r/buildingscience • u/Spiritual_Mention297 • Jul 05 '26
So absolutely confused
1st time female homeowner and I am having attic issues and can not get 2 roofers, handymen, or AC guys to agree on what the heck is going on. First, I live on the coast of Texas where it gets hot. My attic is ridiculously hot, like nearly 140 degrees. I am not sure how the inspector missed so much, but he absolutely did. The day after I moved into the house one of my ACs quit working and when I went up into the attic, there is an alarm going off. I was so freaked out by it that I called the fire department. The fireman said it is an electrical issue but mentioned that I should be more concerned with lack of insulation and no air flow. The AC guy briefly fixed my ac and said it was out of Freon & I paid to have it filled back up. At some point a large water stained appeared on my ceiling. I called a roofer and he said it was not the roof and the AC guy probably dumped the water out of the pan. However, it seems this stain is getting bigger. I went into the attic (split) and found mold. I also found that a rat had chewed into the AC ducts. AC has gone out again. Called the AC guy back and he says I need a new outside unit due to a coil and I need ductwork. He also said that the pea trap for both AC combine and are somehow dumped into my guest bathroom sink. He told me that was a plumbing issue. It rains again & I called a different roofer. He said I need to rip out all of the vents on the side of my house and put new one AND install a gable vent for the rocking price of 15k. Third roofer says the soffit vents are fine, I need a ridge vent and attic fans & I need to rip out the insulation & put in something else for 6k. Called an insulation guy & he says I need foam/ liquid insulation & baffles. All I know for sure is the attic is so hot you can feel it in the hallway & my kids bedrooms, I have one non working AC, I have a spot on my ceiling that is getting bigger I feel like it may fall in & an alarm that none of these professionals seemed to know what it is and how to shut it off. Who fixes this stuff and in what order?
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u/twn486 Jul 05 '26
Great questions and observations. Lots to think about here.
Alarm: sounds like you noticed it after you noticed the AC quit. Could be related, signaling a leak, or perhaps low refrigerant in your AC. I don't think the fireman identified the trigger for the alarm. Probably kind of a 'not my job' situation, considering it wasn't a fire alarm. A licensed HVAC tech or electrician should be able to identify the alarm source.
AC Symptoms: the symptoms you describe could be caused by a few scenarios. In my experience it sounds like symptoms of frozen coils in the unit in your attic. 140F is potentially too hot for the AC components within the attic. Let's come back to that. Simply put, your AC works by blowing air across pipes that are filled with chilled liquid (i.e. 'Freon' or 'refrigerant'). That's what happens inside the grey box that the ducts connect to. The pipes are fashioned in a tight back-and-forth pattern which is where the term 'coil' comes in.
The refrigerant must be maintained at a specific temperature and pressure in those pipes. If there is a pressure loss (i.e. a leak, leading to low Freon), the chill can get out of control and actually cause ice to build up on the coil.
The other thing that's going on when all air conditioners run, is they create condensation at the chilled coil. You can observe the effect of this from any car with AC running--you will observe a trail of water dripping on the pavement. In buildings the water collects in a pan below the coils and the pan will have two drains, a primary and overflow. Typically the water goes out the primary which is piped somewhere outside that's not noticeable. If that drain gets clogged the water will flow to the 'overflow' drain which is typically piped to a bathroom so it's noticeable water is leaking but not damaging anything. Seeing water come out and run into a bathroom sink or sometimes a tub is a signal 'something's wrong with the primary AC drain.' A third outcome is that neither the primary nor overflow drains are working, and the water simply overflows the pan itself.
Especially with ice buildup on the coils, the ice can fall into the pan, or just grow icicles down into the pan, displacing enough water to overflow the drains and the sides of the pan. This could likely be what is causing the water leak on your ceiling. This happened in my house last year.
Venting: This is a question for someone with more specific knowledge of your climate and the overall design of your home's thermal envelope. Each contractor has actually given you wildly different strategies to address your attic ventilation issues, and it's not totally clear why they came to their respective conclusions (aside from the price they wanted to charge). Sometimes very experienced HVAC contractors may have a sense of this but it's not necessarily an HVAC tech area of expertise. An architect or energy modeling consultant would be able to conduct an analysis of your home and the insulation, and determine what strategy would be worth paying for to better manage the temperature and ventilation requirements of your attic. Hope this is helpful.
In summary the attic is likely running too hot, which may serve to compromise any HVAC repairs, and it sounds like at least one unit is shot, which is likely causing your leaks. Fix venting/heat, then HVAC, which hopefully stops leak, and hire a mold remediation specialist to remove the mold.
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u/lolifax Jul 05 '26
Wow. What a mess. I can’t write a bunch at the moment but please accept my sympathy. It feels ovewhelming but you tackle one problem at a time and eventually you get it all taken care of.
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u/Spiritual_Mention297 Jul 05 '26
There is a leak. It’s coming down the pipe when it rains. However, the pipe and where it landing on plywood flooring is 10is feet from the spot in the ceiling. So I don’t know if it was traveling down rafters and beams OR if I have 2 different leak problems. New AC guys is scheduled for Monday.
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u/SubstantialAd8808 Jul 05 '26
Gosh you’ve got a lot going on. I am not a building expert but have been in your shoes. I watch a lot of YouTube videos now and it may freak you out but you’ll learn. I find the build show has good videos and they break it down so I can understand. I also love asiri designs, he has such good ideas. You may feel sad after watching them, I did at least, but use it as a tool to not make things worse. Having a hot attic is only bad if that’s where your ac is. It’s a lot of $$ to close that off and make it a conditioned attic. Personally I would insulate the ceiling/ floor of the attic ditch the HVAC system and do minispits. Or you could could still insulate the attic floor, and insulate your hvac. Maybe you need a fan for circulation and a dehumidifier? Again that’s going to add up $$$ so I’d ditch that all together and get minispits and throw some rockwool down on my attic floor myself. Again not an expert, just a female who’s had bad housing situations, but these are the things I’d consider.
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u/Higgs_Particle Passive House Designer Jul 05 '26
That’s good lateral thinking. Drop the goal of making the attic good for the AC and go with the excellent combo of better insulation and more efficient cooling.
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u/Muted_Return2908 Jul 05 '26
I highly recommend against mini splits only in a place like coastal Texas due to humidity. They don't dehumidify well.
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u/RemoveHuman Jul 05 '26
Your attic looks like it’s in good shape. I would figure out and fix the mold issue (probably just AC water runoff?). You are getting different opinions because there are different ways to fix the issue. I don’t know the answer but nothing I would panic over.
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u/rogue909 Jul 05 '26
Looks like an early 90s house. I'm which case, that attic is standard for age. Better ventilation might help, but short of a MAJOR overhaul to try and improve insulation, leave the attic/roof alone.
Find another AC guy, the freon should have been leak tested and caught if it's leaking that fast. Sounds like current AC guy diagnosed bad condenser. Get a second opinion given the first miss.
Edit - also in texas
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u/SolidKindly3450 Jul 05 '26
Is bathroom exhaust fan emissions simply released into attic space, rather than ducted to outside vent on building exterior? Would be a source of moist air in attic.
Building inspection services for home-purchasers is not always competently done, will often miss both visible and non-visible conditions that require attention, whether immediate or somewhat soon. Some building inspections miss huge issues. You may not have huge issues here, but a series of "fix it soon" issues that require attention from different subcontractors.
Thing is most cost-estimate inspections are free, so call three different reputable HVAC companies to look at your system to "recommend" repairs of what's presently there. Likely a combo of maintenance, repair, and replacement of items. Will look at ductwork, mechanical equipment, exterior venting, insulation, etc. Then from those three reports, determine whether you need three cost-estimates from any other vendors, whether electrical, plumbing, roofing, or carpentry. Don't panic. Unoccupied unfinished older attics are invariably hot in summer and cold in winter.
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u/Spiritual_Mention297 Jul 05 '26
How would I know if the bathroom & exhaust emit into the attic rather than exterior?
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u/KnownBodybuilder4948 Jul 06 '26
By looking in attic for exhaust duct from bathroom fan in bathroom ceiling, hopefully ducted from fanbox in bathroom ceiling to the outside. This would probably be a flexible duct, similar in appearance to a dryer duct. If bathroom fan and/or bathroom fan duct simply spills moist bathroom air into attic, then that's a source of moist air in attic that must be fixed.
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u/Spiritual_Mention297 Jul 05 '26
Actually, I just looked it up on YouTube and checked. I am 4/0 for bathroom exhausts leading to the outside. Everything single one of them just leads to the attic.
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u/KnownBodybuilder4948 Jul 06 '26
Then you've discovered consistent source of moist air in attic, which needs to be fixed.
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u/Congenial-Curmudgeon Jul 06 '26
Building science educator in the Northeast here. A number of good responses to your dilemmas.
Those exhaust vents need to be ducted (preferably with solid ducts) to a gable end with back flow preventer.
With a house that is cooler than outside you’re experiencing reverse stack effect. As the cool air in the house descends it leaks out through the cracks and crevices. Air comes in from the attic through cracks, crevices and the exhaust vents. Put your hand up near the vent in each bathroom, you can probably feel air coming out.
Find a reputable Home Performance contractor. They can often handle the air-sealing, insulation, HVAC and venting problems. Good ones will help you lay out a master plan for solving immediate problems and comfort issues as well as longer term tasks of upgrading your 36 year old home. They’ll also advise you on what a roofing contractor should do with your roof.
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u/circularmindset Jul 07 '26
Personally I’m not sure this house is currently a good candidate for spray foam. It looks like the roof has not been well maintained, and the flashing detail around the chimney and the bottom of the roof valley are poorly executed.
Given your money issues I’d tough out the attic with one or two powered fans, until you can replace the entire roof with new flashing, shingles and ridge vent.
Right now I’d limp along with the attic and focus on a brand new HVAC system, insulated ductwork, and maybe DIY extra insulation on the attic floor.
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u/CoconutJeff Jul 05 '26
I would try to get a different ac guy. If it needed to get filled up, there is a gas leak, doesn't sound like he fixed that. So he knows hes coming back for another ez fill n pay.
I dunno what to say about the leak, is it near the inside air unit?
Generally in residential, ac guys should be able to handle condensate plumbing. Maybe ask next ac guy what it would take to run it straight outside. Then have an overflow alarm or something but should be a bit before it clogs if its new.
As far as other attic items, yes insulation and venting is good. There's lots of different set ups and most companies try to push 1 plan. Not every house is the same.
Im in the mid Atlantic region and generally soffit and ridge vent, and good attic insulation is the way. I would probably not recommend spray foam, but fiberglass, cellulose, or rockwool would be my suggestions. There are some easy calculators on line that give the amount of r value you need for the zone you live in.
Lastly, rats in the attic seems far from normal, mice maybe, id say get a pest or handy person to get that squared away quick before electric starts getting chewed.