Uh oh...calling for all Oppo contractor, roofer, home DYI-y, etc help!

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
01/14/2019 at 17:29 • Filed to: Oppohelp, Houses, Houselopnik, Roof

So....on top of the whole basement flood thing back in late October which is STILL not finished yet (don’t even get me started)....

I just saw this thing outside my window.

It’s a DARK BROWN icicle coming from one of the soffit vents along the roof overhang. This has never happened before in the 14 years we’ve lived here and it has me worried from the basic Google searching I’ve done on the topic...

It’s a fairly cold week here, -10C or lower all week, plus strong windchill. I noticed it coming from one of two soffit vents along the back of the house, there are icicles coming from both vents, though the second vent has very, very small ones. The one in the picture is about 12-13 inches long...?

We had a huge rain here in my part of Nova Scotia last week where it POURED and then it became cold quickly the following night and day. It was also very windy just after the rain stopped, but not really DURING the rain.

I went out and looked and don’t SEE any shingles that look out of place or missing? There is absolutely 0 snow on the roof, nor do I see any ice. We had the gutters replaced only last year, so they are brand new. There a re absolutely no signs of moisture inside the house on the ceiling anywhere other than condensation on the windows as is common for a lot of folks in the winter when it’s cold outside.

Is this something I should be worried about? It’s got me scared we are going to have water coming into the house through the ceiling once everything gets warm enough to melt or something!

Signed,
- A concerned and ‘omg, now what the hell is going to go wrong with the house...’ RallyDarkstrike...

DISCUSSION (43)

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 17:41

In th adjusting biz, we'd call that a shitsicle

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 17:43

Have you tried turning the house on and off again?

No really though, that’s a weird one. I’d guess water intrusion, mixed with typical attic dust and dirt, made it’s way out. Finding the point of intrusion though...

Edit: my google-fu says to check for any bathroom vents leaking moisture into the attic. Just tossing out ideas.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 17:48

I’m going to go with fucking hell. There really is only a few positivities and you should probably get up into the attic and take a look see or remove some of the soffit to see if you can determine the location of the leak. I’ve see leaks run down a rafter and daylight at the end resulting in no water damage in the interior of the house.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
01/14/2019 at 17:48

Already have done many Google searches...the vent with the most icicle-ness is not near the bathroom, so I don’t think it’s that. I’m hoping (but definitely not looking forward to) to go up into the attic tomorrow when I get home from work and take a look around...

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 17:48

That’s what forms in the bottom of an outhouse in the wintertime.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
01/14/2019 at 17:50

I’m hoping I can get up into the attic tomorrow after work and see what there is to see.....also hoping I don’t see any mould from the whole basement flood thing back in October, our attic isn’t ‘finished’ at all, so we’ve literally not been up there in YEARS.

Chariotoflove > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 17:50

We dealt with water getting into our roof several years ago, although we discovered it by seeing water damage inside our house. I assume you don’t haver the same yet, or you would have mentioned it. Here are some things to think about. First, check the junctions around the fittings on the roof where they integrate with the shingles. Second, I don’t know what your gutters look like, but we installed gutter guards, and there was concern that they pried the shingles up enough to let water in when we had a driving rain. That didn’t turn out to be our problem, but it could have been. Our shingles didn’t look to be obviously damaged either, according to the first guys we had come out, but we ended up needing the roof redone in the end. If I can remember to look it up when I get home, I can try to remind myself of the details, if you like.

benjrblant > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 17:55

Oh, in my business, we call that a Kia Forte.

facw > benjrblant
01/14/2019 at 17:57

That’s not nice.

Though I’m still disappointed that CarsofForteLa ngley hasn’t become a thing.

benjrblant > facw
01/14/2019 at 17:59

I think he knows I’m teasing him about it. Er, if not, COFL- I’m teasing you about this.

I too am very disappointed, but mentally reading it as CarsofForteLangely makes me happier.

wafflesnfalafel > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 18:02

yeah... is there a bath with a toilet above that area with maybe black water drain in the wall? (But it is damn weird its hanging from the MIDDLE of that grate..)

VincentMalamute-Kim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:03

I’m thinking “ ice dam” . But upside down. I’ve never heard of that but I’m guessing h eat is escaping from your house into your attic and water vapor is condensing on the underside of your roof, traveling down to the cold eave where it freezes. It’s brown from all the dirt the water collected on it’s path down the underside of your roof.

You need more attic venting (more soffit vents, more ridge vents) to keep your roof deck cold. You need to caulk/spray foam/plug all attic bypasses - that’s all the gaps, cracks, crevices that allow heat in your house to escape into the attic. A ll the holes for electric/plumbing/venting/can lights need to be sealed.

I’m guessing your house is “older”? Like 1970's or earlier? I’m thinking the fixes can wait for warm weather.

Are my assumptions about your house correct? What did Google tell you that got you worried ? Did you check your shingles using binoculars? Any vents, chimneys, roof penetrations directly upstream of the icicle?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > benjrblant
01/14/2019 at 18:04

Kinja'd!!!

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:16

I’ve sent this to a couple contractors I know. I’ll let you know their thoughts

diplodicus forgot his password > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:17

Iwonder if lumber can get bacterial wet wood like living trees do. That's what it reminds me of

66P1800inpieces > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:21

Do you have good ventilation in the attic via gable vents or passive roof vents? If not humidity from your house and any from the outside may be condensing on the inside, dripping down the underside of the roof and then freezing when it hits the cold air again. Might just need more roof venting. The air should come in low from the soffit and passively exhaust out the top. Odd that it is brown in color.

66P1800inpieces > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:21

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:24

A restoration professional I sent it to replied with :

Kinja'd!!!

facw > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 18:33

Charming...

Wacko > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 18:35

You sure that is not the vent for the bathroom or kitchen hutch?

That or a loss of heat somewhere between your house and roof.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Chariotoflove
01/14/2019 at 18:59

The roof on that side of the house was only redone a few years ago, so it should be OK I would think, they were trusted roofers as well.

No gutter guards.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > VincentMalamute-Kim
01/14/2019 at 19:04

Nope, house is early 90s. Google mentioned ice dams and them causing interior water damage (hence my worry) , but there is literally not one spec of snow or ice anywhere on the roof other than these icicles. Chimney for the oil furnace is SORTOF (not directly) upstream from both vents, but we just had that resealed the other year due to water coming down the side of the chimney all the way into the basement (nothing major, just the occasional dri p in heavy rain) - the flashing had come loose so we had that resealed.

The soffits all seemed to have mini vents in them (as seen in my pic, all of them seem to have those little holes in them...? But there are two of the also-pictured larger round vents the icicles are coming out of along the back of the house. The front has no vents because the roof comes straight down and then right out over a verandah. There are two large gable vents on either end of the attic.

Your explanation of the dirty water, etc is exactly what I assumed from my research online this evening.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 19:05

Thanks friend, I appreciate it! There’s no ice or snow anywhere on the roof at all, only these icicles, so I can’t think it’s the ‘ice dam’ effect everywhere online seems to suggest...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 66P1800inpieces
01/14/2019 at 19:09

We had a basement flood back in October, nobody’s checked the attic since that, so hopefully no excess moisture up there as there were 3 professional gr ade dehumidifiers and 5 air movers running down there straight-time for a month and a half after the flood to make sure everything was dry. Our attic isn’t usable space, so we never go up there....last time I was there was probably 3 years ago when we had a very small leak coming into the basement down the side of the oil furnace chimney and I was trying to see where it was coming from. In that instance, it was that the flashing had come loose around the chimney and was resealed nice and tight.

House wise, there are two gable vents on either end of the house and all the soffits seem to (as seen in the pic) use vented ‘panels’ as they all have those tiny holes in them...? (I seem to recall seeing light come in through those little holes when I was up in the attic looking for the source of the aforementioned chimney leak). The roof also has two of those larger round vents (like the one the icicle is coming from) along the rear of the house. There are none on the front as the roof comes straight down over a verandah.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > facw
01/14/2019 at 19:10

Thats life.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 19:13

Eh, not sure about that one, I’ve never once ever heard any noise anywhere in the roof of the house, nor has my brother or mother so hard to think an animal would live there. The cat also has an insanely good sense of hearing and we often see her stare at a given place to find a tiny bug making a little flying or walking noise on paper or whathaveyou, so I imagine if something had been clamoring around up there I would’ve seen her stare at the ceiling at some point or other wide-eyed hearing something we didn’t....after all, she sleeps in my room more than anywhere else and the icicle is directly outside my room’s window.

Apparently the discoloration is common in leaks such as this from dirt and debris from beneath the shingles if water is backing up under them, which is why I am worried...yet most explanations online explain that that only happens with the ice damming effect ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_dam_(roof) ), but there is not one speck of anything on our roof to be damming the water, so I am confused....we did have a VERY heavy rain the other day compounded by heavy winds immediately afterward (though no winds DURING the rain), just RIGHT after, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wacko
01/14/2019 at 19:15

Supposedly too MUCH heat getting to the roof is what can cause this, so maybe we need more insulation, though it’s never done this one in the past in the 14 years or so we’ve lived here...

Definitely not the kitchen vent, as that is on a completely different side of the house and doubtful it’s not the bathroom vent as that was fixed maybe 6-7 years ago when we had a shower installed into our upstairs bathroom. (admittedly, quite a few years ago now so maybe it’s gone wrong somehow again... )

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 19:41

Probably an ice damn.

Ryan The Roofer > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 20:39

Have you measurd the relative humidity inside your home yet? if not go get a hygrometer and see what your moisture levels are. then consult what indoor relative humidity levels should be as the temperature drops. What you have going on is that moisture is escaping into your attic condensing on your roof deck and turning to ice when it is cold when you get a warm-up it melts and will drip down. The color in nature of your ice problem appears that there must be a concentrated area where heat is escaping into the attic to melt the ice that is for me. The best time to see this condition is when it is extremely cold, also checking relative humidity at this time is beneficial as you will notice that you more than likely have much higher humidity then you should.

facw > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
01/14/2019 at 20:51

Seems more like death?

Wacko > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 21:49

it has to be heat and humidity. Might also be the plumbing stack vent broken in the roof.

Only way to know is to get up there and find it.

VincentMalamute-Kim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 22:00

You’ve got vinyl siding and the small perforations are vents as are the large circular vents. If the vinyl siding was added over wood siding, then you don’t actually know how much venting you have in the wood eaves that are covered by vinyl. (edit: I read you saw light coming through the perforations so you don’t have vinyl just covering up wood. We’re going to need an engineer but I don’t think those perforations add up to enough venting )

I would have thought builders knew about attic venting by the 90's but it depends on how much your builder cared. The large gable vents aren’t that effective. You want venting at the top (ridge) and bottom (eaves) to get natural air flow (chimney effect). With gable vents, air just sits there unless there’s wind.

You don’t have ice dams since you said there’s no snow on the roof. Your attic is undervented by your description. You have only the two larger round vents and the gable vents. Maybe there’s merit to my off the wall guess about condensation from attic bypasses causing that icicle.

I read other answers - good thoughts about bathroom/kitchen vents - water can condense on them. They can become disconnected.

I think your house will be OK till you figure this out. Since it’s not ice dams.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > shop-teacher
01/14/2019 at 22:08

I don’t think so....they are usually caused by a big ice build up ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_dam_(roof) ) on a roof, but there is literally not a spec of snow or ice on our roof right now, so it can’t be that!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Wacko
01/14/2019 at 22:23

Hoping to do that tomorrow!

West Michigan Roofing > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/14/2019 at 22:24

Looks like a bath fan vent, could just be condensation from the line warm how shower air and freezing. You have vented soffit and the iceberg is coming from a vent for an appliance, like a bath fan or possibly dryer vent or maybe a range hood. To be sure, check the underside of the roof deck directly above it in the attic.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > West Michigan Roofing
01/15/2019 at 16:44

As far as I know they are just vents, not actually connected to any appliances. I was going to check the attic today but didn’t get home until after dark and there are no lights up there. Probably going to wait until tomorrow to check if I can now!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > VincentMalamute-Kim
01/15/2019 at 16:46

Thanks, it could be underventilated! Odd though that this is the first time this has happened in 14 years if that were the case?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Ryan The Roofer
01/15/2019 at 16:46

Nope, I’ll have to get ahold of one and check to see what the reading is!

VincentMalamute-Kim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/15/2019 at 16:50

No idea why this never happened before . The universe never makes any sense. Maybe you do have a disconnected bath vent in the attic.

Nate > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
01/15/2019 at 22:07

That round part of your soffit vent is an indication that there is a bathroom vent hooked to it. Instead of putting a vent on roof, we roofers usually run the hose out to the soffit, cut a round hole and attach the grille part you see there in pic. It is most likely moisture coming from your bathroom vents.....probably does it all the time but seeing it is so cold it is freezing there. This is why we run them to soffit now instead of on roof....if it was on roof all that moisture would run back inside.

Nate > West Michigan Roofing
01/15/2019 at 22:10

That is exactly what it is!

Nate > West Michigan Roofing
01/15/2019 at 22:15

It is most likely connected to bathroom or dryer vent. There is a ton of moisture in those vents and Im sure they drip all the time, but because its so cold it is freezing.

I gurantee if you get in your attic you will find a silver or white hose going to the direction of that eave.

This is really nothing to worry about, the vent is doing its job.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Nate
01/15/2019 at 22:20

There is a bathroom on that side of the house, but the vents where the icicles are coming from aren’t directly near it, although one is close. The one with the most icicles is quite a ways a way from the bathroom though.

We have an air exchanger system as well, so maybe THAT vent is the one the big icicles are from. We never use the air exchanger though - we’ve lived here 14 years and I think the last time it was on was like....9 years ago. Now we’re scared to use it because it’s been so long, haha. The person who built the house was a contractor, but it was his own house. We’ve found out he cut a lot of corners in places and for some reason the air exchanger, itself, is actually installed IN the attic crawlspace, which everybody has now told us is ridiculous and makes no sense...makes us not want to use it even more...?