metal. It runs under the attic floor for a small length then goes up through the roof. It is surrounded at the base by blown in insulation that feels slightly damp and greasy. So I think there's a leak in the piping somewhere?? This is a single story home, but there is a saddle roof over them main roof, so the vent runs up a bit higher than it would have otherwise. No humidifier in the house, though we do have a dehumidifier for the basement that we use during the summer.
The house is 2 years old. Newly built modular. The cracks were the worst beneath the laminated beam in the great room. Both the boards were severely warped by the moisture, the carriage bolts were rusty, and there was some evidence of mold and mildew between them. When I removed the white batting that had been stuffed between them, it was soaked. The builders had to come back to fix cracks due to settling after the first year anyway, so they also tried to address the major breaks in the drywall along that beam section by screwing the beam boards together and filling the lower space below with foam insulation from a can, then refitting new fiberglass insulation over that. Unfortunately, the problem seems to be repeating itself.
There are pics of the attic and the roof in my journal somewhere, if that helps: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/GreenPartyVoter 
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