We recently had a metal roof installed and the roofer removed the ridge vents and now the house seems like it is several degrees hotter than normal. We still have soffit venting and need to know if our roofer cut corners and did not install vents...
Thanks
Guest User
2013-07-31 17:52:28.000000
They used the existing soffit vents. We discovered that they had forgotten to cut the underlayment back off the ridge vents on the new rooms built on & made him come back & do that, but he checked the old part of the house & said that the ridge vent was open there.
We renovated the entire house. We added 3 rooms, had new hardwood throughout the house, new HVAC, changed out all the duct board & flex & upgraded to all metal ducts, of course I mentioned the new roof. We had new tile put in the kitchen & baths. We renovated the old house & reconfigured it to make 2 baths & a very small bedroom into 3 baths & a utility room. Also new exhaust fans were placed in the baths. These are installed in the ceilings but there is nothing above that but attic space.
Cutting out the underlayment from the additions ridge vent brought the humidity down from 76% to about an avg of 65% but still way too much. The floors are buckling throughout the old parts, but not in the new rooms. I forgot to mention that all of the grout in the new tile has cracked, this is also only on the old house.
Guest User
2013-10-13 09:33:34.000000
No, the exhaust fans do not vent to the outside. We questioned that, but were told it wasn't an issue.
The HVAC is properly sized. My dad is an HVAC tech & he I asked his advise on all of the HVAC before installation. The heat pump hasn't been kicking on much lately, because the temps outside have dropped to a comfortable level. That is when humidity is the worst. We didn't notice any issues during winter (cause heat was dehumidifying) or the summer cause AC dehumidifies. No, we have no humidifiers in the house.
RH is 65 in the house, not attic.
The new rooms were added to each end of the ranch style home, making an L shape.
There is plastic down under the crawl space but the contractor filled back in around the footer perimeters, which I question.
The contractor suggested we install gutters & that this would take care of the issues but I am skeptical. I don't think that gutters are the magic fix, but we have the gutter guy here today. The crawl space RH is 73, but no standing water We hired a boy to dig around the entire footers & we knocked a hole through the block & inserted a drain pipe so water could drain under house.
I have spoken to a rep from an environmental company. Looks like it will cost at least $1500 bucks for him to even come out & look, not counting investigation costs. We are looking at whole home dehumidifiers.
We are just broken-hearted. We spent our entire savings on this project & made sure our contractor was licensed & insured & asked about his work from others. Now we are broke & have all these issues (that didn't exist before the renovation)
Thank you guys for all your help. We are just trying to take each part of the renovation & analyze to try to figure this out, because we are not professionals, & kinda fell like we have been hung out to dry, (or wish we were dry)! :)
Guest User
2013-10-13 10:59:18.000000
We found the issue! I went back under the crawl space to investigate on Sunday, and noticed a wet spot in the insulation. I cut it back and found that the new tile shower has apparently been leaking since install between the subfloor and the rubber membrane (my guess) cause there is no visible water leaks in the house. The entire bathroom subfloor is soaked and molded. The contractor is coming to look today.
I also discovered that the floors in the new parts were not insulated properly. They started with r19 then doubled some r13 in a couple of runs. Then just started using r11 & r13 across about half of the new part. We are demanding that be fixed, as well as venting the exhaust fans through the roof or directly to the soffit vents.
We are having the gutters put on next week. However, the gutter guy said that he didn't think that was a huge issue with our house, because all the landscape slopes away from the house. He is happy to do it, and says it may help some, so we are getting it done anyway (just a good idea regardless).
I think we are at least on the right track. Do you think this is the major problem, or should we keep digging deeper to find more sources of moisture?
Thanks again for all your advice so far. I really appreciate it.
Guest User
2013-10-17 11:26:47.000000
Proper ventilation requires intake vents and exhaust vents. The ridge vent functions as an exhaust vent. Unless some other exhaust vents have been added, I'd say this needs to be addressed. A good source of info on home ventilation is www.airvent.com
Todd Miller
2013-07-31 23:04:11.000000
Edwina, was anything different done to the ventilation of your home? Has anything else been changed on the home during the same time period?
Todd Miller
2013-10-13 08:00:54.000000
I will second Eric. You have done much to your house. This problem is not being caused by the metal roof but is rather the result of many things and someone knowledgeable needs to take a "whole house" look at what's going on.
Todd Miller
2013-10-13 10:13:27.000000
We just had a new metal roof put on our house, as well as a whole house remodel. The contractor used the synthetic underlayment between the shingles and the new metal roof; however, we are having serious humidity issues now. Our brand new hickory floors are buckling & the humidity is running between 60-70%!! Could the roof have anything to do with this? It is so serious that some of floors have raised as much as an 1.5" and all the new doors are swelling. We can't even open our front door! The contractor doesn't want to take any responsibility for this, and we are at a loss for what could be going on. Any advice?
Edwina Smith
2013-10-12 21:44:14.000000
Good morning. I am putting a galvalume roof over the existing shingle roof on a 32x80 manufactured home.
We are adding louvers to each end of the home.
We are also cutting open the ridge and putting a metal ridge vent.
Would it be worth the expence to put Solar Guard radiant barrier under the galvalume or is that overkill?
Thanks for your reply!
Gary Corban
2013-10-29 12:27:51.000000
I am just north of Baton Rouge, La. The radiant barrier would be draped over (and tacked) to the 2x4 lathing before the galvalume goes down.
Gary Corban
2013-10-29 17:21:23.000000
I don't know if he cut corners, but a soffit equip roof should have some high side venting whether that is ridge vent or powered fan.
Eric Novotny
2013-08-02 06:07:23.000000
Are the bath fans vented through the roof or to outside the home? If not, do that ASAP.
Is the HVAC system sized properly for the home? An overly large HVAC system will short cycle and have trouble removing the moisture from the air.
Where is the RH at 65%? In the home or in the attic? Either way, that is way to high and ventilation of the roof system is designed to control moisture that gets into the attic but not as a primary control for humidity.
If they did not cut back and make sure the ridge is open, that is certainly an oversight and mistake on the roofer fault and can be easily correct.
The high humidity level is another thing altogether and needs to be addresses ASAP.
I would also look into have the attic floor air sealed and insulated. This will keep the moisture out of the attic where it can create issues.
Are you running a humidifier? How were the 3 rooms added to the home? Is there a vapor retarder under the slab, foundation drains, etc.?
You need to have someone that understands moisture in the home take a hard look at this home.
Eric Novotny
2013-10-13 10:10:17.000000
There is a bunch going on here so let me see if I can address in sequence.
Whoever told you they don't have to vent to outside (bath fans) should automatically eliminated from supplying any additional advice in the future because they are flat wrong.
Heat pumps (traditionally) do produce a dry heat.
The high RH in the crawlspace is a big issue. You need to get gutters on the home and get the water diverted away from the home. You also need to have the poly on the crawlspace floor brought up the sides of the crawlspace wall (min 8-10") and sealed to the wall to prevent the moisture from perking through and around the plastic. This should be the same procedure for all the penetrations and piers.
Next, you need a proper insulation or vapor control layer across the bottom of the framing. I would suggest some rigid board with the seams taped and sealed.
Don't both with the dehumidifiers until you address the gutters and crawlspace.
I am not sure that you need to cut any holes in the walls for drainage or anything similar.
Feel free to email me your contact information tomorrow and I will give you a call to walk you through everything. In the meantime, get some pictures of the outside, crawlspace, etc.
These are not hard problems to fix and you need to address the source of the issues first prior to adding additional "fixes" in the form of a dehumidifier.
Eric Novotny
2013-10-13 11:57:55.000000
Where is the house as well?
Eric Novotny
2013-10-13 11:58:12.000000
Do not vent to the soffits.
Through the roof or through the side of the house is best.
Be sure to seal up the crawl floor and to make sure that you get the underside of the floor insulated and rigid foam is best here.
Eric Novotny
2013-10-17 22:50:47.000000
Where is the home?
Radiant barriers need an air space to work correctly so if you are just laying it in, than no. Do not use it in that manner.
Eric Novotny
2013-10-29 16:25:22.000000
That will not work.
You could put the radiant barrier down and then the purlins/battens if you so desired.
Eric Novotny
2013-10-30 07:33:15.000000
Ridge vents work best when they are continuous and balanced with eave venting.
If you are doing an over deck vent, that is something different altogether.
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