Ghost Ectoplasm ?

[thistlebloom]

cat pee. Ask me how I know....

Tall cat!

 

[Nyboy]

I think cat hit it fold down steps to attic in ceiling, having a heat wave AC nonstop running. Need a attic fan

 

[catjac1975]

What about humidity like bathroom after a shower. Maybe a fan blowing down hallway, or like cat said put an “attack” fan up in attic.

hahahahahahah...and I proof read it.... attic....I will blame it on spell check.

 

[Collector]

@catjac1975 I could really use a good attack fan around here sometimes lol.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I installed a couple of thermostat controlled attic exhaust fans in Arkansas, made a world of difference in our cooling bill in the summer. Do your bathroom vents dump into the attic or are they piped outside? Is the drain pan under the AC unit full of water. Mine got plugged once and the damage was worse than yours. It doesn't sound like you've found the actual source of the moisture yet so how do you know your fix will work? It could be something else or somewhere else.

I'd get a professional's opinion before I attacked the attic vent fan issue. Depending on how your attic is insulated, whether soffit vents are blocked with sprayed in insulation, or maybe leaks between the living area and the attic you might wind up venting air conditioned air from the living area more than heated air in the attic. When they work they are great but like every other tool they need to be used correctly. I think the potential attic vent fan issue is separate from your moisture issue.

 

[Nyboy]

I don't have any kind of vent in bathroom, I have a outside window so NY code doesn't require vent. @Ridgerunner I have never empty any kind of pan for AC. I did have AC man service unit last spring. It is outside and gets rained on a lot. Hallway opens to Master bedroom, bathroom, storage room and kitchen with attic steps in ceiling

 

[valley ranch]

Hi Nyboy ~ Condensation causes what is shown in the pitchers you've posted ~ it forms on single pane windows and Skylights beads and may run (same thing happens on the inside of your gas tank in you car)``` Moisture may form on a wall where the Temp drop to that just right number ~ while it is most likely to form on metal or glass wall board will do ``` The wall board higher on the wall may be better insulated ~ it's the moist air inside the house that is the problem ~ I think ~ not inside the wall ``` If you study the problem ~ scratch your chin ~ and think ~ you'll come up with an answer and a solution ~ sometimes it's just a fan to keep the air moving ``` This is a fun one ~ I'm sure you'll find the answer now that it's got your attention ```

 

[bobm]

I would get a good drop light that throws a lot of light and climb up into the attic and shine the light up to the underside of the roof. See if you can identify a wet spot or dripping water. It could be a leak at the top ridge of the roof or at a valley where a downpour of water could back up over the flashing sides and then go into the attic and down the hallway wall. Water can travel for a long distance before it finds an area that it could then go down walls. I had a friend who owned a 152 unit 3 story townhouse apartment complex . There was a leak on the ground floor dining room that no- one could find where the water came from. Enter a very hard rain about 5 weeks later and a 3rd roofer finally traced the leak to the roof of an apartment 3 units away. Water found it's way down between the 3rd and 2nd floor ceilings, traveled down the middle of 2 apartment walls inside the framing , then down to the first floor ceiling and traveled another 7 feet to the Dining room light fixture and onto the floor. So , with water anything goes and will take some detective work to find either by you or a very experienced roofer. good luck in finding the leak.

 

[valley ranch]

Yeh, good Idea to check up top ~ but if this moisture came through the wallboard it would be swollen ~ I don't see that in the pictures ```

 

[flowerbug]

the other thing that strikes me as odd is that it is slanted...

if it was just condensation problem from inside wouldn't it just be horizontal?

so to me that looks like some other issue (a heating/cooling duct condensation or water being channeled by something on the attic side).

granted i'm not an expert by far, but i'd want to see what the other side looks like and check the roof after a heavy rain.