Here we describe the causes and cures for ice dams, attic condensation, and attic mold.

We include inspection methods and clues to detect roof venting deficiencies, insulation defects, and attic condensation problems in buildings.

These recommendations are based on many years of building inspections, on the observation of the locations of moisture, mold, ice dams, condensation stains, and other clues in buildings, and on the correlation of these clues with the roof venting conditions at those properties, and frequent literature review and professional discussion.

We have also measured changes in airflow, temperature, and moisture before and after installing roof venting so as to have objective data supporting the recommendations found here.

How to Stop Roof Ice Dam Leakage & How to Prevent Ice Dam Formation at the Roof Edges & Gutters

How to STOP ongoing roof ice dam leaks: Emergency Steps

Photo above-left: extreme ice dam formation along the edge of an un-vented roof extend ice from roof edge to the ground.

During a cycle of warm and then freezing weather so much snow-melt ran off of this roof and then froze both on roof edge and on the ground below that a berm of ice also formed along the bottom of the building wall, trapping later ice and snow melt water and sending it into the building through the wall.

The building was flooded both by roof ice dam leaks from above, and ground ice dam leaks at floor level. - DJF.

Let's start with emergency measures for buildings already in trouble with heavy roof ice dams and leaks into the building attic, walls, or other areas.

These are the useful approaches to curing existing roof ice dam leaks into a building attic, walls or other areas:

1. Use heat tapes:
   
   During winter & freezing conditions when weather precludes actual building modifications or repairs to add ventilation or ice and water shield, you can use
   
   HEAT TAPES & CABLES on Roofs for Ice Dams to melt channels in existing ice or to prevent water back-ups between new-forming ice on roof edges and in roof gutters.
   
   Heat tapes at the roof eaves are not a great permanent fix but it's a useful stop-gap measure if you're having ongoing ice dam leaks into the building.
2. Fix air & heat leaks:
   
   Winter is a fine time to take a look at the attic for missing insulation, gaps in insulation, or for dark spots on insulation that mark air bypass leaks.
   
   Fixing insulation gaps and air leaks drops the attic temperature and thus cuts ice dam formation.
3. Turn down the heat:
   
   A neighbor told us that as her dad's currently empty house in New York had a long history of ice dam trouble she was keeping the heat up to hope she would melt ice off of the roof!
   
   Really? No, she was taking the wrong approach. Making the house warmer means sending more heat into the attic or roof space where the under-roof heat melts snow on the upper roof sections.
   
   That melting snow water runs beneath the snow cover on the roof just fine, right down the warm roof deck until it hits the cold roof overhang or lower edges. There it freezes solid. The more water we send down the roof to the cold roof edge the bigger the ice dam. Don't do that.
   
   The neighbor then asked: "OK so should I turn the heat down?" Geez! not knowing the house I was worried that if I told her to do that the pipes might freeze - we'd go from one problem to another.
   
   See WINTERIZE - HEAT ON PROCEDURE for details on how to turn down the heat without freezing the pipes.

4. Rake snow off of the roof ?
   
   Lots of people risk their lives or the lives of others having somebody shovel or rake snow off of the roof when ice dams seem to be a problem.
   
   Really? Snow raking might be appropriate where unusual conditions of deep snow threaten structural collapse of a building, but that's not a great fix for ice dams unless all of the snow is removed from the roof.
   
   Otherwise, snow high on the roof still melts (in that hot attic), running down to the eaves where it freezes to form ice dams.
   
   OK maybe smaller ice dams as we have less melting snow and a somewhat cooler attic due to increased heat loss through the non-snow-coverd area, but we'll continue to see ice dams nevertheless.
   
   Emergency steps in stopping roof ice dam leakage that included removing snow from the roof are illustrated
   
   at ICE DAM LEAK EMERGENCY REPAIRS
   
   Raking snow off of roofs (photo at left) is discussed
   
   at COLD WEATHER ROOF TROUBLE.
5. Get Rid of the Ice:
   
   OK so we've seen all sorts of crazy schemes: socks filled with ice-melt crystals or salt (which is hell on the aluminum gutters), chopping ice (which wrecks the roof shingles) at the roof eaves, and my favorite - squirting a jet of hot water to melt drainage channels in the ice dams to allow backed-up water off of the roof.
   
   I confess, I've done this. It works, for a few hours. Maybe that's a way to make room for heat tapes.
   
   See HEAT TAPES & CABLES for ROOF ICE DAMS

How to Prevent Future Roof Ice Dam Leaks

OK so either by choosing from the steps listed above in this article, or by other desperate measures shown

at ICE DAM LEAK EMERGENCY REPAIRS we've taken emergency measures to stop ice dam leaks.

Now how do we stop ice dam leaks in the future, and how do we fix an existing building or build a new one that won't have ice dam leak troubles.

Do we really want to be raking a high roof like the one shown at left every winter?

Doesn't raking snow risk roof damage or a shorter roof life? Are there falling and electrocution hazards? You bet. Here are some other approaches to avoiding ice dam problems on roofs:

1. Ventilate the roof properly at soffits (eaves) and ridge.
   
   We'll say more about this below. If you can't ventilate the roof you'll have to go to a hot roof design and hope that nothing ever punctures the roof covering.
   
   Over at ROOF ICE DAM CURE: Comparing Two Houses we show the best long term way to avoid ice dam formation and roof ice dam leaks: good ventilation and good insulation and no air leaks into the roof cavity.
2. Inspect & fix insulation & air bypass leaks.
   
   Details about air bypass leaks themselves can be read
   
   at AIR BYPASS LEAKS.
   
   Readers who want to find and fix unwanted air bypass leaks should also
   
   see AIR LEAK DETECTION TOOLS
   
   and AIR LEAK MINIMIZATION as well
   
   as AIR SEALING STRATEGIES.
3. Add insulation 
   
   in the attic floor or under the roof if the present R-value doesn't match your climate zone.
   
   Readers who want to understand the significance of air bypass leaks and how this problem is corrected should
   
   see ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT CASE STUDY
   
   and ENERGY SAVINGS RETROFIT LEAK SEALING GUIDE.
   
   Also see FOAM SPRAY INSULATION TYPES for examples of using spray foam to minimize air leaks and add high R-Value to roofs, ceilings, or walls.

Photo: ice and water shield - adhesive waterproof membrane (brown arrow) - is being added along the house eaves during a re-roof job.

5. Use Ice & Water Shield:
   
   even in really careful construction, challenging weather conditions or unusual building conditions (someone left the door to the attic open) can cause so much ice formation on a roof that ice dam leaks occur where they never have before.
   
   As extra insurance against roof ice dam leaks when re-roofing, use ice and water shield at the building roof eaves, running this impermeable membrane (it even seals around nails) up the roof at least three feet, or in some climates or on problem roofs, up six feet or more.
   
   Watch out: ice formation in gutters at the roof edges can push water back up underneath ice and water shield if it did not bond perfectly to the roof sheathing, or it may push water up underneath the roof deck itself.
   
   Extra detailing at the roof edges, including wrapping the ice and water shield down over the fascia may be needed.
   
   We discuss and illustrate using an ice and water shield membrane
   
   at ROOFING FELT UNDERLAYMENT REQUIREMENTS 
6. Install & Use Heat Tapes at Roof Eaves & In Problem Spots:
   
   Sometimes the most expedient, least costly, and fastest way to stop ice dam leaks is to remove accumulated snow and ice (as much as possible and safely) and then install heat tapes in those areas.
   
   Particularly for un-vented roofs or roof spots at which adding ventilation and insulation to stop ice dam formation is very costly or difficult, the appeal of ice melting heat tapes becomes overwhelming.
   
   See HEAT TAPES & CABLES for ROOF ICE DAMS

Why Roof Iced Dams Form & How Water Backs Up & Leaks at Ice Dams

As explained in Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction (Steve Bliss, J Wiley & Sons) , chapter

on BEST ROOFING PRACTICES:

Ice dams form when heat leaking into attics or roof cavities from the building below, or from attic ductwork, melts the bottom layer of snow on the roof.

The melt water runs down the length of the roof to the eaves, where it refreezes, forming a dam and icicles.

In the worst cases, liquid water pools behind the dam and flows under the shingles and into the building (Figure 2-54 shown at left).

Research has indicated that the ice-dam risk is greatest when temperatures range between 15°F and 20°F— when it is warm enough for snow to melt but cold enough for it to refreeze at the eaves.

Also, the greater the depth of snow on the roof, the greater the risk of ice dams due to the insulating value of the snow itself.

Cold Roofs Prevent Ice Dams

So how much roof ventilation do we need to prevent roof ice dams, leaks, and attic moisture, condensation & mold problems?

Ventilation helps prevent ice dams by keeping the roof surface cold enough to limit uneven melting. Tests conducted in 1996 at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), showed that the traditional 1:150 ventilation rule was sufficient to prevent ice dams on roofs with R-25 or greater ceiling insulation.

The 1:300 rule proved adequate for roofs with R-38 or greater insulation.

Since most standard eave and ridge vents sold today meet the higher ventilation rates, most new homes are protected as long as there are no large heat leaks into the attic, or tricky sections of the roof with inadequate ventilation. - Adapted with permission from Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction (Steve Bliss, J Wiley & Sons) .

But just adding outlet vents at a ridge (or worse, at gable ends of a building) or just adding soffit vents alone does not work very well to ventilate attics or under-roof spaces.

We need both air inlet at the building eaves or lower roof edges, and air outlet at the ridge in order to move air up beneath the entire roof surface, keeping the roof deck and attic cool and dry.

See ROOF VENTIILATION INTAKE-OUTLET RATIOS for details about the ratio of soffit intake vent area to ridge outlet vent area.

Attic Condensation and Roof Leaks as a Source of Building Mold - Diagnosis and Cure

Sources of Attic Mold

Roof leaks or, alternatively, high levels of attic moisture due to a combination of inadequate attic (soffit intake and ridge outlet) ventilation combine with building moisture sources (such as a chronic or even a single-event wet basement, plumbing leaks, or a leaky roof from roof failure or from ice dams) are likely to cause excessive moisture or actual wet conditions in an attic.

High attic moisture levels or actual wet attic conditions invite extensive mold growth.

Also see DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE

Visible frost may appear on attic roof surfaces if the building is located in a freezing climate and high levels of moisture are trapped in a poorly vented attic or roof cavity (photo, left).

Visible mold may appear on wood surfaces in an attic such as on rafters or roof sheathing.

Hidden mold may be present and may be even more of a problem if it forms in insulation or in the ducts and air handler of an air conditioning or heating/air conditioning system.

Typical building air convection currents tend to move air up and out from lower to upper building levels, so one would not think that much mold would move down from an attic into the living area.

But important exceptions to this can quickly move problem mold from an attic into a living area.

Conditions that Cause Air Movement Upwards into an Attic or Roof Cavity Space

As home inspection expert Roger Hankey has pointed out,

"... attic bypasses are one of the primary causes of ice dams. You effectively discuss insulation and ventilation

at INSULATION INSPECTION & IMPROVEMENT

and at VENTILATION in buildings) but if attic bypasses remain in an insulated and ventilated attic, then the result can be frost and moisture damage to the roof sheathing, and/or spot ice dams." - R. Hankey 01/28/2008.

Because warm air rises up through buildings by natural convection, tending to displace heavier cold air, warm building air leaks and forces its way into roof spaces primarily through small openings leaking from heated space into the roof cavity or attic space.

The pressure difference between a warm interior ceiling and a cooler attic or cathedral ceiling space needs only to be slight for air to move from warm to cool spaces in a building.

Remarkably, the current of rising air in a two story or higher building can be quite adequate to even draw cool, moist, or possibly moldy air from a building's crawl space or basement too.

Conditions moving air and potentially moldy air downwards from an attic or roof space include

• Mold growth in heating and air conditioning HVAC ducts or air handlers found in an attic
• Mold on any attic surface or in attic insulation 
  
  if it is a species producing airborne spores (moldy attic photo at left) and if the building uses a whole house ventilating fan, especially if there is inadequate exit venting for the fan operation.
  
  This condition pressurizes the attic and moves mold down through various openings into the floors below.
• Mold on building surfaces 
  
  in an attic or attic knee wall space which opens onto or has a knee wall common with an upper floor living space such as a bedroom.
• Ventilation fan or exhaust fan use 
  
  causing downwards movement of air from upper building levels
• Air conditioning use causing down-currents of air in buildings
  
   from an upper floor: heavier, cool air flows downwards in the structure and draws attic air into the upper floor from attic or roof cavity air bypass leak points (such as at light fixtures, stairs, attic hatch).

Building Exteriors Leaks and Mold vs Attic Ventilation & Moisture Troubles

No mold cleanup project will be successful unless you correct the conditions that caused mold growth in the first place.

An expert inspection and report should find and suggest remedies for site and building exterior conditions that produce mold or for building areas that serve as a mold reservoir or as amplifiers for allergens, mold, mildew, excessive pollen or pet dander.

The basic steps: find all unwanted moisture sources, correct appropriate building, site, landscaping, & construction details. 90% of the wet basements and crawl spaces I see are caused by bad or missing roof gutters and downspouts.

An IAQ investigator who has training and experience in building science, mycology (mold science), and IAQ, or in some cases an experienced ASHI-Certified home inspector or sick building investigator who is who has a similar in-depth understanding of construction failures can be helpful at this step.

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2024-07-22 by Chuck Lutz - What's the Best Way to Insulate an un-vented Attic under a Slate Roof Nailed Atop Wood Shingles on Spaced Purlins in a 1930s Sears Kit Home.

Hi folks,

I've been reading up all day on tons of great content on this site, which I was thrilled to discover recently. I'm finding info matching my situation a bit elusive, so I figured it's time to post for any pointers.

I'm restoring the insulation in our attic. We have a Sears kit house from the 30s that has a slate roof installed over some kind of wood shingles on top of purlins.

There was some original rock wool insulation that seemed pretty old and nasty that we removed years ago and installed fiberglass in its place.

Fast-forward - we had a few mice issues here and there and I'll just say that I removed the fiberglass and have been putting new rock wool back in.

We have had some ice dam issues, but I don't recall if that was the case back when we had the original rock wool. I've attached a collage that shows a couple of interior photos as well as one exterior picture of part of one of the soffits, along with an excerpt from a PDF of the instruction manual that apparently came with Sears houses back in the day.

Our soffits are NOT vented (they are only maybe four to six inches wide), nor do we have any ridge vent.

From the one interior photo as an example, from what I can tell the wood of the roof structure (including the shingles) looks pretty good and doesn't seem to show any signs of moisture damage from the decades during which that original rock wool was installed.

The "folklore" is that slate roofs don't really need extra ventilation, but most stuff you find on the web seems to assume you have an asphalt roof (I read some great articles on buildingscience.com etc. as well, for example).

I'd read up on lots of posts about ventilating roofs, installing the pink Styrofoam things etc. to ensure a ventilation path, but I don't think those approaches apply here.

My struggle is that I would like to improve the insulation to really try to avoid any ice damming. However, the rafters are 2x6 and the rock wool I can put in there will only get us R23 or so.

We're in Pennsylvania, so I'd like more than that. I'm thinking of adding 2-inch polyiso foam board on top. I think the "theory" is that the air gaps between the purlins, and the nature of the slate, should allow the roof to breathe even if I add the rigid foam on top.

I would want to seal that layer of course, to prevent house moisture getting up into the roof decking. The first question I'm struggling with is whether that is a reliable theory - that the roof would breathe fine after sealing it up.

The second bit has to do with insulation at the eaves/soffits. I'm not sure the drawing I've included exactly matches our situation, but we do seem to have these "boxed" soffits that, as I mentioned, are not vented.

The aspect of the drawing in which the rafters extend over the wall plate to form the soffit is accurate. In addition to the rock wool, there had been blown-in insulation between the floor joists that went all the way to the soffits.

That is, the blown-in was also down in that soffit cavity. This blown-in was also rather "nasty" so we removed it as well. What I'm struggling with is whether there is any "theory" one way or the other as to whether I should put insulation back in the soffit cavities themselves.

I understand the need to build up insulation at the point where the rafters and wall "meet" so that you don't get any heat leakage there, but that could be done without putting insulation in the soffit itself. Again, there is no ventilation function here that would require that insulation NOT be in the soffit.

The only possible theory I think I read somewhere had to do with air that may get warmed near the siding of the house (yes, in winter, from the sun I suppose) traveling upward and thus possibly warming the soffit. I'm probably just not hitting something basic as I think it through, but I can't tell if insulation in the soffits would be a benefit, a detriment somehow, or a "neutral".

Thanks for reading, and for any tips!
Chuck

Reply by InspectApedia Publisher (mod) - insulation in the soffits doesn't help anything but insulating and blocking air leaks are critical to avoid ice dams.

@Chuck Lutz,

You've given us a lot of good information to consider, so I'm going to reply in two steps (taking some time to think).

From the first part of your question and description, I should point out that the kind of insulation won't make a difference in whether or not you have ice dams or condensation problems. The issue is going to turn on the quantity of insulation and whether there are heat loss leaks and of course on the presence or absence of roof ventilation.

The story about not needing ventilation for slate roofs, in my opinion and experience, which now extends over quite a few decades, is mistaken.

A roof who's covering is nailed on spaced or skip shaving such as wood shingles and occasionally slight wood indeed breathe. But once you've got multiple layers of roofing, such as your case of slate over wood, I don't think you're going to get much natural ventilation even if The original would shingles were nailed on spaced nailers and the roof was not covered with solid decking.

Continued Reply by InspectApedia Publisher (mod) - Best Way to Insulate an un-vented Attic

For other readers: we are discussing the Best Way to Insulate an un-vented Attic under a Slate Roof Nailed Atop Wood Shingles on Spaced Purlins in a 1930s Sears Kit Home.

Consider that when your home was built and sported just its original wood shingles, and in the 1930s, not much attic insulation, heat escaping into the attic continued to move upwards and out through the roof. The original owners probably didn't have problems with ice dam formation and concomitant leaks into the building from snowmelt above the ice dam.

Later in the life of this home, adding a layer of slate nailed atop wood shingles (which is a bit unusual in my experience) probably reduces the "ventilation" rate of the roof.

Later still, adding more insulation would have reduced the home's heating bill but without enough insulation and enough blocking of air leaks the home could still suffer from ice dams just as you have reported.

Avoiding ice dams:

The fundamental concept that you've already got down pat and that we discuss ad nauseum in these articles, is that we want the entire roof surface to remain cold so that we don't have snow melt from upper roof areas running down to freeze into an ice dam at a colder roof edge out over the soffits or roof eaves.

That means assuring that we have adequate insulation below the roof - in this case in the attic floor, and assuring good attic ventilation so that any heat or warm air that is leaked into the attic passes rapidly to the outdoors so that the roof surface remains cold.

Evidence of air leakage or heat loss rate:

For your home we have no objective data such as measurements of air flow rates or roof and attic floor temperatures in the attic center and close to the house eaves.

What we do have is physical evidence: your report that ice dams form on the roof of your 1930s Sears Kit home in Pennsylvania, so we know that this home suffers from either or both:

- insufficient roof ventilation to prevent ice dams at the house eaves

- insufficient ventilation and air leak control to prevent heat loss into the attic space to prevent snow melt on the upper roof slopes that freezes into ice dams at the colder eaves.

Air leaks into attics of older homes:

Having inspected, built, and repaired homes since the 1970s, my OPINION is that most attics on older homes have enough warm air leaks into that space that without attic venting, in freezing climates we will have an ice dam problem.

Usually on homes designed like yours we added soffit intake venting along the roof eaves and ridge venting at the ridge. We'd add baffles between every rafter pair to be sure of a good air flow up along the underside of the roof.

For your home, adding soffit vents is trivially easy - we cut the slot along the soffit out near the fascia, add a screen, and we're done.

But for a slate roof, the cost of adding a ridge vent is considerably higher than on an asphalt shingle roof because the slates are fragile - the work has to be done by an expert, a slate roofer who knows how to support the workers off of the slate surface lest we break a zillion slates and convert the "add a ridge vent" job into a "repair the damaged slate roof" job.

So I can understand the wish to try a variation on the "hot roof" design theory: no venting, just good insulation.

For your roof and attic, if we assume you're going to continue without adding a roof venting system, we're really talking about a variation of the "hot roof" design - lots of insulation and no venting. Hot roof designs can work provided the installation is perfectly correct.

By "Adequate insulation" I mean not just the amount (sufficient R-Value) but also that the installation is perfect. That is, we don't want air bypass leaks that send building heat up into the cooler attic space. Leaks are common between batts at ceiling joists, at gaps in insulation, at ceiling light fixtures or electrical or plumbing penetrations. So when you re-insulate, pay attention to those details.

Across the main body of the attic floor, if you're not using the attic as storage space, I'd fill the joist space, then often we'd run fiberglass batts in the opposite direction, across the joists, adding another 6" or more (depending on climate) of insulation that completely covers the joists and so eliminates that path of heat movement into the attic.

At the wall tops, as you point out, we don't have space to add enough insulation. Just jamming fiberglass into the space compresses it and loses R-value.

You can use foam board insulation to get a higher R value there but watch out: if the R isn't high enough in total we risk a condensation and moisture trap within the insulation barrier. Moisture traps lead to costly mold issues or even wet insulation. So that adds importance to the "no air leaks" detail.

More about Hot Roof designs that you might want to review is at

HOT ROOFS vs VENTING in COLD CLIMATES

For what it's worth, my own preference where we're installing a hot roof design or where we are willing to spend a bit more for very high R-value and excellent, nearly 100% blockage of any air leaks, I prefer to use spray foam insulation, either an open celled spray foam or a more dense closed cell foam.

See FOAM SPRAY INSULATION TYPES and our spray foam example photo below.

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Soffit Insulation Theory: Bunk!

About adding insulation in the soffits themselves, as the soffits are outside the building itself and not over the heated space, there is no benefit to adding insulation there. Usually when I find insulation in soffits it was blown in inadvertently during a blown-insulation retrofit job. I would have removed the insulation just as you did.

(On some jobs we encountered a subsequent effort to add soffit intake venting (really not that difficult) was obstructed by the discovery that the soffits had been insulated.)

I've found no credible science, theory, document, or expert source supporting the practice of insulating inside an eaves overhang or soffit itself.

If someone deliberately blew insulation into the soffit overhang I guess they were probably thinking that they were increasing the R-value under the roof near the wall top - a spot known to be difficult due to its limited space.

But adding insulation next-to a point of heat loss does essentially nothing to reduce the heat flow. It's like adding a batt of insulation on a tabletop next to but not blocking an open window upstairs in a home.

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I would much appreciate a link to or a copy of the PDF of the instruction manual that pertained to your particular Sears kit home, as I'd like to add that for our Sears Kit Home readers over at our page: SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION

On 2022-01-24 by Paul kruger - How to stop ice dam leaks in the roof above an un-vented sunroom in Montana

I have a sunroom area that is part of the master bedroom. It has no soffit or other ventilation at the glass junction with the main house.

We live in Montana, and after very cold periods (10 above 0 to 10_15 be,ow zero),..followed by a warm up to the 30~40 above 0, we have minor drips. What can be done ?

Reply by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - start with careful inspection of leak points & moisture sources

@Paul kruger,

We need to start with a very careful inspection and diagnosis of your sunroom "drips" so that we understand their source:

from just your note I don't know if the issue is ice damming, a roof leak, in the sunroom roof, or interior condensation.

Followup by Paul kruger - condensation under metal roof above sunroom

The small leaks are actually in the roof area, not the sunroom itself.

I have a metal roof and it was removed and reset with additional weather shield material. I don’t believe I have actual exterior water intrusion or is damming.

I believe it is ventilation/moisture related, but am unsure how to fix it.

Reply by Inspectapedia Com Moderator (mod) - find and fix building air leaks into a roof space covered by metal roofing

@Paul kruger,

That sounds right to me: condensation under metal roofs is a common problem.

Key is to find and seal air leaks into the roof cavity. But at this point if insulation in the roof cavity has been wet or if ceiling drywall has been wet, further, more-invasive inspection would be appropriate to be sure we're not sealing up a mold contamination problem .

On 2019-04-11 by Boris - diagnose & fix black spot on ceiling - no attic

I have a small black spot on the corner of my ceiling and a wall that gets bigger every day. I don't have an attic.

Reply by danjoefriedman (mod)

OK Boris but there could still be an air leak and condensation in the roof cavity OR a roof leak into the space above, OR of course a different cause for the black spot, even thermal tracking. .

On 2019-01-04 by lynn - Where to find or make attic access in a 1984 Chancellor Doublewide Home

I live in a 1984 Chancellor double wide, and cannot find access to the attic, I cannot find any info on R rating at that time of build, or insulation top, bottom or walls.

I want to open up each accessable wall which has panelling to add better insulation, should I replace with dry wall or return panelling?

I also have metal siding, noticed you did not like cellouse type, what them? I thought of the safe and sound one as I think it is fireproof? Any place I can find info on my house?

Reply by danjoefriedman (mod)

Many doublewides have no indoor attic access as the under-roof space is very limited.

There might be outdoor access from a gable end on one or both ends of the home.

About opening up walls to add insulation, before considering such an approach you need to inspect the current insulation: is the wall cavity already filled? If so you can't add insulation.

And if your interest is reducing heating or cooling costs, before adding insulation the first priority is stopping drafts, air leaks.

See ENERGY SAVINGS PRIORITIES

...

Continue reading at HEAT TAPES & CABLES for ROOF ICE DAMS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see ROOF ICE DAM LEAK FAQs - questions and answers about ice dam and leak problems posted originally on this page

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• ATTIC CONDENSATION CAUSE & CURE
• ATTIC INSULATION MISSING
• COLD WEATHER ROOF TROUBLE
• HOT ROOFS vs VENTING in COLD CLIMATES 
• ROOF ICE DAM CURE: Comparing Two Houses
• ROOF ICE DAM LEAKS - home
  • HEAT TAPES & CABLES for ROOF ICE DAMS
  • HEAT TAPES & DE-ICING CABLES on FLAT ROOFS
  • ICE DAM LEAK EMERGENCY REPAIRS
  • ROOF ICE DAM DIAGNOSIS
  • ROOF ICE DAM CURE: COMPARING TWO HOUSES
  • ROOF ICE DAM PREVENTION at SKYLIGHTS
• ROOF VENTILATION for DEEP SNOW
• ROOF VENTILATION SPECIFICATIONS - home

Suggested citation for this web page

ROOF ICE DAM LEAKS at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING VENTILATION

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