Didn't know to post this so here goes..........

[parthy]

I was supposed to have my Super27 installed on Friday.

Well, things have gone to heck in parthyland. I have 8 - yes 8 feet of snow on the outside of my house. From what fell and from what I paid someone TWICE to come out and shovel it off. And I still have another 2 or so feet on my roof from what fell since.

In a nutshell. Firewood not delivered as no where to put it. Not a problem. I already had enough. Fireplace people came out for a scout about and said, nyet! Aren't dragging ladders through that much snow.

Last night on the news, they said "we may not thaw enough to fix water problems until June because the ground may not thaw enough till then".

And then.........We had one day when it went about 8 degrees above freezing. I had water pouring out underneath my walls. Apparently my ridge vent on my roof iced over (or under) and then melted. I got the drywall removed fast (thanks to kids) and didn't lose too much. Have to reinsulate and vapour barrier. My house is torn apart.

Had a roofer come and look and said, he is getting 10 calls a day about this from new homes.

I am taking a sleep day/relax day today as I only had 4 hours sleep last night and then it's go and re-do everything that I have spent the last 3 months doing. And no end in sight. It's still going to go to -20 this next week which will only make things worse.

 

[jatoxico]

Wow...sorry to hear about all your trouble. Insurance cover any of this?

 

[parthy]

No. Because it's normal hahaha. And my insurance is limited because it isn't finished. I think it will only cost me less than 1000 to fix. It's just all the work. And I have to do it all myself. My one son is gone to university and the other one has moved to Saskatchewan to work. He will come in to do the drywall though.

I hate vapour barrier. It is my nemesis. And now I get to do it all over. Yippee! lol

Thank goodness I am retired.

 

[flyingcow]

If you don't have a drinking problem, you might soon.

 

[parthy]

One good thing though. The woodstove place will honour their price if I get it installed before Sept 1/2014 because they feel sorry for me.

 

[razerface]

How did ridge vent make the walls leak?

 

[parthy]

If you don't have a drinking problem, you might soon.

You should have been here the day it happened. My youngest came out and said "Drinking in the afternoon? Is there something I should know?" lol. Then he looked around and said, "Pour me 2 of what you are having".

 

[parthy]

How did ridge vent make the walls leak?

It iced completely over. That left only the soffit vents to ventilate the attic (and the gable end vents). Which caused excess frost in the attic which melted where the eaves meets the wall. Moisture from the new wood and all that. I am still looking into it, but the excessive humidity and uber snow has caused something that no one here has seen. whatever is happening here is widespread as I went to a town 40 minutes away and they were saying that they are getting the same calls. I just don't know. I had ice on the upper 1/3rd of some of the walls. But only one with a bit of mold.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

How did ridge vent make the walls leak?

Not enough roof venting, probably a cold attic, caused frost on bottom of roof sheathing. It builds all winter until it gets warm enough to melt one day and then is all ends up somewhere.

Usually finds a path through the plates and into a wall and will show up through door or window trim or come out the bottom.

Never a good situation. However IF the vapor barrier is done right and complete, there shouldn't be that much moisture getting into the attic, but I have yet to see a 100% fool proof vapor barrier.

 

[parthy]

Not enough roof venting, probably a cold attic, caused frost on bottom of roof sheathing. It builds all winter until it gets warm enough to melt one day and then is all ends up somewhere.

Usually finds a path through the plates and into a wall and will show up through door or window trim or come out the bottom.

Never a good situation. However IF the vapor barrier is done right and complete, there shouldn't be that much moisture getting into the attic, but I have yet to see a 100% fool proof vapor barrier.

I am the main culprit as I heated the place with not 100% of the vapour barrier completed at the time. It had gotten to cold to work. Combine that with a ridge vent (50% of the roof venting iced over and completely snow covered and not working) And the moisture is coming from the plates. The windows area below is completely dry. All in all, not as much insulation to replace as I thought, but had to cut too many holes in the vapour barrier to check to just fix, easier to replace. I say easier in that it isn't easy for one person to do that, but I did it the first time. I am also doing some extra stuff that my son suggested and will go through each room very carefully.

My only ceiling problem is over the back door and we are going to temporarily fix that with thorough vapour barrier and then once it is hot, we will remove everthing and really make sure it is dry and re-drywall it again. It is a small area. I am having a roofing company come in once the snow is off the roof.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Moving forward parthy, in similar snowfall years you will need to have someone clear those vents. Actually it wouldn't have mattered what type of venting you had, once it becomes obstructed it needs to be cleared. BTW ridge venting is one of the best methods, just not enough wind in your area to keep them clear this winter. That's what the neighbourhood teenager is for, send them up there with a corn broom & shovel to clear those vents. Too bad about the mess.

 

[BrotherBart]

Wouldn't have made any difference in this case but going forward you need to do some research on ridge and soffit venting. You don't need to be mixing ridge vents and gable vents. The air will come in the gable vents and out the ridge vent without pulling air in the soffits and up the sheathing to the ridge vent.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

You don't need to be mixing ridge vents and gable vents

Good catch BB. I missed that the first time through, had to reread. That short circuit of the ventilation air would be good to address this summer. Seal up the Gable vents.

 

[Ktm300]

Do you have ice & watershield at the eaves?

 

[Ktm300]

Sounds like ice dam to me. Are your ridge vents aluminum or the shingle over variety?

 

[bag of hammers]

parthy - sorry to read about your troubles here. I hope you get this buttoned down (this winter has been a test of wills for sure, many things reaching a breaking point).

I had my place up to @ 75 deg inside, last time my family was out with me. I happened to notice (just as we were getting ready for supper) some drips coming off the top of the bathroom doorway. That header is exposed on the hall side (trim not on yet), which turns out to be lucky for me in this case as the water had a quick easy way out. And I caught it right away. Otherwise it might have pooled up there for a while, maybe taken a "left turn", wrecked the drywall, etc. Not too many things make your heart sink like seeing water coming into your house, especially when the roof is still under a ton of snow. I dreaded climbing up in the attic, every awful image of what I might find going thru my head. Anyway, I went up, looked around, and the underside of the roof looked like the day I put it up (5 years ago). I started looking under insulation, etc. to find traces of water and it turns out there was a problem with my bath fan exhaust at an elbow. Long story short, I thought it was bullet proof (nice clean run, well insulated, etc.) but apparently not good enough for the winter from hell. 3 months of bitter cold weather pushed it over the edge. It was a very small amount of water, any "normal" winter it would have probably remained a non issue. A 30 minute temporary fix (I now have another project to address the original screw up) but nothing like you gotta do. I feel for you, hope it gets resolved.

Sounds like ice dam to me. Are your ridge vents aluminum or the shingle over variety?

ktm - which do you recommend..? I have a mix (aluminum on my older roof, shingle over on the newer side).

 

[Ktm300]

First and very important. Do you have ice&water shield at the eaves? You can go to the eave(down at the gutter)on a ladder and pick up the first layer of shingles. You will find tar paper or I &W . I&W will be adhered to the roof deck . Second. The aluminum ridge vent will let fine wind driven snow create drifts in your attic. I have seen 3' drifts in attics much to my horror and will not install it ever again. Use Cobra Vent. Was the leak at the exterior walls? Do you have access to the attic?

 

[bag of hammers]

I have seen 3' drifts in attics much to my horror

 

[Lake Girl]

Sorry to hear of your troubles parthy ... good luck with the repairs. This winter would definitely be the ultimate of stress tests...

Our condo in Winnipeg has been having issues (bought for kids going to university). From the check my son did, build up of condensation. Two other units also having problems and suspecting it might be the same story there. Property manager is useless and we're wondering why they are receiving a fee....