Condensation on inside of coop roof - first winter in CA

[aart]

Agrees it's the physics of condensation...but wonders, are the front and back eaves open to the outside? Don't see any light coming thru, but might be angle of photo.

If you're using the polycarb panels, the corrugated wood has to be used, otherwise the panels will flatten in the sun and heat.

Huh...corrugated wood?
Not sure I've ever heard of poly panels softening enough to flatten in the sun.

 

[Folly's place]

Would it be better to add ventilation on all sides, and/ or insulate the roof? Mary

 

[Howard E]

Mary is on the right track. Condensation of moisture under uninsulated metal roofs is a constant issue and is the worst in buildings housing livestock. Solution is always a layer of insulation under the metal. Place where I live came with a horse barn, with uninsulated metal roof. Under the right conditions, it literally rains inside. My daughter has the same barn, with insulation. Hers never does.

 

[~KH~]

Agrees it's the physics of condensation...but wonders, are the front and back eaves open to the outside? Don't see any light coming thru, but might be angle of photo.

Huh...corrugated wood?
Not sure I've ever heard of poly panels softening enough to flatten in the sun.

Yes, all 4 sides at the top are open (hardware cloth) you just can't see it in the photo. There wasn't a lot of light this morning as we had thick fog rolling in with quite cool temps, which was why there was so much condensation all over everything.

I meant whatever the wood pieces are that are sold with the polycarb panels (I looked it up and they are called Round Horizontal Wood Closure pieces). We had the panels lying in yard for a day while we were working on the roof and they were losing their waves. It even states on the labels "Storage:Store out of the sun, preferably vertically and indoors. Do not store outside in uncovered stacks, as damage from heat buildup may occur." We didn't think anything of it (it's not like we had a whole big stack of them) but when we went to install them, some were definitely flatter than others from lying flat w/o the support wood pieces.

Mary and Howard - I guess I'll see how often we end up with that much humidity and fog this winter and then decide if insulation is warranted. Since this is my first winter here with the chicken coop, I don't know if it's going to be a regular occurrence or not. We've had some crazy weather this week - M-W it was over 100 each day with lows about 80 and now this morning the lows were in the 50s.

 

[~KH~]

In some areas and depending in how the coop is built condensation could be a big problem. I wish you luck! It may require some trial and error to see if it is a problem for you.

Yes, it sounds like I'm just going to have to see how the weather plays out where I'm at now. We generally don't get nearly as much fog as if we were right on the coast, but do have times where it rolls in and is very thick here.

 

[aart]

Yes, all 4 sides at the top are open (hardware cloth) you just can't see it in the photo. There wasn't a lot of light this morning as we had thick fog rolling in with quite cool temps, which was why there was so much condensation all over everything.

I meant whatever the wood pieces are that are sold with the polycarb panels (I looked it up and they are called Round Horizontal Wood Closure pieces).

Thanks.
I could see needing them while storing stacks, but not once they are installed, especially if the are blocking ventilation/air flow.

I would think that conditions are fairly rare where condensation gathers like that on glass or plastic, I've seen it on occasion on windows inside the coop(it's on the wood too just not as apparent), metal is a whole different story.

 

[TexasSam]

I had chickens in Idaho but this is my first "winter" in CA with chickens and a new coop. In Idaho, I put plywood underneath corrugated metal for the roof, but here we decided to just use the corrugated polycarb panels from Lowe's without any underlayment. I noticed this morning (first cool morning in awhile) that there is not only condensation on the top of the panels, but also underneath, on the coop side. It doesn't appear that it's dripping into the coop and I'm hoping with the slope it will just drain outside, but wanted to ask if I should be doing something different. Here's the thread to my coop build and picture of inside of the coop today.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-wichita-cabin-coop.1189918/View attachment 1171853

You just need a little more ventilation

 

[aart]

You just need a little more ventilation

Ventilation has been discussed, did you read the other replies before posting yours?

Sorry we were just discussing this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/read-before-replying.1205548/

 

[AllenK RGV]

Mary is on the right track. Condensation of moisture under uninsulated metal roofs is a constant issue and is the worst in buildings housing livestock. Solution is always a layer of insulation under the metal. Place where I live came with a horse barn, with uninsulated metal roof. Under the right conditions, it literally rains inside. My daughter has the same barn, with insulation. Hers never does.

Howard E seems to have plenty of experience dealing with this issue, I vote him best answer FWIW. Even living 12 miles from the Gulf I have never experienced this issue first hand as I do not have any type of experience with similar roofing materials.

edit-- further thoughts it would be simple to set up a sample test of Howards if you have some scrap from 4x8x1/2 sheets of lumber close off a section of the roof with it(can just use wood clamps to hold in place) that should be adequate on the insulation front to see in future if that is the solution. Super redneck way would be to jam some towells or newspaper up there too!

 

[Folly's place]

It's pretty humid here in Michigan, and metal barn roofs do best when insulated. Mary