[123tim]

Hello,

I have an extremely bad metal roof installation that I need advice or suggestions on a temporary "fix" or stop gap solution until I can get the roof completely replaced.

My problem is this. The metal roof is completely exposed to the warm, moist air in my attic and the condensation is incredible. I need to completely replace the roof and I really would appreciate any suggestions that anyone might have to create a temporary barrier for moisture and heat that is hitting the cold metal roofing until the roof can be replaced next summer. From past experiences, I think that this will be impossible to accomplish.

I was thinking of buying perforated foil sheeting in a roll and stapling to the bottoms of the rafters. I doubt that this will work. One half of the attic is finished and I can't just open the attic windows an allow cold air in to stabilize the inside/outside temperature of the metal. I feel that I'm stuck.


Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Regards,
Tim

The roof consists of 1x6 nailer boards that are spaced out too far with rafters and no sheeting whatsoever. Just a lot of exposed tin. The roof is also completely sealed in from the bottom with no outside airflow at all. This can't be changed because of a porch roof that is hooked to it. The whole roof will have to be lifted and redesigned.



The rest of this post is just a rant that explains, but doesn't really help find a solution to my problem. I wont be offended if you don't read it.





I've had a lot of bad experiences with metal roofs and thought that I had encountered just about every problem that could be experienced, but I found out that I'm just plain stupid and that there is an endless variety of problems that you'll never be prepared for.
I purchased a house that has a metal roof with one side having no sheeting whatsoever. I noticed this right away when we purchased the house and I knew that this would be a condensation problem, but honestly, I didn't realize just how much of a problem it would be. The house was cheap, and being familiar with (at least, I thought) with roof problems, I thought that I would be able to lift the metal and add an underlayment of plywood and felt paper. and screw the old roofing back on.


It turns out that it won't be anywhere near this simple. The person who lived in the house did all of his own work and he worked 22 hours out of the day thinking of the worse possible way to do everything that he did. He spent the remaining two hours of his day getting the job done as quickly as possible with as many shortcuts as he could fit in with only two hours to work. He obviously never slept, and his reasoning suffered from this.


I don't think that there's a single thing in the house that can be repaired. Everything is butchered and messed up beyond being able to be salvaged.



I have so many problems to fix in the house that I feel like it's a full time profession. I'm letting all sorts of important repairs slide just to stay afloat.

 

[SPS-1]

My problem is this. The metal roof is completely exposed to the warm, moist air in my attic and the condensation is incredible. I need to completely replace the roof.....

The root problem is warm moist air in the attic, not the roof. Address the root problem.

Is this a converted attic ? Where are you located ?

An attic should be outdoor, ventilated, unconditioned air. Typically soffit vents allowing air intake, and vents at the top of the attic to allow air to exhaust. And typically a vapor barrier on indoor ceiling (below) to keep vapor from diffusing into the attic. And absolutely no bathroom or kitchen vents exhausting into the attic.

.

 

[Bud9051]

Didn't read the rant but you need a plan. You know the basics, warm humid inside air cannot come in contact with that cold metal roof. Normally this is achieved by lots of ventilation combined with extensive air sealing. Very little moisture moves through materials as compared to a lot is carried along with air flow.

Start with the air sealing as that is always good. But plan on the appropriate ventilation to remove heat and moisture. Usually a lot of insulation is added in the end.

As always pictures help a lot along with some indication of your location, like a nearby big city.

Bud

 

[Nealtw]

Is this a continues problem or was it particularly bad by extreme cold or more people in the house over Xmas.

What ever living space you have in the attic needs to air sealed from the cold area.

Do you have soffet and high venting?

 

[123tim]

Thank you for your replies SPS-1, BUD9051, and Nealtw. I really appreciate you helping out.

I'll try to answer everything asked and also add a picture with this post. My roofing problem is pretty complex and I can't seem to write anything that's very short but I'll give it a shot.


First, these are my problems:
1.) Lots of condensation.
2.) The roof was installed just about as poorly as possible - the overlaps on the tin are backwards, the installer used extra screws to hold down the overlaps, they then tried to caulk the extra screws and overlaps about halfway up which only lets in and then traps water because the roofing was too long. The last three feet of the roof are bent to meet the porch roof and tar is slathered over the bottom edge. ( The tin doesn't even touch the rafters on the last two or three feet.) The bottom part of the bent roofing was screwed into the porch roof and tarred over instead of using any flashing. No underlayment was used, no felt or tarpaper was used.



3.) The top of the roof has a vent cap, but the bottom is completely sealed with tar so there is no soffet ventilation.



4.) all of the timber on the roof is either damp or wet.



I was also thinking about stapling sheets of plastic on the rafters, but something tells me that this will be a bad idea. I would be trapping the water inside the plastic and it forms faster than I can remove it. I also can't use a dehumidifier because the I don't trust the wiring that the guy did. And usually the attic is too cold.


One side of the attic has been converted into a bedroom and is being used. The other side is just totally exposed. The majority of the water problem is on the exposed side but I know that it's everywhere.



I live in central Pennsylvania, and it's been warm and humid here for the last week or so (40's,50's in the day and 30's at night.) The problem isn't as bad right now. It's bad when it's cold at night and then warms to slightly below freezing in the morning outside. It literally rains under our porch roof when the conditions are right.



One other thing...thank you for mentioning the bathroom vent. I actually discovered this a week or two ago. The vent vented directly into the attic floor! That has introduced a lot steam from the shower into the attic and will take forever to remove. I just plugged the vent for now.


Trying now to attach a photo.

Thank you all! Regards, Tim

 

[Nealtw]

It does sound like you need a new roof but I would not blame all this on metal roofs.
We have to look at sealing every hole from living space to attic and getting that bath fan duct out properly.
How much insulation is around and above the finished room up there?
Is there a way to find venting for the soffet.

Some of these problems can be worked into a plan for the new roof.


Pictures,, see below go advanced and then manage attachment and jump the hoops there.

 

[123tim]

It does sound like you need a new roof but I would not blame all this on metal roofs.
We have to look at sealing every hole from living space to attic and getting that bath fan duct out properly.
How much insulation is around and above the finished room up there?
Is there a way to find venting for the soffet.

Some of these problems can be worked into a plan for the new roof.


Pictures,, see below go advanced and then manage attachment and jump the hoops there.

Hi Neal, Thank you for your reply.



The living space part of the attic is improperly insulated - the insulation is just jammed against the metal with no ventilation. Drywall over the insulation. There is no way to vent the bottom through the soffet because it's all boxed in. The insulation that you can see in my picture is what I ripped out from under the eaves to let it air out.


I'm sort of stuck. This job went from something that I could do myself into a major replacement in seconds. I'm just hoping for at least to curb the condensation until I can get good weather and a good, knowledgeable, roofer.

I won't be replying because I have to leave for the day. Thank you again. I really appreciate your help.

 

[Nealtw]

Hi Neal, Thank you for your reply.



The living space part of the attic is improperly insulated - the insulation is just jammed against the metal with no ventilation. Drywall over the insulation. There is no way to vent the bottom through the soffet because it's all boxed in. The insulation that you can see in my picture is what I ripped out from under the eaves to let it air out.


I'm sort of stuck. This job went from something that I could do myself into a major replacement in seconds. I'm just hoping for at least to curb the condensation until I can get good weather and a good, knowledgeable, roofer.

I won't be replying because I have to leave for the day. Thank you again. I really appreciate your help.

I would like to see the soffet from the outside and do you have over hang at the gables. You might be able to grab venting there because the strapping is going sideways.

Venting over the finished room might be fixed when the roof is off.

But you can still look at air leaks from the house.

The floor under the finished room wants to seal from the rest of the attic too.

 

[mark sr]

The main thing is to provide better ventilation! My house and barn roofs are similarly built and I have no condensation issues in my well ventilated attic. Parts of my barn occasionally get real bad condensation [might even drip] but those areas pretty much have no ventilation.


Locally they will no longer allow us to install a metal house roof over strapping - it has to be osb/plywood covered with tar paper.