Attic Insulators

[The_Rural_Juror]

It looks like I might have been hit with attic rain. Can someone recommend a good company. Preferably one providing discounts to #philphans.

[ExtraSlow]

I guess you don't wish it would rain down on you now?

[The_Rural_Juror]

Not when it's going to rain down on the TV that is looping Phil Collins's greatest hits 24/7.

[JDMMAN]

The_Rural_Juror - If you have attic access, the easiest thing to do is to rent the machine from HD and do blow-in fiberglass yourself. It would only take about an afternoon or so to do (if that).

Had I known how easy it was when I had previously had it done by a company, I would've gone this route too. I went from an effective R12 to R50; so it'll always be good to get a few more packages of insulation just in case.

[suntan]

I used Affordable Home Insulators back in 2016. $700 to top up to R50.

[ThePenIsMightier]

The_Rural_Juror - If you have attic access, the easiest thing to do is to rent the machine from HD and do blow-in fiberglass yourself. It would only take about an afternoon or so to do (if that).

Had I known how easy it was when I had previously had it done by a company, I would've gone this route too. I went from an effective R12 to R50; so it'll always be good to get a few more packages of insulation just in case.

Agree because that's easy as shit. But... More insulation doesn't prevent attic rain. I think he needs a pro to fix the leaks first (most likely the hatch).

[88CRX]

Yea, adding more insulation isn’t going to help shit.

You need someone to crawl up there and find where the interior air is leaking into the attic.

- attic hatch is leaking too much air
- vapor barrier gaps in and around light fixtures or pot lights
- dryer exhaust vent leaking air into attic
- bathroom exhaust vent leaking or dumping air into attic
- interior humidity in house it too high

Take your pick.

How old is the house and is this the first time it’s happened? If it’s an older house that hasn’t had this problem before it’s most likely a loose exhaust vent duct. If it’s a newer house it’s leaking air though the closest light fixture to the attic rain stains.

Keep your interior humidity way lower, like 20% if possible.

[The_Rural_Juror]

It's a 5 year old home, and it looks like it is leaking from only one pot light. One of the attic guys said that it is probably humidity trapped on the underside of the vapour barrier, and to lower humidity levels. I'm monitoring it for now.
I cant lower the humidity too low due to the hardwood.

[88CRX]

It’s caused by warm, moist air leaking into the cold attic. The warm, moist air then condensed and freezes on the u/s of roof sheathing (during winter) and then when it warms up and melts it’s drips down onto and through your attic insulation and then finds a hole in your ceiling vapour barrier and boom it stains the ceiling.

The more icing up you have when it’s cold the more it’s gonna rain when it warms up.

Only way to stop it is to eliminate the amount of air leaking up into the attic space when it’s cold outside.

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And did the ceiling stains just show up the last couple days? Or did then show up 3-4 weeks ago after it was -35c?

[asp integra]

If you are in Edmonton I would suggest Details Insulation, in Calgary I'm not sure