Damp plywood under roof

[knightryda01]

Kinda freaking out a little bit guys. Not a roofer or builder in any sense of the word. I had a new roof installed 9 or 10 years ago. Well My gf got up in the attic and she mentions a roughly 3x3 section of plywood is damp. There was few drops of water on one of our storage bins. So now what do I do? I don't think I am covered under any kind of warranty. Nervous about shady contractors. We had a recent run of hail storms and had contractors knocking on doors looking for jobs.

I did not get up there tonight but could it just be condensation or something else. Any way to help fix this would be greatly appreciated. Winter is on its way.

 

[Scott H in Wheaton]

Could be excessive moisture in the house...are you running a humidifier?

Could be inadequate ventilation of the attic space. Do you have soffit vents and PLENTY of vents at the top? For a pyramid-shaped (hip) roof you will need to use low-profile (mushroom, turtle) vents. For an A-frame style gable roof a ridge vent works best.

Do you have enough attic insulation? If you are storing things in the attic, I suspect you are short on insulation so you can have storage space.
Michigan is somewhere between Zone 5 and Zone 8, you should have a minimum of R49 (about 18 inches) and up to R60 (about 22 inches). Lack of insulation allows the warm air in the living space to migrate up into the cold attic and turn into condensation.

You MAY have a roof leak, but I would suspect all of the above first.

 

[kd3pc]

unless there is a heat source under the 3x3 area, likely not condensation.

That small of an area almost means a leak somewhere or loose flashing

You will need to get up there and check it out. I use the look for daylight to start with so head up when it is bright outside. Let your eyes readjust to the dark of the attic, and look for light....you may get lucky.

If not, then you are at the get on the roof phase and look for damage, loose shingles, flashing, stopped up gutters or valleys and smooth shingles (they will indicate a worn roof)...

8-10 years is about all you get any more, even on a 12-15 year shingle, unless they were warranted longer when you had the roof done. The flatter the roof, the quicker they wear.

Best of luck

 

[jkwilson]

Any exhaust fans nearby? Warm wet air hitting a cold attic makes things wet.

 

[ADSR]

going to need some pictures

 

[Krodad]

Agree on the exhaust fan/ducting theory. If you have any ducting in the attic that has a leak, this will absolutely cause condensation up there. Take a guess how I know!

You might even have exhaust directly vented to the attic. It's a no-no codewise, but it happens.

Might want to check and make sure any pvc vents going through the attic were glued. Again...ask me how I know

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