We have just finished another cold spell here in Alberta. Temperature went to -42 degrees. On the ceilings, around the perimeter of my 1951 bungalow, I noticed condensation areas about the size of the framing tying the roof to the frame of the house. The condensation was so pronounced, that it dripped steadily. My guess is that this is an ugly example of thermal bridging.
Because both ends are covered – one with the roof and the other with my stipple ceilings, I am at a loss as to how to fix this problem, without a major expense.
Any suggestions ?
Replies
Cheapest fix I know is a pack of matches.
(sorry I couldn't help myself)
Plodder, two thoughts come to mind (matches not one of them), and you said "inexpensive". Reduce the humidity and/or try a ceiling fan to keep the air better mixed thus not as much chance of moisture/hot air at the ceiling perimeter corners. You could try a simple box fan blowing up a wall to see if that solves the problem prior to the expense of adding ceiling fans. I know of many homes that run their ceiling fans in the winter to blow air up, and push the hot air down the walls. It creates a good mix without a direct down blast on your body. Let me know what you find out, you do need to solve it before you do some major damage. Paul
Hello Paul,
I forgot to include more data in the description of the problem. We have ceiling fans throughout, and keep them going to help the air flow. (This doesn't seem to help.) Secondly, the humidity comes from my wife's plants. She doesn't have a lot of them, but it's not worth my life to try to eliminate them!
Does this help at all?
Plodder, my answer is assuming that you do not have an ice dam situation. Since the pattern is the framing placement, I feel you are correct in the thermal bridging analysis. Paul
Wow. Is that farenheit? Now that's cold. Folks generally consider solid wood to be a 'good enough' insulator around here, but our recent 100 year lows were more like -15F.
Perhaps you could add a thermal break, like a layer of foam board over the existing ceiling, covered by a new layer of 3/8 drywall. Even a thin layer of foam would probably do the trick, so minimal headroom lost.
And hey, you could lose those stipple ceilings in the process. I only say that because they seem to have fallen out of fashion for whatever reason...
Hello there,
I think the ceilings are a plaster pattern, rather than stipple. In any event, my wife doesn't want them covered up. (That was my first suggestion, to layer a foam sheet around the ceiling perimeter to act as a thermal break) . So I'm stymied.
Have you been up in your attic to see what's going on?
How much insulation is up there?
What size is your ceiling framing?
The best ideas are everyone's property [Seneca]
Hi,
Attic framing is 2 x 6; and there's 8" of fibreglass throughout. There is no condensation on the ceilings below where there is fibreglass, but only where there is the framing which ties the rafters to the attic framing. ??