Is It Normal To Have Frost On Roof Sheathing

Frost and ice forms in attics when warm humid air accumulates and condenses on the underside of your roof sheathing.

Is it normal to have frost on roof sheathing. The carpenter may have failed to put all of the crowns up on site framed roofs. Before getting concerned you need to make sure the lack of frost is due to the roof itself and not from outside forces. Can sun get to the roof you will have either frost or water collecting. The waviness generally does not cause a roof to leak but it may be architecturally unsightly or occasionally can indicate a problem.

Left unchecked frost in an attic can lead to serious mold and decay. Frost on underside of roof sheathing it s more likely a vapor problem than a liquid water problem. My home is total electric for heating cooling hot water cooking and of course electric lights using fluorescent lights on 90 of the lighting. Frost itself doesn t do any damage but once it melts things get wet and then damage occurs.

The problems you pointed out are certainly real and need repair but getting the underside of the decking frosted requires vapor. In the parlance of building scientists these cold wooden house parts make up a condensing surface much like a cold glass of ice tea beads with water on a hot summer day. Along with an infrared camera they are typically well equipped to find your problem. The frost itself doesn t do any damage but once it melts things get wet which is when the damage occurs.

When moisture gets into the attic it condenses on the roof sheathing in the form of frost. If all of your neighbor s roofs have a healthy sheen of frost on top of them but yours does not it may not be the best sign. When it reaches the cold surface of the roof sheathing and framing it turns to frost. A little bit of frost forming is not unusual after really low nighttime temperatures and it isn t a huge problem if it is able to melt and evaporate so that the wood can dry.

When some of the crowns are up and some are. Depending on the temperature and the insolation ie. It s very very common to see frost in small areas on the roofing nails penetrating the sheathing and in areas where air circulation may not be the best. To see this is not ideal but it s very.

I have a 6 000sf home with geothermal heat pump system and i have 4 x 8 sheathing with aluminum backing. Since the condensation and resulting frost will damage that plywood if you are unable to locate the source of the moisture check into having an energy auditor come in and run a pressure test. Poor framing practice is one of the more common reasons for roof waviness.