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We had a new roof put on 17 months ago. It is a low pitch roof (2-12). A continuous ridge vent was installed that runs the length of the 50' 6" roof. Not long after the job was finished I called the roofer back to point out to him what looked like a couple of small yellowish drip stains running down (maybe 6" long) from near the exposed center beam in the living room's 12' wide cathedral ceiling. Without getting on a ladder, he looked at it and said it probably was condensation. We decided to monitor the situation. After a time, the stains disappeared and we assumed he had been correct.
During the past 17 months though we would occasionally discover spots on our living room furniture and floor. My wife thinks these usually appeared a few days after a rain. We would examine the ceiling, but could see no stains on the ceiling, so were at a loss as to what was causing this. I believe I did stick my head up in the crawl space during one storm and could see no dripping anywhere, but don't remember if there were subsequent spots on the living room floor.
We even thought that it might be something in the leather furniture "expressing" moisture (or some sort of oil/resin) outward. Since there was no ceiling damage, we did nothing.
About 6 weeks ago, after over 2 years in the house, we discovered what appeared to be evidence of mold on the east side of the beam (the side where the stains were appearing below) and some dark spots on the ceiling. A mold technician advised using Spirocidin to deal with the suspected mold. We did and thought the problem solved, but recently noticed more spots on the floor. Inspecting from a ladder today I was amazed to find numerous droplets along the bottom/east edge of the beam. Running my hand over one area of that side of the beam, I found it to be quite wet. There are also now more black dots on the ceiling extending out about 18" from the center on that side. We had a mild rain 3 days ago, but don't remember any wind.
I began to wonder if the ridge vent could be the culprit and got up on the roof and took the attached photo.
I don't know what the ridge vent looked like right after installation, or if there is a problem with this, but I am wondering if the waviness evident is problematic or normal after 17 months exposure to sun and weather. After searching the web a bit tonight, I am beginning to wonder if the ridge vent should be removed and some other form of venting installed. What do you think?
I haven't read all the replies but I have some observations. Firstly and most importantly is that the roof does not have enough pitch for shingles. Unless there is a complete underlay of ice and water shield wind driven rain can and will go under the shingles and leak. I can't tell if they are low slope shingles or not. If they are then you have a little better protection but I still hate them anyway. If snow ever lays on them it's game over even on the lowslope shingle app. That ridge vent is terrible. Ugliest one I have ever seen for sure. I don't know why roofers can't get it through their heads that these kinds of roofs need a membrane roof of some sort. Back when I was a roofing contractor I did hundreds of these roofs. Half the time my customer had been through hell with the problems from misapplications on these buildings. As I said before in areas where you can get a foot or more of snow laying on the roof they have to be treated the same as a dead flat roof that holds water. I have dug down through the snow at the ridge of one of these and found what amounts to a puddle, a quarter inch of water or so and just backing right in under the roofing and actually raining inside the house.
I always specified a BUR on these roofs. We would usually put down at least an R20 insulation on top of the deck then hot mop a 4 ply built up roof. Of course this required a nice new edge flashing around the entire perimeter. My fave way to finish them off was to use bright white clear crushed limestone imbedded in the hot flood coat. Some people perferred coloured river stone. Anyway that roof with a minimum of maintence will last 50 years. it's leakproof, windproof and fireproof. My sister's house in Vancouver was built in 1960 and the BUR on it is still perfect. I fly out every year just to check it out for her. LOL
If you had you would have known the thread was revived by ms bewildered. The OP started this thread in '08 and it was the only thread (s)he participated in. I'm sure that the problem was either corrected or still existing 4 years later.
If you had you would have known the thread was revived by ms bewildered. The OP started this thread in '08 and it was the only thread (s)he participated in. I'm sure that the problem was either corrected or still existing 4 years later.
Well , I hope my post informs people about lowslope roofs. I have just seen too many disasters for people with these constructions. I've actually had cases where the people have installed a new roof three times only to have each one as bad as the last because they were the wrong specs each time. I realize theyare not as bad in areas that get no snow but I have seen a lot of wind driven rain leak under the shingles of these 2 in 12 piched roofs.
I see by the dates that I am a late comer to this thread. I recently (last week) had a new roof installed with a ridge vent. The contractors have cut a slot approximately 2" wide on only one side of the ridge pole. From what I have read the slot should be about an 1" on each side of the ridge pole. Pole appears to be 1.5 x 10. So the total slot would be 3". I cannot tell if there is clearance over the top of the pole for the air currents to reach the slot. If not then the current must flow under the ridge pole to reach the slot. I am wondering how effective my ridge vent is going to be. There are plenty of ventilation slots in the overhangs. So that is not a concern. The manufacturer does seem to have a place on their website where I could ask the question directly. Any comments on my situation. Thanks Dave
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