Wondering if anyone has any suggestions for dealing with a rain leak. 95 y.o. house in Western NY. After a strong driving rain last winter I saw water stains on the kitchen ceiling. A year ago I repaired the ceiling in the same place and, tracing the leak (look up!), found that the brickmold of the windows above (W side of house) had large gaps. I filled the gaps with spray foam, nailed down the trim and then caulked it and hadnâ€â„¢t had a problem until the very strong wind-driven rain this winter. Inspection of the window repair shows no new gaps, so I think the repair is holding. The mortar on the brick façade is ok â€â€œ no obvious gaps but I havenâ€â„¢t inspected all 1000 sf. The wall above is a gable, and there may be an opening for wind driven rain at the ridgeline, but I havenâ€â„¢t gotten a ladder up there yet. See the attached drawing for the unusual configuration of the back wall â€â€œ the 2nd floor brick façade terminates on a flat roof that is over the kitchen. Donâ€â„¢t ask me what holds up the weight of the brick â€â€œ without taking it apart I donâ€â„¢t know.
Whatâ€â„¢s the best way to fix this? I can try to shield any rain entry points like the windows and the ridge line, but my understanding was that brick facades are not waterproof and that some moisture will always get in. Should I just be prepared to repair the kitchen ceiling every year? Or should I consider some sort of flashing system that directs any water behind the façade to a drain before it reaches the ceiling below. This would probably involve some expensive masonry work. Thanks for your suggestions.
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Oops, here's the drawing
Todd, I think you have the problem pretty well nailed down. The only fix I know of is to get the membrane behind the tar paper where it should be.
The brick can be temporarily supported with an angle iron let into the mortar, with the bricks below the angle iron removed. Build a small curb for the bricks to eventually rest on, and run a heavy gauge of metal flashing up under the tarpaper. Fill in with the old bricks, remove the angle iron, tuckpoint the joint.
In your drawing, within the circle, have someone sawcut a narrow groove between the 2nd and third brick(deep as the brick). The would clean it, fill it with caulking and then insert "L" flashing to overlap the roof membrane.
The water is traveling inside the bricks above your kitchen. Others may recommend sealing or painting the brick, but that will only peel later. I assume there is no overhang to shield the brick from rainwater.
Thanks for the good suggestions, everyone.
I'm guessing that the brick/roof junction was originally done correctly but someone "fixed" it with the membrane and that's your problem.