Condensation

I have an historic stone home and had a standing seam tern roof installed nearly twenty years ago. The look and color is great and matches the what it was painted in 1856. The roof was installed directly over the sheathing boards that originally held oak shakes so the metal roof back is open to the attic. The problem that we have is condensation all winter long - it rains all the time. The problem has gotten worse with the installation of Geothermal heating installed four years ago. One suggestion that has come up is putting up non-perforated radiant bubble insulation between the roof trusses with a slight sage to allow air flow from the eaves to the ridge. I know the first suggestion is to insulated the attic floor really well - we did that and even had insulation blown into the wall voids of the second floor. This helped a little but it still rains. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. The house is large with the front block being 30'x40' and the back wing 24'x30'		Ray Snouffer 6/27/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20471/find/
Can you post up a picture of the attic. The home requires both proper ventilation as well as air sealing and insulation ASAP. How is the crawlspace treated right now?		Eric Novotny An informed customer is the Best Customer! 6/28/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20472/find/
Hello, Thank you for the quick response and sorry for my slow return - I had thought that the responses came to my email. I have attached a photograph showing the attic. There is plenty of ventilation based on how the roof was installed. There is no crawlspace in the attic as it is completely open from the floor to the ridge venting. The roof cross members are at about 6 feet in the front block of the house and about 5" feet in the back wing. There is no problem in the spring, summer and fall - really just the cold part of the winter which brings frosting on the interior. Thanks for any information and help you can provide. Ray		Ray Snouffer 7/7/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20473/find/
How is the attic vented? You have two options, air seal and insulate the floor so that as little as possible conditioned air is making it attic. Your other option is to covert the attic into a conditioned space and spray foam the underside of the roof.		Eric Novotny An informed customer is the Best Customer! 7/8/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20474/find/
Hello, The attic is vented at the ridge over both wings of the house and it is relatively open at the base that extends out over the gutters (not much, but it does allow airflow). There are also three full size windows in the attic that we leave shut. The floor boards were all taken up and insulation was blown in filling the entire cavity as well as the upper portions of the wall voids on the second floor. The house was balloon constructed so in center of the house you can take up the floor in the attic (move the insulation) and see into the basement. I suspect that this adds to the moisture movement to the attic, but we have done all we can with the insulation. We had considered the spray foam option for the roof itself, but were worried about impacting our warrantee and have heard that some types of foam can expand through the seams to the exterior. There are two types of foam - one that allows some moisture and a second that is closed - which do you recommend? Thank you again for the information and help!! Ray		Ray Snouffer 7/8/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20475/find/
On roofs, you can do either but if you are having condensation issue, closed cell is preferred. The attic floor needs to be air sealed first. You have too much moisture getting into the attic to begin with. That balloon framing needs to be sealed off and blocked as well. Nothing that a little bit of foam board and some surgical application of spray foam can't fix. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n3QCBw0m74&feature=related		Eric Novotny An informed customer is the Best Customer! 7/9/2015	Share Or copy this URL: https://www.metalroofing.com/spirit/comment/20476/find/

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