Inadequate ventilation?

[NJinspector]

Hi all,

Todays' inspection, 17 year old home, bank owned , so I dont know how long it has been vacant.

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Now, even though the shingles are worn, cracked and installed incorrectly, I dont think water is getting through to the attic. The only ventilation to the attic is the vinyl soffit vents. No gable vent installed or ridge . A power fan is installed but, disconnected.

Here is my question. If this is condensation surrounding the nail heads and turning the plywood black, why is it on only one side of the roof?

thanks

[hausdok]

My guess would be that that's the north slope of the roof and it's not getting warmed by the day's sun and is staying damp.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[John Dirks Jr]

How much insulation was in the attic? Poor insulation can add to the problem.

[kurt]

Originally posted by hausdok

My guess would be that that's the north slope of the roof and it's not getting warmed by the day's sun and is staying damp.

OT - OF!!!

M.

Yep. Or, the bathrooms are on that side of the house.

[NJinspector]

Insulation level was fine, but the attic stairs were poorly sealed and the insulation was pulled back several feet away from each can light.

I forgot to check which way the house was facing, but I would bet your right about the north side. And, yes the bathrooms alre also on that side of the house.

[Nolan Kienitz]

Jason,

Bathroom exhaust vents go where?

[carle3]

Bathroom vent fans that terminate in the attic space can be a contributing factor but are seldom the major source of moisture. Those open can lights and that staircase hole would be a huge source of attic -by-pass (warm moist air).

[Richard Stanley]

Those shingles only have 2 or less fasteners???

[Chris Bernhardt]

It's hard to be conclusive even when you see things like recessed lights and fart fans venting into attics. I had posted a while back concerning L shaped duplexes where one attic was clear and the other darkened by mold. The only difference was the orientation to the prevailing winds. I've seen the same thing inspecting houses right next to each other that were oriented 90 degrees apart.

Usually when it's a fart fan issue or can lights I will see the mold or condensation artifacts clustered around them.

Also very often attic mold problems are from a wet crawlspace.

If the mold and condensation is pretty uniform then it's pretty likely in addition to any moist air leaking thru the ceiling assembly that the attic ventilation system is not performing for that house with that orientation to prevailing winds.

Chris, Oregon

[Richard Moore]

Jason,

I've seen similar damage on shingles that look very much like "yours" a couple of times. Your shingles are very similar to PABCO HO-25 or PABCO HZ-25 that had problems leading to a lawsuit (although probably not that particular manufacturer back east). The added dark shadow line is also indicative of these.

http://www.ho25settlement.com/product.php3

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 082&EDATE=

These Pabco shingles basically had overlay patches adhered to regular three tab shingles to give the appearance of architectural laminated shingles. You will notice the cracking is restricted to the overlays while the underlying 3-tabs look OK. I'm not sure what causes that but I suspect it has something to do with the way they are glued.

So...you may still have a ventilation issue, but the shingle cracking might be mostly due to a crappy product. If you know a good, experienced local roofer, show him the photos and ask him if there was a "history" with these in your area.

[Neal Lewis]

No wonder I've never heard of Pabco. Seems they're only available West of the Rockies.

[Richard Moore]

Originally posted by Neal Lewis

No wonder I've never heard of Pabco. Seems they're only available West of the Rockies.

Yep...which is why I doubt that they are the same manufacturer...but there is this from one of the web sites:

As previously stated, similar products are known to have been sold by other companies prior to, during and after the same time period as PABCO HO-25 and PABCO HZ-25 shingles were sold.

IMO, they make for one butt ugly roof and Jason's sure like one of those "similar products". I probably haven't seen more of them just because they are so damn ugly.

I know that on one of the occasions my client got a new roof, but I don't know if the seller or Pabco paid for it.

[Bill Kibbel]

Those cracks look like one of the (several) issues I have found with the C'teed Horizon Shangles.

Here is my question. If this is condensation surrounding the nail heads and turning the plywood black, why is it on only one side of the roof?

Jason,

In our area it's very, very common to find that moisture only condenses under the north-facing roof slope. It's most common in homes that have perpetual moisture problems in the basement/crawlspace.

[excalibur]

If i may ..."vacant property"...... watch for potential marijuana or other plantation that could be a possible cause !

[johnk]

did they paper the roof?

[Jim Baird]

Jason,

Hard to tell from fotos, but doesn't look like much slope there, especially at skylight. Is 2 1/2 or better?