LESLIE: If you listen to The Money Pit on WCTC, you might be Jim in New Jersey who’s on the line.
JIM: I have a problem with a condominium roof – aluminum – between the rafters and it runs – it’s a (INAUDIBLE) and it runs down to the base three rafters in on each side of the condominium. And when summer – or mostly in winter, condensation seems to be forming and then running down the aluminum or the ridge – the rafter – and then spilling into the insulation in the attic.
TOM: So what’s happening here is because the metal is a better transfer of the cold temperature, the moisture that’s in your attic is condensing on that and then that’s what’s dripping down onto the insulation, Jim.
So what you need to do is improve the ventilation. You can’t slow down the amount of moisture that’s getting up there, but you can manage it properly once it gets there. So since it’s a condominium, I’m presuming there’s going to be an association involved. But the options here would be to improve the ridge ventilation which goes down the peak of the roof and then match that with improvements of the soffit ventilation at the overhang. Because if you do those two improvements together, what happens is the air will enter under the soffit; go up under the roof sheathing, including that metal section; then exit out the ridge. And that will take that moisture away. That’s important for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is dealing with this leak that you’re talking about. But more importantly, if you have a lot of humidity in the attic, you can get mold. And also if the insulation gets damp, then it’s not going to insulate properly. So, for all those reasons, you need better insulation and that’ll solve that problem.
Jim, thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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