Attic Condensation

[Louisa8609]

We are renting a house built in 1995, thought it was the home of our dreams till we got Xmas decs down and discovered after 10 months water dripping from the felt in the attic and mold growing on some of our belongings. The attic stinks of damp and mold really bad.It's a pitched roof and attic is boarded out with 50mm of insulation. The loft hatch is also insulated. We have extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom and as far as I'm aware none of them vent to the attic neither does the boiler flue. Hot water tank is in the airing cupboard only a cold water tank up there and shower heating pump but it all looks insulated with foam.
Letting agent maintenance man has been up there says the roof felt isn't breathable (says it's shed felt) hence the condensation and that we need a fan or heater or dehumidifier up there. Landlord is refusing to do anything as he says he has never had a problem in ten years and it must be because we are using the heating more than he did (he was away on business in other countries for years at a time according to the neighbours we are a young family). He says to open the loft hatch and leave it open to let it warm up and dry out in there but surely that will make it worse?
This isn't the only problem were having with the house, we don't intend on staying forever as it took 6 weeks for him to simply refuse to do anything with the attic and we've reported other maintenance issues that we've had to repair ourselves in the end as our requests have been ignored, but moving isn't an option right now as I'm 8 months pregnant.

Any advice?

Thanks

[murraymints]

Only thing you can do is as he suggested , leave hatch and or attic window open to ventilate.

[Louisa8609]

Thanks, there's no attic window so have opened the hatch. I just wasn't sure if it would make it worse to let more hot air up there?

[murraymints]

No it will not harm it any more I don't think... ..you need to keep attic space ventilated...try some dehumidifiers also..the ones you charge and put in place then discharge...loads on Amazon..

[paddywak]

Don't know if it's now in the regs but if you look around you will notice most modern houses have vents either in the soffits or tiles on the roof.

[The Builder]

Unfortunately, leaving the hatch is only half a solution. It will help with the condensation problem, but also increase heating bills.

Because the roof was laid with older type non-breathable felt, the vapour has nowhere to go. Your problem would be solved instantly with good roof ventilation. No heating required.

Two ways of doing this ... crossflow ventilation with vents fitted on both sides of the house in the soffits (flat bit) just below the guttering is one way.

Probably much easier would be to fit several slate vents to both roof slopes. They are simply slate-sized vents replacing some of the ordinary vents.

Your landlord should see the sense in this. If your things are being affected, then think what it's doing to the roof timbers.
Good luck with convincing him :o)

[The Builder]

^^^^ rubbish alert ^^^ should read ..............

Probably much easier would be to fit several slate vents to both roof slopes. They are simply slate-sized vents replacing some of the ordinary SLATES.

[murraymints]

Seems strange that this build was allowed in the first place with no attic ventilation !!

[The Builder]

Good point Murray. Although 1995 is early for modern breathable felt, the Building Inspector should have checked for proper crossflow ventilation. It's part of The Regs.