some of the widows in my house leak. no one can figure out why. the windows that leak are all on the back of the house. top floor on the right, common floor on the left, and basement on the right. they don’t leak every time it rains and apparently direction of rainfall has no bearing on when it happens. we’ve tried caulking, we’ve tried repointing the brick, watersealing the brick. we’ve had the gutters replaced. nothing seems to make the leak go away. one contractor suggested replacing the lentils, but the brick above them is all straight and level which leads me to believe he just wanted a high $ job.
i consulted with an architect after yet another contractor suggested a new facier board. as te gutters on my house sit right on the brick, the architect said that a facier would do nothing and that they are generally just cosmetic in these situations. he recommeded putting in new flashing, but i’m fairly certain that was done when the new gutters were put in.
any ideas of what could make a window leak?
oh, uhh, pertinent info on the widows… vinyl clad casements, appx 10 years old. have leaked for the past 4 years or so.
Replies
Water could be entering any number of places. This is like asking a whore who the father is of her baby. I suspect that her condom leaked.
Regardless of where it is first entering, through the brick or backing up under shingles or gutter, or condensation at the roof/attic, I think that when the brick veneer was laid up, nobody paid any atention to the barrier and wrapping at the windows. No matter whether typar type wrap or felt was used (or maybe nothing) , if the laps are not facing all downhill, the builder invited water to the party and you won't know without openning somthing up to see. You may need to hire a building inspector with plenty of experience in water intrusion and building science - not one of these instant graduates with a two week degree.
Here in Louisiana, home of thunderstorms and high humidity, leaky windows are a commonplace problem. Mostly because people here don't know how to install windows in the first place.
Anyways, a contractor that I worked for had a similar if not worse problem to track down, water was getting into a building that he was contracted to do maintenance on, and for years the problem was soo bad that the owners couldn't rent out one side of the building because water was pouring down the interior of the brick wall of that side of the building.
They replaced the roof, repointed the morter, sealed the bricks, then painted the bricks with an elastomeric paint, removed all of the trim, replaced all of the windows, still water was cascading down the wall.
I told him that what he should try next was to purchase a pressure/blower door and a smoke generator (about $800), pressurize that part of the building, and follow the smoke trail.
Wherever the smoke popped out, investigate, and then fix.
What he found out was that it was a large series of smaller leaks throughout th entire building that were running downhill to this section of the building and once the accumulated moisture encountered the wall, it started cascading down.
If you have problems finding blower doors, ask a home heating and cooling efficiency contractor, they can probably help you out.
Have you looked at the roof? Water can wick in a nail hole on the roof and make "three right turns and two left turns" before it finds a place to exit or enter the house. Ther are two certain facts from what you describe: 1. Water is entering the house somewhere and 2. It is exiting at the windows. Don't for one second think that water will follow a straight line. It will take the path of least resistance. The drag about this kind of problem is that it is impossible to find the leak until it is leaking.
I just built a house and found a leak that was caused by a nail that was installed by the roofer right at the intersection of the adjacent roof shingles above the nail. I had to lift every shingle in the area (in the rain, of course) before I found the nail. The water wicked through the nail hole ran down the rafter hit the wall plate and rolled down the wall stud and landed on top of the window causing the leak. A tube of "black - jack" roofing cement and the problem was solved in five minutes. This doesn't count the five hours it took me to find the offending hole in the rain.
I'm not saying this is your problem but with this type of situation start at the top and work your way down, and don't for a second think that the cause of the leak is near where you are finding the leak. Good Luck!
But Benny, a window that is installed right won't let water penetrate the wall.Excellence is its own reward!
This is true but you are assuming that the leak is entering at the window. I am assuming the leak is entering the house a "mile" away and showing up at the window.
well, a little more information about the problem. this is a brick house built in the 50s. there were no leaks in the original windows. the new windows were fine for a number of years and then started to leak. the roof is a flat tar roof, no shingles, no pitch other than the standard grading. there is no attic or crawlspace, just roof, rafter, and ceiling.
one thing i've noticed is that there is no mold blooming the walls were the studs are. i have noticed this with most chronic leaks in wood stud walls: the water creates mold on the stud pretty quickly which then blooms through the drywall/plaster.
thanks for all the advice so far. please keep it coming.Remember when War was just a card game?
gentleman i .m.h.o. you might be splitting hairs, the logical thing is try to remove the window and cut the guess work down considerably . than you'd be on your way to a solution. you could try compressed air outside and a cigar -cigarette on the inside to see perhaps of a tell tale of a leak,around perimeter for perhaps a prelim to the removal. or a hose with a power nozzle at diffrent parts of the wall , that a all day ordeal so you let things dry out from prior wet downs at those strategic area's. like i said i.m.h.o.
Edited 8/31/2002 5:13:17 PM ET by the bear
bastid e,
I'll bet the roof is leaking. Get a hose and try to make it leak. Think like a drop of water, grasshopper.
KK
Ya, I would agree with kk. A flat tar roof is guarantee maintenance headache sooner or later. I'd look real close there first.
Half of good living is staying out of bad situations.
Roof it could be. How old is it and how much overhang. Without good drainage the seal between the tarpaper and the metal edge is usually first to go. Also look for blisters and cracks. Usually7 best not to try to fix yourself. I lost count of how many hot roofs I had to charge extra to fix because of homeowner attempts. Excellence is its own reward!
piffin,
With the new elastomeric products I would encourage homeowners to try a fix. Sure do hate tar in a bucket.
KK
I have to agree with the roof leak theory. Sounds more plausible to me that there's one (or more) leaks in that flat roof than that there are that many faulty window installations. One little fault in the roof could potentially make all the windows on that side of the house appear to be leaking. The hose test should confirm whether or not it's the roof.
we're fairly certain it's not the roof. as i said there is no crawlspace/attic/anything between the actual roof and the ceilings on the top floor. any leak in the roof would cause havok with the ceilings.Remember when War was just a card game?
" any leak in the roof would cause havok with the ceilings."
bad assumptionExcellence is its own reward!
It bothers me a bit that you say: "the gutters on my house sit right on the brick".
Makes me wonder if the rain water is getting behind the brick at the gutter line somehow.
STRESSED is just DESSERTS spelled backward.
I thought that I should come back and see this discussion again, and the more I read, the more this sounds like the problem I mentioned before. As far as the cigarrette/ cigar suggestion, Iike a good smoke myself, but that method (unless you are very lucky) may make the house smell really bad.
Are you sure this building isn't located on Hickory St. in Harahan Louisiana?
scares me, and I'm fearless
yeah after i wrote that , i thought that was pretty poor advice . i still stand by removing the window, and the hose preliminary. but the smoke thing can be a bit offensive, probably better with a candle.there's a way to keep the from going all over the place. ah well i never said it came from a burning bush. cheers bear
p.s. love the big easy!!!
Edited 9/4/2002 9:29:32 PM ET by the bear