I have not gone to the house to take a look yet. But here is the email from the tenant
We noticed moisture running down the walls in an upstairs closet (see pictures), which led me to open up the attic for the first time since we moved in.
It was immediately apparent that the attic is far too hot as a result of inadequate ventilation.
There are a total of 5 soffit vents (two on the front section and 3 on the back) for the whole house, and 4 roof vents (two on each the front and the back. By my calculations, that is not sufficient for the size of the attic.
Additionally, at some point someone has added additional blow-in insulation to the attic. They did not provide for the soffit vents to be free of insulation (see pictures), which has reduced air flow and contributed to the problem. There doesn't seem to be any access to the attic on the front half of the house, but based on the small amount of venting I expect similar issues are present there as well.
The attic is acting like a solar sauna, trapping moist, very hot air. This is causing the moisture problem, contributing to a mold issue (see pictures), and will certainly reduce the life of the shingles (and void any warranty) and the roof sheeting.
In the winter poor attic ventilation can cause ice damming. Luckily, we had such a mild winter that this wasn't a problem.
Do you mind sharing the company you used for this? I'm also in Richmond Hill and seem to have a similar issue in my attic, I'm looking at removing my old insulation, checking all the seals, and baffles and then putting in new insulation.enwhyRFD wrote: ↑ Just get an attic insulation company to go and inspect and quote. They will be able to tell you what needs to be done to resolve your issue.
I had pretty much the same issue, and it was due to the following:
- inadequate insulation. I changed it from R8 to R60.
- inadequate baffles that allowed for fresh air intake (which looks like from your pictures you may have). The attic insulation company installed new baffles.
- bathroom fans vented directly into the attic. I had a roofer cut 2 holes for the vents, then connected the fans directly to them to vent outside.
- vapour barrier was poorly taped at the joins. I taped them all down prior to blowing in new insulation (I had the old insulation removed).
What you want to ensure is that:
1. no moist air from livable space (ie 2nd floor/first floor) goes into the attic.
2. any moist air doesn't stay in the attic and is able to escape (good circulation between the baffles and vents).
I'm curious to know what the cost for all the upgrades was. I have a similar situation that I'd like to tackle in the spring. Hopefully be able to collect some greener homes rebates as part of it.enwhyRFD wrote: ↑ Just get an attic insulation company to go and inspect and quote. They will be able to tell you what needs to be done to resolve your issue.
I had pretty much the same issue, and it was due to the following:
- inadequate insulation. I changed it from R8 to R60.
- inadequate baffles that allowed for fresh air intake (which looks like from your pictures you may have). The attic insulation company installed new baffles.
- bathroom fans vented directly into the attic. I had a roofer cut 2 holes for the vents, then connected the fans directly to them to vent outside.
- vapour barrier was poorly taped at the joins. I taped them all down prior to blowing in new insulation (I had the old insulation removed).
What you want to ensure is that:
1. no moist air from livable space (ie 2nd floor/first floor) goes into the attic.
2. any moist air doesn't stay in the attic and is able to escape (good circulation between the baffles and vents).
EcoComfort Insulation
