What "man jobs" have you done today?

Buffman said:
You can also put these roof lap vents in the roof felt which may assist

Check this out! https://amzn.eu/d/0LEwzgQ
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I saw these but also articles saying they’re not “to code” which put me off a little. Probably fine otherwise why do they exist, but will see if I can tackle the root cause first. It’s a new issue I think as the loft boards and beams don’t show any water damage apart from these new drips and I’m not sure when the previous owner added the extra insulation.
 
I also found a bit of condensation in the loft today when getting the christmas decs. I've been monitoring the loft humidity since I increased the insulation last year, and it's been above 90% for the past week (probably not helped by the low wind speeds), so I wasn't surprised. I will get a few of those lap vents and double check that the insulation at the edges isn't blocking airflow, but I'm not too worried as it wasn't that bad.
 
You shouldn't really be seeing condensation in your loft unless there's a path for warm moist air to migrate up there, so worth checking the seal around your loft hatch, and make sure things like steam from baths/showers are being extracted, as that's what caused me a big issue before.
 
lap vents are usually very effective and a lot cheaper than getting tile vents out in by a roofer.

The above is correct but also adding insulation means that the loft space will be cooler than it was previously. If there is low wind, you can cross the due point very rapidly and condensation will form. It may not be coming from the house, if there is high humidity generally and then it rapidly cools, there is always a risk, particularly if there is little to no wind/air flow to exchange air in the roof as it cools.
 
Uhtred said:
I also found a bit of condensation in the loft today when getting the christmas decs. I've been monitoring the loft humidity since I increased the insulation last year, and it's been above 90% for the past week (probably not helped by the low wind speeds), so I wasn't surprised. I will get a few of those lap vents and double check that the insulation at the edges isn't blocking airflow, but I'm not too worried as it wasn't that bad.
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b0rn2sk8 said:
lap vents are usually very effective and a lot cheaper than getting tile vents out in by a roofer.

The above is correct but also adding insulation means that the loft space will be cooler than it was previously. If there is low wind, you can cross the due point very rapidly and condensation will form. It may not be coming from the house, if there is high humidity generally and then it rapidly cools, there is always a risk, particularly if there is little to no wind/air flow to exchange air in the roof as it cools.
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Just to add to these excellent points, moisture can travel up to the loft through the little holes in the ceiling where the cables for ceiling lights are, more so if you have lots of spotlights in a bathroom for example. Also don't rule out water coming from the roof - I had poor flashing around the soil pipe vent as letting in water so got that fixed. It's always a good idea to periodically inspect your roof from both the inside and outside (use a drone or find a friend with one!). Make sure you don't have too much stored in your loft, let the air flow eave to eave if possible.
 
I forgot to mention that where you only have vents in the eves, moist air does get trapped at the pitch when there is little air movement. Again when it cools, boom condensation.

Lap vents will help prevent that as well as you’ll have exchange points much higher in the roof space.

Proper tile vents are better but lap vents are a good and cheap solution, particularly where the former means getting in a roofer to do it.
 
Making progress in the spare room.
Painted behind radiator and fixed floor. Fitted TV mount, tie backs, curtain rail and lights. Layer of gloss paint.

Now waiting for carpet and sofa to arrive.

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Bath out and radiator pipes chased/moved in to the walls.

First foray in to copper pipe work, bending is straight forward but replicating bends on two separate pieces is somewhere trickier :p Used solder ring couplings and elbows with a small top-up and then a push-fit coupler to the existing pipes to avoid melting any of the nearby wires. Tested for leaks on a temp fitting in the kitchen for peace of mind. Petro tape (and gloves) to lag the sections in the wall which will be plastered over.

Fair bit more to do in here and plenty of time to practise... concealed bath and shower valves to go in too, eek...


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Chases were a little higher than necessary. To say it was dusty would be an understatement. Looked like I'd been up the chimney by the time I came out of there.
 
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Thanks all those that contributed about the loft condensation. It’s certainly at the pitch and mostly one side of the loft, the side where some of the vents were not as clear as they should have been, no spots in the rooms below the loft and the bathroom side is clear of condensation.

Regarding lap vents, I’m guessing the concern about driving rain slat resistance and wind up lift isn’t really that big a deal?

I also assume I’d want one between each joist on both sides.
 
There is nowt wrong with that - can I come round and have a go.

Used to drive mates Ford tractor about that size to cut grass in field -also half size excavator (Kabuto) and a big and tiny dumper trucks.

Cut his lawns with petrol mower you walk behind -When I retired he bought himself a super dooper ride on -I did try it once.
I love man toys .
 
DXP55 said:
There is nowt wrong with that - can I come round and have a go.

Used to drive mates Ford tractor about that size to cut grass in field -also half size excavator (Kabuto) and a big and tiny dumper trucks.

Cut his lawns with petrol mower you walk behind -When I retired he bought himself a super dooper ride on -I did try it once.
I love man toys .
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In the spring or summer, you are most welcome, it's going in one of the workshops this week with an exhaust extension to outside on it, to run a PTO generator should the power go off. Now, of course, knowing my luck there will be no power cuts and it will just sit there in the way, laughing at me... :)

I am more into the much faster man toys really!
 
{SAS}TB said:
Busy morning by all accounts

Cleaned out the chickens

Processed a small batch of kindling

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Then after resigning myself to the fact waiting for the grass / leaves to dry was happen anytime soon, decided to attack the leaves ....

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Swept / raked them into piles

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Bagged them up and stored behind the gazebo to rot down into leaf mould / compost

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Then gave the back lawn a trim

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Looks slightly better and I'm knackered :D
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Been tackling leaves today too! Wanted to wait until oaks dropped all thier leaves. But grass was suffering!
 
Itchytrigg said:
Thanks all those that contributed about the loft condensation. It’s certainly at the pitch and mostly one side of the loft, the side where some of the vents were not as clear as they should have been, no spots in the rooms below the loft and the bathroom side is clear of condensation.

Regarding lap vents, I’m guessing the concern about driving rain slat resistance and wind up lift isn’t really that big a deal?

I also assume I’d want one between each joist on both sides.
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You don’t need to worry about driving rain, it would need to get up under the slates which are 30% overlapped and the felt which is the same again.

Tile vents have a much smaller overlap space if you really think about it.

You don’t need one in every ‘space’ every other is fine and I’d vary the heights. Some high, some middle assuming you have vents at the soffits.

Edit: every other gap on each side but staggered so where there is a gap on one side, the opposing side has a vent. That should be more than enough.
 
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Itchytrigg said:
Found condensation in the loft so tried to clear some insulation from the soffit vents which is not easy when only the centre is boarded….hopefully cleared it enough, front was ok (and had least condensation) but rear was blocked in a few areas.

Left a few dehumidifier packs up there as well in the hope of taking some extra moisture out.

Does make me realise I’ll need to fully board it in spring/early summer so I can be 100% sure they’re all clear so it doesn’t happen again next year.
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I need to look at my loft. Went up last weekend and it was noticeably damp. Need to go see what’s going on up there. Cardboard boxes felt a little soft and insulation was damp to the touch. It’s a reasonably new build house (Nov 17) so I’m hoping it’s just a case of vents blocked by insulation or something. None of our loft is boarded at all yet so it’s quite tricky to get about! Need to sort out some boards as there’s a lot of stuff up there squashing the insulation down.
 
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