I have a three year old 2 story house that has a leaking window on the first floor. This window leaked once last year and did it again yesterday. The front of the house where the window is located is brick veneer. There is a window directly above it on the second floor.
It appears that the water is actually coming in on the top side of the window frame, under the lintel. I looked outside and the window appears to be properly caulked. Also, the brick and mortar appear to be in good shape…no holes, cracks, etc. Any ideas of what the cause / remedy might be?
Thanks for the help.
Replies
Where are the weep holes in the brick veneer?
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Not exactly sure. It is raining pretty hard now so tough to see. What exactly should I see or be looking for?
I am not seeing any weep holes in the brick....how often and where should I see them?
At the bottomof the wall where the brick sits on the foundation every couple of feet, and a couple spots over each window, depending how the flashing was done. If the window was flashed well, then it could be intended to divert the water in the drainage plane.I was driving past a place a week ago - actually stopped at a traffic light and turned to look. A commecial buildding three stories, but at each level there was through flashing and weeps holes every two feet. I've never seen that much of weeps on a second or thrid level before.Do you have stone lintles or angle iron and a soldier course over the window?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I have angle iron and a soldier course. I don't see any weep holes over either of the windows that have brick around them.
Assuming that it was designed like this, could this mean that the flashing was done improperly?
Yeah, there's a flaw behind that drainage plane that is letting the water in then
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks for your help, Piffin. Is the only way to verify and fix this is to remove brick?
That is the most sure, but if somebody experienced and knowledgeable were to see it, they might be able to spot exatly what all is going on. Always a chance it is something sinple.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
There's a vague possibility that you can see something by removing the inside window trim.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I already tried removing the trim and wasn't able to tell anything. The drywall was tight to the window jamb. If I can't locate the problem anywhere else I may remove a little drywall and see if I can find anything.
The leak may actually originate in the window above and run down behind the veneer until it hits the top of the lower window.
Obviously this would be pretty tough to figure out without doing a lot of ugly exploratory surgery, right?
If there's a spot you suspect is the leak, a big wad of glazing compound pressed over it may stop the leak and prove your point. (Of course, climbing a ladder in the rain is no fun.)
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
If it has leaked only twice, why don't you wait until dryer weather and spray water on the wall at different locations. Maybe spray for a few hours just over the lower window then a few days later spray further up a few feet and continue up over a week or so. Get fancy with a lawn sprinkler so you don't have to stand there for hours.
I did that last year on my roof trying to fing a leak and I narrowed it down to a small area. Even when I took off the shingles I couldn't find any reason for the leak though it hasn't leak since I re roofed that small area.
roger
I appreciate the idea...I was planning on doing just that once things dried out a bit. Hopefully that will shed more light on the origin of the problem.
Its leaking from up above at the second story, caulking gone bad most likely the result. Water traveling down behind the wall and brick and coming out above bottom window looking like the bottom window is leaking.
I already took a look at the caulking and it seems to be in good shape. I will take another look tomorrow and see if I can spot any areas that might be able to let some water in. Thanks for the reply.