Condensation on interior walls


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Old 09-29-18, 03:36 PM
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Condensation on interior walls

We recently primed and painted the walls of our hallway. We have also had all the windows shut for the last couple weeks and only used the AC as necessary. The last 3-4 days, we've had several rainstorms (Boston MA), where outside temperatures were in the high 60's....inside home temps were 60-62F.

Today, we jumped to mid 70's outside, full sunshine...interior temps was 61F. We then, noticed these damps spots on the top portion of the walls, near the attic entrance. These finding were ONLY seen in the hallway. There were no wet spots in any surrounding bedrooms or bathrooms.

I climbed up to the attic to see if we had a roof leak, but everything was bone dry. However, temps in the attic definitely felt like it was atleast 90F.

Would the possible gaps and poor insulation for the attic door cause the WARM air to seep out and hit the interior walls that are about 60F and cause condensation? I can't imagine any other cause.

Thanks for any input!
 
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Old 09-29-18, 04:10 PM
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I would blame it on the proximity of your attic access door. Hot humid air leaking out around the edges of the door hitting the cool walls. High humidity in the house from the painting and rain. And if it permanently affected the paint sheen... that's a low quality paint for ya.
 
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Old 09-29-18, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by XSleeper
I would blame it on the proximity of your attic access door. Hot humid air leaking out around the edges of the door hitting the cool walls. High humidity in the house from the painting and rain. And if it permanently affected the paint sheen... that's a low quality paint for ya.
XSleeper....that's actually Benjamin Moore Aura. NOT low quality paint at all....
 
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Old 09-29-18, 04:33 PM
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Unless you missed it, I said *if* it permanently affected the paint....

not only that, but who knows how many coats of "who knows what" were already on the wall before you painted.
 
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Old 09-30-18, 03:15 AM
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I agree the attic access door is the likely culprit. Is there any insulation over the door itself? As long as the moisture wipes off or dries it shouldn't be an issue. Running the HVAC, a dehumidifier or even a fan should help. I doubt the previous coats of paint would have any effects on the Aura [providing it got good adhesion]
 
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Old 10-01-18, 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted by marksr
I agree the attic access door is the likely culprit. Is there any insulation over the door itself? As long as the moisture wipes off or dries it shouldn't be an issue. Running the HVAC, a dehumidifier or even a fan should help. I doubt the previous coats of paint would have any effects on the Aura [providing it got good adhesion]
The moisture did indeed dry off naturally after a day. It was defiantly the warm air from the attic seeping out to the hallway.

We do actually have a company coming in to put more insulation in the attic...and specifically installing a attic cover like this...


Thanks all!
 
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Old 10-01-18, 06:24 PM
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Might want to make sure the attic has enough ventilation.
 
 

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