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Wind noise in attic

cycling is fun

Hello all, apologies mods if this is in the wrong location, I renovated the house I grew up in about 10 yrs ago new roof (new slates and felt not new timbers) on the main house new single storey extension at the back the problem I am having is that any windy day and even some relatively calm days I can hear wind in the attic it can come in from any angle it just depends on which way the wind is blowing, it's started to really big me but I have no idea how to fix it, I did have the roofer back but he was very little help, I do have a slate vent on the back of the house (it's there to remove moisture from a windowless bathroom ) along with a velux window although I do not believe that the slate vent is the main cause of the issue as the wind seems to come in any direction any help would be great as I am at my wit's end.

The wind noise is excessive.

Thanks

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Deregos.

I'm presuming the noise of the wind you're hearing is mainly coming from around the trap door(s).

What type of insulation do you have up in the attic?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058236752/wind-noise-in-attic

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118777806#Comment_118777806

Hi thanks for taking the time to reply, no not from the trap door, I wish it was then it might be easy, no the wind getting in from outside can be heard everywhere upstairs it's impossible for me to figure out what to do, I got tap and covered the vents in the soffit, was a waste of time, regarding insulation I have insulated the ceiling below the attic, I insulated that heavily myself, but I did not insulate the roof it's self

Deregos.

Have you been experiencing this noise issue since the house was done up ten years ago or is it a relatively new thing?

Have you been up there during the day to make sure there's no visable daylight coming through from any broken slates, torn felt or the like?

Is there chimneys or valleys with lead flashing on the roof?

Some pictures of the external roof, inside the attic space and the ceiling below might be helpful. You also might wanna put the tape back off the soffit vents again, that aeration is needed to stop condensation on the timber .

Escapees

Could be coming in the soffit via horizontal vents. Had big issues like this before in a dormer bungalow, with wind entering and blowing across ground floor ceiling (between joists) to other side of house.

Edit: Wind used to also enter via waste pipe exit points but I was able to seal around these.

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118780540#Comment_118780540

Hello thanks for replying, yes it has been an issue for the last number of years, it might even have been an issue from the start I honest can not remember, why I want to get something done about it now is the increase in storms and bad weather means I know now know when the weather is bad outside because I can hear everything inside, regarding the chimney question yes there is a chimney on this roof, which is another thing that I need to sort out as I can hear the wind very strongly in the room where the stove is but that is an an issue for another day, I will take several detailed photos over the next few days and upload them on here, thanks again for replying

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118780604#Comment_118780604

Hello thanks for replying I have covered the vents in the soffit but it made no difference in my case it's unlikely to be from waste pipe exits but thanks very much for the suggestion, any other suggestions would be great, as I want to get this sorted before the winter of 22/23, thanks again for replying,

Escapees

Sorry, I only saw after that it was the soffit vents you'd actually covered with tape.

A bit of a long shot, but does the house by any chance have wall vents like that shown below? If it's an old house, it could be cavity wall construction with no inner insulation and builders sometimes slapped on the inside and outside vent covers with no/poor ducting between them. This means that wind can blow in through the outer vent to the cavity, and then up into the attic and exit by the same means on the opposite wall of the house.

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118785718#Comment_118785718

Hello again, no, no vents thank god, there is a vent slate on the roof which is connected to an upstairs bathroom as there is no window in the there, I am not sure that this is an issue as the wind seems to enter from any direction.

Escapees

Unlikely to be the issue as it should be ducted to the bathroom fan. Even if not (as is often the case with Irish houses!), I don't think you'd be hearing wind gusting across the attic.

I think there's a lot to be learnt from hanging out in your attic during the next storm! The only other thing that comes to mind is that maybe there's not much air flow involved, but it's just causing some whistling somewhere, e.g. at a ceiling light fixture. If there is a lot of air flow involved, you'd probably hear a slate or two rattle or flap, or the ceiling plasterboard creak when there are large gusts.

hesker

You need to make sure you don’t create a worse problem in your attempts to solve this one. Blocking vents is not a good idea if it reduces your ventilation below what is required to prevent your roof timbers rotting.

Something to bear in mind. Ventilation requirements are well publicised and worth reading up on.

To look at it a different way more vents might actually be the solution. Perhaps the roof configuration might be preventing effective cross flow and escape of air to release the pressure build up. Might need an expert to look at but I’d hazard a guess they would suggest some roof tile vents.

You might get better advice in the construction and planning sub forum.

cycling is fun

Thanks

cycling is fun

IMG_20220316_125553.jpg

cycling is fun

Sorry about the pics, I'm not sure why then came out like this

Deregos.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118794906#Comment_118794906

There fine, just holding the phone upside down. 🙃

Deregos.

Cant see anything obvious to point a finger from your photos.

It's possibly that the wind is blowing right in under and in-between the slates, through the felt overlaps, causing that annoying noise . . sort of like when you make a kazoo out of a comb and paper.

I'm learning from this site that there's many complexities when it comes to the correct installation of attic insulation. What I would've suggested in the past might've have been to fit fibreglass quilt or Kingspan board insulation between the joists, to reduce movement of the felt and dampen the wind noise down.

However, I'm requesting @C. Eastwood to give their opinion as I don't want to issue wrong advice.

hesker

I find it hard to tell from those photos how much venting you have in your soffitts. It doesn’t look like you have much at all. Is there a continuous run of vents all the way around.

If not can you take a close up photo of one and then count the number of them. Then add up the length of your perimeter all the way around your house.

MicktheMan

Which of the following roof types best describes your roof?

Roof types.png

chooseusername

I have no experience with that dry hip ridge system you've got ,

but that overlap at the apex does not look right to me;

aa.jpg

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118800834#Comment_118800834

Hi thanks for your your reply, I will do that in the next few days, hurt my back in work so trying to take it easier for a few days, would what you are saying make a big difference to noise?

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118800638#Comment_118800638

Thanks for taking the time to reply

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802097#Comment_118802097

It would be a pitched roof however as it's an old house some of the ceiling follows the pitch of the roof,

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118802375#Comment_118802375

It's funny you should say that, I kind of think the same thing, I would have to check what was there before but I think it was concrete ridge cemented in I never remember it being as noisey as a kid you could hear the rain alright but that was about it

hesker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118806959#Comment_118806959

potentially yes. Your first step should be to check that you have sufficient ventilation all the way around. And as another poster said to check that there are no defects in the fitting of slates or ridge tiles.

listermint

First remove the tape. Never block up the ventilation into the attic or you'll have a worse issue with rot . Very bad idea.a

As above it does not appear that there is enough ventilation . Ideally you should have some ventilation on the soffit every 900 mm or so.

Also is there vents to allow air escape further up ? I.e ventilated slates or a vented ridge system. Your meant to have a flow of air either from sofit to sofit up and over your attic insulation (wool fibre) or from soffit to ridge.

I'd suggest you probably don't have a free flow . Either no ridge system or no adequate sofit to sofit . Result in wind coming in but no where to escape easily resulting in noise as it searches for an exit.

Easiest solution is probably more ventilation in sofits and ensuring your insulation is not blocking the flow. I.e it should be only as far as the top of the cavity and no further to allow air to come in up and over.

Lumen

Difficult to diagnose without hearing the noise.

Is it whooshing or whistling?

The air movement is caused by pressure differences. If you reduce ventilation the noise may get worse, you may just be creating a musical instrument.

cycling is fun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118808340#Comment_118808340

Thanks for the reply, it's a musical instrument I could live without I would say it would be mixture of the two

Lumen

Then I agree that the solution is probably more/better ventilation.

C. Eastwood

Cycling is fun.

Ventilation is only required in the attic to prevent Condensation on the underside of the Felt/ roofing membrane. If there is no sign of condensation in winter, then the Ventilation is working perfectly.

I have never come across a problem of noise in the Attic caused by a lack of ventilation.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118817105#Comment_118817105

Ventilation is to prevent the timber of your rafters rotting. It's intention is not to prevent condensation on your membrane. The membrane itself should do that by being porous.

Your timber needs to be able to breath probably around 50 percent of it's surface area.

C. Eastwood

Listermint

This is proof that many of the comments here are unbelievable Fairytale stories.

If there is ingress of rainwater to roof timbers, it may cause Wet Rot (- Coniophora cerebella) and sometimes may cause Dry Rot (Serpula lacrymans). Let’s ignore ingress of Rainwater and just concentrate on Condensation.

if roof rafters are Ventilated then they will have approx 16% (+/- 2%) Moisture Content.

Timber does not Breath. Timber is Hydroscopic, which means it can absorb moisture from the surrounding atmosphere. Timber will also absorb condensation flowing off the underside of the roof membrane.

In a suspended timber ground floor in old houses, one air brick at opposite external walls, which provide Through underfloor Ventilation, prevents wood Roting fungi from occurring

Any ventilation in an attic will prevent Rot from occurring, because the air around the timbers cannot become saturated.

The Building Regulations- Ventilation in Roofs is to prevent Condensation occurring on the underside of the cold felt/ membrane.

When condensation occurs on the underside of the membrane, - when the condensation increases, some of the droplets 💧 of moisture will fall off, and some will flow downwards on the underside of membrane and out to the sides of the sagged membrane, and will flow on to the upper part of the rafters. This may increase the Moisture Content of the rafters above the Dry Rot safety moisture content which is 22%. But Dry Rot cannot occur in a ventilated space.

For Wet Rot to occur, the softwood used in the rafters will require approx 37% Moisture Content. The only way that this moisture can get to the top of the rafters is by Condensation on the underside of the membrane. This increase in moisture will discolour the top section of the rafters, which will be visible. Wet Rot in these situations, will be very rare.

A Moisture Meter will be required to ascertain the M. C. of timber

Nearly all timbers are contaminated with Wet Rot and Dry Rot spores. These spores cannot germinate unless the timber is at the required moisture content etc as outlined above.

If there is no Surface Condensation occurring on the underside of the felt/membrane- then the ventilation in the Attic is functioning 100% perfectly, regardless of the amount of the Ventilation.