Any leak detectives hanging out here ?
theslateman
| Posted in Construction Techniques on
I went to a Church today with bad leakage around this Tiffany window.
Stone building with slate roof.
Shutterfly album attached for anyone willing to help.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8cbsmrhq1TQ&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5
Replies
I Know!
I Know!
Pick ME teacher, Please, call on me.
See my hand is raised ?
"It is coming
in
from the outside"
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Okay Master Piffin. YOu may speak. Bob's next test date: 12/10/07
It's weeping through the stone and/or mortar.
[email protected]
Hey slate
Looks to me like effloresence of the mortar wall. Usually caused by rain blowing against the wall itself. ( Looks like a small or no overhang). U could put a thin coat of elastomeric plaster over it to help seal it. Something like Total Wall or Accrocrete, Dryvit, STO etc.
The brick arch is getting saturated during extreme rains is my guess. 1st thing I'd try is sealing the brick. In fact, I don't see any other choices short of flashing all the way thru the wall under the arch over the window. Tough nut to crack.
http://grantlogan.net/
But you all knew that. I detailed it extensively in my blog.
Grant and others,
They called me in thinking they had roof problems , but it soon was my thinking as well that it was coming thru the arch.
My initial suggestion was to cut out mortar and repoint that wall and then seal it well.
Thanks everyone for the help in confirming that it's most likely mortar related.
It's a National Register property so changing the front isn't an option.
Walter
I think I'd want to look at that bell ringer and how it's flashed in with the lead. There must be an opening of some type there. I'd also want to see the step flashing under the shingles. It's possible there is a crack. I doubt that it's just absorption through mortar. There is too much going on around that peak. Somebody tried to seal things up on the step flashing, obviously to no avail. There is a hole up there someplace and the ringer cap looks the most suspicious.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Here is a case history, Trinity Luth Church, Spfld, IL, right across the street from the state capital, also on historical list. An example of that it may be something totally not looked at at first. The below is from recollection, there may be some errors in my recollection, but the final story is the same.
City installed a new sewer line on Monroe street which runs east/west, 2 months later, a crack started develope on the East wall of the Church near some stained glass windows. The slate roof had also recently been repaired, so that was also a suspect.
The crack continued to widen (as evidenced by continuous sensor monitoring) as the city did soil borings to show it was not settling due to the sewer work that was causing the crack. Lots of folks with 'great experience' got into the act.
Finally, one of Pop's friends (now deceased) noticed that the air conditioner drain (the AC had been installed a number of years earlier*) was clogged. Condensate was leaking onto a large structural beam, which caused it to slightly expand (wood does have some longitudinal expansion with moisture, just not as much as across the grain) and push the South side of the building out of plumb.
Anyway, the drain was corrected, and the crack closed up over the following months.
Moral - it is not always what appears to be the 'obvious' cause, Ocham's razor not withstanding.
*edit - the AC was installed in the space between the interior ceiling and the roof timbers.
View ImageView looking NW from Monroe St., crack was in SE corner near the gable.
Edited 5/30/2008 9:16 am ET by junkhound
Murphy! He does exist!!
Where are the exterior pics?
on the Shutterfly album