Insulation, Radiant and Vapor Barriers - Condensation on ceiling and wall - Very cold

We are having a cold snap here in the Pacific Northwest with temps between 15 and 30 degrees. I know that is not cold for many of you but it is causing a problem with condensation droplets on the ceiling of one bedroom and the ceiling and outside wall of another bedroom.
Looking at the ceiling near the outside wall, you see dozens of droplets that hang from the ceiling. I have been taking a towel and wiping them. The area is much colder that the rest of the ceiling.<br>I am suspecting a lack of insulation similar to another thread.<br> THere is also an area on the outside wall of my daughters bedroom that is cold and wet (it soaked the side of her comforter). I am assuming that part of the wall is void of insulation?
If this is the most likely culprit, is there anything I can do to remedy this? The cold snap will only last for a couple of weeks but I am sure we will have another cold spell or two before winter is over.

Hi mfu, Yes this is a common problem. Humidity and temperature are the two elements that give you moisture. Same questions as the other thread, do you have access to the space above, i.e. attic and what do u see? Do you have soffit vents, they offer an access point where improvements can sometimes be made? Pich up a humidistat so you will know the humidity, 35% is about as low as you can go, some people feel that is too dry. You can post pictures at photobucket.com and post the link over here.

And we call 15 to 30 degrees a heat wave:)
Bud

I knew I'd get the heat wave comment. ;)
My sister is coming down from Alaska to visit and she welcomed the warmup. It is still cold for us.
It probably doesn't help that we keep the bedroom doors closed when we sleep. The humidity must really be high in our bedroom with two people and two dogs sleeping in it.<br>The other bedroom has a bed against the outside wall which we have pulled away for an air gap<br>There is a soffit vent outside each bedroom under the eave. Short of adding insulation in the ceiling (we have r30-something of the blown in type) in areas that may be thinly blown in, what can I do to lessen the condition for this?<br>
Open bedroom doors during the day for circulation?<br>Buy portable dehumidifiers for the rooms?

Temp is all relative, I have friends down south who complain about 50 degrees. Yes on both of your questions.

I do energy audits, so have the advantage of having seen many, many homes with cold areas near the ceiling. Without special attention, that area never looks good. But some of the problem can be corrected easily, at least sometimes. If you can access the soffit, you will be looking at the outside of your cold problem. There are different ways it may have been built, but what you most likely need is some well placed rigid insulation and an air baffle. The insulation will cover the top of the wall, and the air baffle will prevent the air that flows up through the vented soffit from washing through the end of your insulation. Now you stated you have blown in, is it fiberglass or cellulose and was it original or added over what was there? I suspect it is fiberglass, as cellulose is usually very good at blocking air flow. Wind washing on the end of fiberglass insulation can render the first several feet totally ineffective.

Note: If you do any work up there, be sure to maintain 1" to 2" of clearance just under the roof sheathing for ventilation. The underside of your roof must be kept cool to prevent melting snow, ice, and condensation. They should have installed vents/baffles that would have kept the blown-in from blocking everything, but rarely the end baffles I mentioned above.

Take a look and decide if you can get into that space through the soffit area, and I will go into greater detail depending upon what you see.

Oh, and I also found using Dachshunds (2) generated less humidity and had the side benefit of leaving us SOME space in the bed:).

Bud