mystery leak

troyster · Mon Dec 10, 2007 1:45 am

weirdest thing! My wife Cheryl was at the bathroom sink when I walked in and she asked if someone was splashing water up the walls. I looked up and seen a stream of water coming down the wall from the ceiling. I just coated the roof with liquid rubber this spring and know it is solid. The only explanation I can come up with is the kitchen and bathroom fans are not being used consistently when showering or cooking causing condensation to build up between roof and ceiling space and dripping down back into home when thawing. It lasted about 10 minutes then stopped and has remained dry since. still snow on roof at this moment. hmmmmmm!

troyster

Demolition · Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:08 am

I see you in Canada eh'
In cold climates you might get condensation in places other people don't.
The main thing I would worry about is the electric motors getting wet. You may get an electrician to check and see the equipment is not getting a ground or short due to the wet conditions.

Yanita · Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:29 pm

Hey Troyster,

Not to sound stupid here but I have seen a couple homes where the vents did not vent to the outside, they actually vented into the attic space. Yes, I know you are probably thinking there are vents on the roof, but are they connected to the fans.

A good rule of thumb in a home is to always let the vents run during the showering/bathing time and up to one hour after done. The same holds true when cooking. Use them vents fans!

Maybe others have some thoughts or opinions about this...

Just a thought,

Yanita

Greg · Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:57 pm

I agree, it does sound like a condensation problem, time to do more checking! Greg

troyster · Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:32 am

Hi Yanita! I myself use the fans religiously; it's training Cheryl & my son Nicholas too use them consistently. I think it sunk into their heads the importance now of using the fans all the time. yes the fans do exhaust to the outside. this i know because i have replaced both the bathroom and kitchen fans within the last 2 years. I did replace the 2 small air vents on the front of my home with a full soffit to increase air circulation too the air space when i did my reno to the outside of our home this spring. we have lived here for over 3 years now and this is a first.

carolhalverson · Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:14 am

Just a thought. One year when we had a "snow and blow" situation, we had snow blown into our attic vents. It melted and made quite a mess. Could be your problem.

troyster · Wed Dec 12, 2007 8:39 pm

Hi Carol! I think you hit it on the button. We have had intense winds with blowing snow for over a week and the temps were far below freezing. It leaked when the weather warmed. The back vents have slightly larger "perforations" and the frontal full soffit replaces 2 smaller vents so there would be a larger area of venting to penetrate with blowing snow. Plus the fact that this new reno was done in the spring and this was the first winter with new vents and no previous problems would point in that direction. Thanks to all for helping me "brain storm " this problem, mucho appreciated