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I am new here, I decided to join after reading a few of the other threads and I liked the amount of replies and the quality and knowledge shown.
I bought a house knowing that it had signs of water stains on the cathedral ceiling. We were told that they were from before the roof was replaced back in 2010, and that the seller just hadn't had them painted. So sure enough that first winter we had a leak. There is an exposed (guessing decorative) beam that is about 5 feet below the roof peak (top of beam is connected to the ceiling) in the inside of the house. Water would run down this beam and onto the carpet, I have also noticed stains on the can light covers. This happen when there is snow on the ridge vent and then the sun comes out. So I assume that snow/water gets under the ridge-vent and melts and gets in to the house and travel down the ceiling until it hits that beam and then enters the house. The roof pitch is 2:12, or close to that. When we bought the house it had an aluminum ridge-vent that was reused from the original roof. So when I had some work done on the front of the house which included a new shingles in the front I had them put on a new roll over ridge-vent, because I figured that the aluminum one wasn't good for my kind of application. But now after our first snow and then a sunny day I have the same problem. I am very frustrated because I just had the ceilings painted and replaced the can light covers as well and now I am back to the beginning. I have to mention that this has also occurred when we get a driving rain.
I read a previous thread that someone posted with a similar problem, but i believe he had a 2-3 ft attic space with his cathedral ceiling. I do not. The space between the roof-deck and the ceiling is only the depth of the rafters. I know ventilation is good, but I also saw in a thread that ridge-vents are not designed for 2:12 roof pitches. Someone then said that a ridge-vent is not needed at all in this area of the house because most likely the insulation is blocking all air flow anyway and that the ridge-vent is creating a vacuum like scenario and is actually sucking in moisture at the ridge-vent. Can this theory be confirmed, because I strongly feel this is what is happening in my case? Or, since the shallow side of roof is the North side, the wind just pushed melted snow and rain into the ridge-vent.
If anyone has a new theory or can strengthen one I already discussed I would appreciate it as well as a way to fix my leak.
I have attached an old pic of my house, as you can see the middle section is the cathedral part of the house with no attic space. The left is the garage and the right is the bedrooms, both have attic space.
I have a real simple solution (assuming you are allowed to do so by zoning and HOA). Remove the ridge vent and finish the peak normally. Life is too short to worry about paying an extra $15 on a yearly electric bill.
Not only is a ridge vent not "recommended" for a 2:12 pitched roof; neither is composition shingles. But looking at the pic (from what I could make out), it would appear to be a 14 or 16 on the front and maybe a 4 on the back?
Manufacturers recommend a minimum of 3:12 for warranty considerations; and still others will require a layer of roll roofing under that.
The only final conclusion will be determining exactly where the leak is coming from- could be the ridge vent but it could be the roofing itself with the afore mentioned info.
I hope that is not the case. The roof is pretty new. I am going to measure the slope today to know exactly what I have. I will also try to take a better picture, but we are in the middle of a ice/snow storm here in southern WI.
When I was looking at vacation houses in northern PA years ago, a lot of the houses with cathedral ceilings had leaks due to inadequate insulation that caused ice dams. You mentioned getting the leaks in the rain also though, so it might not be the case in your house.
In addition to the construction materials, I wonder if there are some other things contributing to your problem, namely the physical placement of your house vis a vis weather.
Can't make out what's in front of the house, 1st floor. Are these panels causing an updraft of weather that hits them, wind and rain?
Are you on a rise, which can be susceptible to slight updrafts.
Are you in a wind tunnel on any part of your house effecting the ridge? A wind tunnel can be created by having wind passing over open space .. seems like from N and W at my house ... and being forced at your house. You would notice this by one side of your home being windier, plantings leaning sometimes, and even tiny tornadoes...windshears. We don't have a roof problem but get rain in odd places like through key holes since it is forced so strongly by the wind.
I would have someone who knows about such problems inspecting the roof to figure what the problem is.
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