Superwarm Home Ceiling Wet Patches

SPARTAN33

Hi Folks

Hope someone can help me. Myself and my wife bought a semi detatched suerwarm home about 2 months ago, the house is just over 4 and half years old. Since we have moved in we have mould in our upstairs bedroom along the celing on the front wall area and also along the window side reveals, now there are also wet patches that have appeared in this area of the ceiling, prior to the wet patches appearing I tried to get rid of the mould by a spray remover and also opening the vents on the windows as we dont have vents in the house and leaving the bedroom door open to try and solve the condensation problem. The mould keeps coming back. So this morning when I noticed these wet patches becmoing worse, 2 things sprung to my mind either a leaking pipe or a leak in the roof. So I borrowed a ladder and up the attic I went, I checked that area of the attic and I can rule out both as there is no leak in the roof and there are no pipes in that area of the attic also. But I did notice something that is causing the water patches on the ceiling. I noticed that in that area of the attic the insulation wasnt lay down properly. So when I went to fix it down, there is this plastic membrane attatched to the plasterboard and the ceiling joists and moisure seems to be trapped in this membrane and water is forming underneath hence the water patches, it was like there was condensation underneath the plastic membrane. I layed the insulation over it and went back into the bedroom, i didnt know whether i should have punctured the membrane to let the water moisuture escape?. Is this normal in superwarm homes to have to type memebrane attched to the plasterboard?. I thought maybe the recent cold weather mabye it is contributing to the problems with the ceiling in the bedroom and the condensation in the attic. I also noticed in the ensuite bathroom attchaed to our bedroom, we havent used this bathroom for a while, but when I went in this evening, I noticed water droplets coming from the extracor fan opening, So up into the attic again I went and didnt see any leaks in the extractor pipe or anything, so i went back down in the bathroom and removed the cover of the extractor fan and when I did you guessed it trapped (condensation) moisture was causing the water droplets. Is there anything I can do to stop all this excess moisture in the bedroom as well as the attic, maybe like leave the attic ceiling cover slightly open to let some warm air up into the attic? Its seems all this plastic type material thats layed up there (attic) is "sweating like mad" like excess moisture. Also where the rafters are instead of the black roofing felt, there is layed a see through plastic type material which sweats also. Is all this plastic type material normal in superwarm home construction? . If there is anyone that can help or had a similar problem in their superwarm home, any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

RKQ

I am not familiar with "superwarm home" construction.
It seems you are describing a vapour barrier, on the warm side of the insulation - do not puncture it! You did the right thing, putting back the insulation.

Place the insulation over the barrier - ensure adequate heating and ventilation in the bedroom - the mould should ease. Consider increasing the thickness of attic insulation.

Condensation in the vent pipe is common. There are other recent threads about it here and in Construction forum. Insulate the pipe in the attic to prevent / lessen the risk of condensation.
Good luck.

SPARTAN33

Many Thanks RKO I placed the insultation over the ends of the vapour barrier were it wasnt covered before and I didnt puncture the plastic, hopefully by putting the insulation over the vapour barrier this will stop the wet patches on the ceiling and hopefully the mould will ease, I will keep you updated, thanks for the reply to the thread.

RKQ

Glad to help Spartan33. The replaced insulation should do the trick.

Consider hiring a dehumidifier to help dry out the damp patches quicker! Especially if time is a factor.
Its a bad time of year for natural ventilation to make a drastic improvement.

GreeBo

If you have an ensuite make sure to open a window and/or turn on the fan while and after you use the shower.
All this steam hits the cold attic/roof and condenses on the cold vapour barrier.
Once you have increased the insulation above, the warm, wet air will not find a cold spot to condense on, but removing this wet air is the best bet.
Also, keep removing the mould, that will have spores and you dont want to be inhaling them!

Good luck.

milky75

hi
ive got the same problem but mines only just started after we had our house fully insulated.Could it have been done wrong
thanks

MicktheMan

milky75 wrote: »

hi
ive got the same problem but mines only just started after we had our house fully insulated.Could it have been done wrong
thanks

Can you give more information on "fully insulated"?

milky75

ive had the loft done and cavity wall done.just seems a coincidence that the trouble started after that

MicktheMan

milky75 wrote: »

ive had the loft done and cavity wall done.just seems a coincidence that the trouble started after that

How is the house ventilated?
Where iexactly s the mould showing up?

milky75

As far as we know it is only vented in the roof where the facias and soffits are. The mould is on the exterior wall where the wall meets the roof and is appearing on the ceiling.