Ceiling leak. Upper floor

[rohara66]

How does a standard residential attic hatch get removed or reinstalled?

Looking at ours all we have is flat piece of MDF with trim around it. Just pop it up and angle it out?

And how does that seal ideally? Just by gravity?

No attic rain issues but want to poke my head up there to see what happening to be sure.

[Fuzz]

Have you just tried pushing up on it? Mine just rests by gravity. I did install some weather stripping years ago on it.

[photon]

Had a roofer look at the problem I was having and he confirmed it's just some ice buildup in the attic, possibly due to just the right conditions of snow and wind and the angle of the house (first time we've seen this and the house is over a decade old).

He said that sometimes the vents on the roof ice up blocking the air circulation. He checked everywhere else and all the vent connections and insulation and everything looked good.

Sucks having a few brown places on the ceiling tho.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Have you just tried pushing up on it? Mine just rests by gravity. I did install some weather stripping years ago on it.

I have not. I was 99% sure it was gravity only. So just push it up 6" and then angle it to drop it down?


Doesn't appear to have any weather stripping but I think I'm going to add some come the spring to be sure.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by photon

Sucks having a few brown places on the ceiling tho.

I had a friend tell me to use bleach, so I tried it on a small brown water spot on my ceiling a year ago and it actually worked really well. I just used a Q-Tip and dabbed it on. It took a couple time dabbing the bleach on and letting it dry, but the brown spot isn't visible at all anymore. (assuming your ceiling is white)

[topfiverecords]

https://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpo...5&postcount=71

[RoadGame]

Originally Posted by Nyah

I had a friend tell me to use bleach, so I tried it on a small brown water spot on my ceiling a year ago and it actually worked really well. I just used a Q-Tip and dabbed it on. It took a couple time dabbing the bleach on and letting it dry, but the brown spot isn't visible at all anymore. (assuming your ceiling is white)

Nevermind, topfiverecords beat me to it and then some. 90% bleach 10% water in a spray bottle... way better than dabbing! (just use eye/face protection when spraying, presumably!)

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by rohara66

I have not. I was 99% sure it was gravity only. So just push it up 6" and then angle it to drop it down?


Doesn't appear to have any weather stripping but I think I'm going to add some come the spring to be sure.

I just push mine up, and slide it into the attic and leave it up there. No reason to try to wrestle it out, but ya, you can turn it and pull it down if you want.

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

Nevermind, topfiverecords beat me to it and then some. 90% bleach 10% water in a spray bottle... way better than dabbing! (just use eye/face protection when spraying, presumably!)

Ahh! I was going to use a spray bottle, but it seemed a bit risky with my furniture and carpet below. Hence the dabbing. Good call on the ratio though!

[Calgary14]

Is it even possible to have an attic that is 100% moisture free given the freeze/thaw cycles here plus blowing snow that could get into any vent?

[dubc80]

Count me in as another person who has this problem. I get the occasional drip coming down my bathroom exhaust fan after a shower.

Anyone have any recommendations on companies who can come inspect/assess and fix these venting/condensation issues? I'm too chicken sh1t to go up into my attic to mess around.

I also noticed a few of these show up on my house this last week or so.



Not nearly as intense as the picture, but I do have 2 streaks on one side of my house. Looks like it is from ice dams.

[Shin Pad]

Originally Posted by dubc80

Count me in as another person who has this problem. I get the occasional drip coming down my bathroom exhaust fan after a shower.

Anyone have any recommendations on companies who can come inspect/assess and fix these venting/condensation issues? I'm too chicken sh1t to go up into my attic to mess around.

I also noticed a few of these show up on my house this last week or so.



Not nearly as intense as the picture, but I do have 2 streaks on one side of my house. Looks like it is from ice dams.

The streaks in the picture seem to be located at the stud locations, suggesting that this isn't an ice damming problem. Looks more like something to do with thermal bridging. Moisture condensates on the siding where the thermal bridging occurs - at the studs. So, if there is dust in the air, it will accumulate at the wet locations, thus giving you the dirty streak look. I have seen this with metal stud framing - usually doesn't occur with wood framing, but it is possible.



Anyway, if you only have 2 streaks on one side of your house, it is probably and entirely different issue.

[bettercallbettman]

Are the folks above your unit standing in their sinks?

[meh]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

Nevermind, topfiverecords beat me to it and then some. 90% bleach 10% water in a spray bottle... way better than dabbing! (just use eye/face protection when spraying, presumably!)

This does work but it you'll end up with a slightly whiter patch than the rest of the ceiling if it is an older ceiling.
Also, don't buy your spray bottle at the dollar store. I did and the bottle had tiny holes in the bottom of it. Now I'm looking at bleach stains on my carpet!

[taffeyb]

A few years ago, water was pouring -- and I do mean pouring -- by my windows and by my door frame. Similar weather conditions...heavy snow and very cold weather followed by a quick warm up. In my case, the temperatures got into the high single digits after a prolonged cold period.



Effectively, it was an air flow issue. The heavy snow blocked the ceiling vents. Notice how a lot of houses have those vents which are no more than 6-8 inches high? Those got blocked by the snow -- I still see that all the time in my neighborhood. Because of no air flow, the ice built up in the attic. Since the temperature went up so fast, the ice melted quickly as opposed to slowly melting and evaporating. I think for the most part, the blocked vents aren't a major issue unless there is a quick warm up.



I upgraded my original vents to a couple of those tall spinning vents (30 inches tall?) and never had another issue since.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

Nevermind, topfiverecords beat me to it and then some. 90% bleach 10% water in a spray bottle... way better than dabbing! (just use eye/face protection when spraying, presumably!)

Check your solution, I think you have the bleach/water concentrations backwards.

[Inferno099]

Update:
Adjuster checked house today... overall said the small fixes not worth making a claim given the deductible.
- no structural damage to ceiling in multiple areas where water was dripping
- little amount of ice crystals in only a couple areas, no ice build-up like pictures seen on internet with inches of ice
- no weather stripping on attic hatch - too add the weather stripping to prevent house warm air from going to attic and melting the small amount of ice
- to check potlights to confirm they are sealed

In general this seems like a small job for a handyperson and for the lights an electrician.

I will likely have a roofing company check things further in the spring and also look if further insulation in attic possibly should be done.

[ken0042]

For the pot lights, are you using LED or incandescent bulbs? I'm thinking if you haven't switched to LEDs yet, the difference in heat generated could help the situation.

[Nyah]

So these terrifying things showed up today. Does this likely mean there's an airflow issue or possibly something more diabolical? I'll also echo the request for recommendations of companies people have used & had good service with in correcting stuff like this?

Spoiler!

[Sliver]

That sucks.