor to actually help with your roof.



Good luck!

Answer 6

kind of sounds like the pitch of your roof might not be steep enough. it would likely be worth the money to pull up all the shingles and put an ice and water shield over the whole thing, then re-shingle. big pain, but it sounds like you've tried everything else.