# Streaks on walls from ceiling



## Ridgeliner (Jan 19, 2016)

Replaced roof for customer little over a year ago. Now their having brown streaks coming down walls in a couple places only in the last couple weeks while its been pretty cold.

Cleaned it off and it came back in a time where it never made it above 20 degrees, north side of the roof shouldn't be a lot of heat loss. There is currently snow on the roof.

Streaks where there in the roughly the same spots prior to the roof being replaced, they had dealt with a lot of condensation issues in the past as its a addition sunroom theres only baseboard heat and not a ton of airflow.

True vaulted ceilings with bat insulation, vent chutes between insulation and roof decking throughout most of the room.

in the pictures the streaks are near the flat side of the chimney, that of corse would lead me to look at the chimney, however the flashing has grace ice and water underneath lapping up the sides and the flashing is impeccable. The vent chutes only run on the right side of the chimney to the ridge.

Any ideas where this all could be coming from? I refuse to redo the roof work at this point since everything was redone and there wasnt a sign of a leak on that side originally (streaking was on the walls prior to roof replacement)

I originally said condensation but this streaking is from a couple days only as he cleaned it off and seems to only be in that spot.

Any and all constructive theories welcome.


----------



## jlhaslip (Dec 31, 2009)

My guess would be a lack of ventilation in the Cathedral. 
I appreciate that the insulation stops are there on their lower end, but what about the top end? Or possibly the insulation got pushed up and is restricting air flow up that rafter bay.
A solution I have used is to cross strap the rafters with 1 x 4's so the venting can go sideways if it gets plugged.

*edit*
Just noticed the skylight in the second picture.Would this be the wall that is streaking? If so, definitely you need to cross strap that roof since the skylight won't allow proper venting.


----------



## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

Since it is near the chimney, I'm guessing it is condensation from that area. Not a leak, just poor insulation around the chimney.


----------



## Ridgeliner (Jan 19, 2016)

The issue is directly above the small side of the chimney, parallel to the skylight. Chimney is unused. There are vent cutes in 2-3 spaces on both sides of skylights, and up to and above skylights obviously that doesnt do much but theres no issue there. Opposite side is basicly the same except without a chimney, had one small streak on that side and a few other small streaks around windows etc on walls but nothing like the ones pictured.
Homeowner thinks we are trying to deny roof leak and doesnt buy the condensation angle. My question now would be is it really feasible to have that much come from condensation above the ceiling.

Also the ceiling is tongue and grove wood stained brown.


----------



## Philament (Dec 9, 2014)

There's insulation, but is there any vapour barrier and air sealing? Penetrations, especially a fire rated assembly like a chimney, are notoriously difficult to detail around on a cathedral ceiling. 
If the staining correlates to rain, or a big thaw of the snow, it would seem to be a leak though. 
Is there a bathroom vent or anything close that might be venting into the attic/soffit? moist air from shower gets pumped into the attic, condenses/freezes on the closest cold surface. Warms up a little then turns to water and runs down? I've seen this one before, where whoever put the vent in, didn't pipe it to a soffit vent, just basically ran the pipe just shy of the soffit area...all the sheathing and drywall rotted away.


----------



## KAP (Feb 19, 2011)

Have you run a leak test? Gone up in the attic to trace the condensation/source area?

With it presenting itself with the snow on the roof, that would seem to indicate a leak of some sorts...

That's seems to be a lot of pass-through with discoloring to be just simple condensation IMHO...

Since this has happened before and is now happening again, there should be water stains in the attic (if not a little mold) to lead you to the source...


----------



## Tinstaafl (Jan 6, 2008)

Ridgeliner said:


> The issue is directly above the small side of the chimney, parallel to the skylight.


And there are no vent chutes in that exact area, right? It does sound like a condensation issue, though that looks like a lot of water for such a small area.

I once fixed a similar issue on a much larger roof. It only showed up when we had an extended period of bitter cold weather. Turned out that though there were vent chutes in place, the installers had butted them tight to the backside of the fascia--so they were choked off and getting no air flow.

Pulled the soffit and cut them all back a few inches, and they've never had the problem since.


----------



## TimNJ (Sep 7, 2005)

Got a closer photo of the valley/chimney flashing?


----------



## builditguy (Nov 10, 2013)

Since this was done last year, a roof leak would have shown up a long time ago. Unless they are trying to say it just started.

I'm still going with condensation. Hot humid air getting into the cold attic.

Just yesterday a homeowner asked me to look for a leak above a bathroom vent fan. Instantly I thought condensation. We were there all morning. Probably dripped enough to fill a 44oz soda cup. Fixed the insulation before lunch. 12 to 2, no drips at all.


----------



## madmax718 (Dec 7, 2012)

I put my money on condensation running off the roof on the inside. happens alot more than we'd like to believe, just most of the time it never builds up that much. 

Mostly its from hot air getting up in there. No amount of soffits helped in my situation. It was the in wall AC units that leaked, through a non well sealed attic opening.


----------



## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

My chips are on the chimney...you say it's unused?...Looks like a fireplace flue, which probably contains creosote, which is leaching due to saturation and/or condensation issues within the flue itself. Those stains appear to be beyond just water and ordinary building materials. 

Warm air can escape through the throat/loose damper, etc...and condense on the smooth terracotta flues and within the solid masonry itself through gaps at the flues. Capillary action from exterior water penetration is more than likely at play here as well. Masonry dries out much slower in the winter and the balance of moisture content can be thrown off dramatically.

I'd pop the cap off that chimney and peer down as well as inspect the firebox on up. Get some close up pics of the chimney on all sides and good shots of the flashing. The chase cover should have diagonal creases for drainage and should overlap the masonry by 2" min.


----------



## Kakerchner (Apr 13, 2010)

I've seen condensation form on metal truss spacers, which in turn caused them to rust, and in turn drip to the ceiling below or flow down the underside of the roof sheathing coming in at the ceiling wall junction.


----------



## nunya01 (Mar 25, 2012)

Condensation + cheap stain.


----------



## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

Is there sheetrock under the ceiling planks?...


----------



## GAK (Apr 22, 2005)

No doubt in my mind that it is a condensation/ ventilation issue.
I see it a lot in the winter. The colder it gets the more calls I get.
Warm humid air is getting into the rafter spaces and for whatever reason is not venting out properly.
For starters have them turn off any humidifiers. Then try to find out if there is adequate airflow and try to seal up any openings where the warm air is getting through.
The design of the roof could make this very difficult or impossible.


----------



## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

Ice damn?


----------



## SamM (Dec 13, 2009)

I'm with superseal on this one. Discoloration that severe is most likely creosote. Is it possible that the chimney liner is cracked?


----------

