Prior to Ian, we would have afternoon storms with pretty gusty winds and heavy rain. I have never seen that water ingestion before.Originally Posted by rob_s
Agreed about stopping water at entry point.
However, what's strange is that after I caulked the screw, the drywall on the side of the window dried up. That would indicate that water ingestion into the house stopped?
More likely it's just that you haven't had a recurrence of the weather conditions that precipitated (sorry, couldn't help myself) the leak in the first place. That being said, I have seen leak issues where a screw was in a supply line for a long time and the leak only started when the screw finally rusted, but more likely it's something like @Crow Hunter said, a nail in the wrong place at the top of the wall system. Leaks generally don't happen in the field of a wall or pitched roof, they happen at discontinuities like vent boots, roof/wall intersections, or openings like windows. What are the 3 circles on the wall? Are they applied to the exterior as accents or are they gable end vents that penetrate the wall? If that's accessible attic space, that's where you need to be looking.
The three circles are purely for decoration. What experience do people have in hiring home inspectors with thermal/water sensors specifically for leakage detection?
My parents hired a leakage inspection guy in the Northeast, and he had them hose down the windows before his arrival.
My phone has a flir camera, it's pretty handy for stuff like that. You can get a flir camera pretty cheap these days, and they're useful for lots of things. Can't recommend the phone though.
Some home inspectors seem to know their way around an IR camera, some don't. I'd hope a leak detection guy would have at least some level of training. Good cameras have a manual scale so you can really narrow down the temperature range you're looking at for small anomalies. I wouldn't spray anything until they get there because you want as high at delta as you can get, things may start to equilibrate fairly rapidly depending on temperature, wind, thermal loading from the sun, etc. It will probably be hard to get a good reading from the outside. If the circles on the wall are decorative, the roof is the prime suspect.
I won't get into the weeds with this, but windows are rated to keep wind-driven rain out only up to a certain point. Even the correct and best installation of windows, siding, stucco, masonry or whatever else you have can only handle up to a certain amount as well. It's likely that you had a weather event that simply exceeded those parameters.
Water, however, is a bitch to track down. If it was vinyl siding, then just pop it off and have a look-see. With stucco, I'd probably wait for another good rain and see if it happens again before I start insisting on tearing out a finished product.
100% agree. The first window testing project I got involved with was a high rise condo at the beach where the homeowners were in an uproar that their new patio doors leaked during a major storm event. We had a very hard time educating them about the various ratings and convincing them that the doors/windows weren't defective.
Like Darth said above.
The windows should have a Design Pressure (DP) rating on them. Assuming they are certified, they will have it on the Windows & Doors Manuacturers Association (WDMA) label on them. You should be able to go to the manufacturer's website and look up what the ratings are.
Depending on where you live in Florida, you probably have to use a Impact Zone (IZ) rated window/door. Those have a higher than typical rating. For instances where a typical Inswing Door might have a DP 40 rating, a IZ3 door will generally be a DP55/65 rating.
A rated product should be good for 20 mins of direct rain at ~8 gal/min spraying with a differential pressure between the interior and exterior of 1.16" of water on a DP 40 unit, which is roughly a 48 MPH wind. A typical DP55 rated IZ unit should be 1.61" of water or 57 MPH wind.
First thing I would do would be to see if those decorative circles are just stuck to the stucco on the outside or if they are stuck inside and if stuck inside, do they penetrate behind the stucco. If they do and they are not sealed, that is a very high potential water source.
2nd thing, if they are just stuck to the outside is how are they stuck, do any of the fasteners penetrate through the stucco if not then:
3rd thing I would do would be to climb up in the attic and see if you can get to any of the walls and see if you can see water or water stains/blackening.
Beyond that you would probably need to start pulling the interior trim off to look around the rough opening.
If you really want to delve in, you can get some 3-5 mil sheet plastic, duct tape and a Shop Vac, tape up the interior side, pull a vacuum on it (ersatz AAMA 502 field test) and then get a pressurized sprayer and fill it with UV reactive dye or just food coloring and use that to find the water path but that will get messy.
That is what we do at a job site when there is a question and we have to demonstrate that the installation is the problem, not the product.
Last edited by Crow Hunter; 10-04-2022 at 02:34 PM.
This is a great point. you could easily fuck around and make things way, way worse.
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Its stated in the first post the house is under warranty. Id call the builder.
My Moms home had a leak no flashing had ever been installed between the garage roof and the house wall. I had to be very insistent about the repairs as the leak had presented in the garage wall and the entry foyer. I wanted all the drywall that had gotten wet removed and insulation checked for moisture. If theres anything wet it has got to be replaced as now you have a potential mold issue as well as a potential wood rot issue. You dont know how long this has been occuring.
The builder most likely isnt going to like it, will try to minimize the potential and try to do it as cheaply as possible.
I ended up talking to a supervisor but in the end it was done the most correct way.
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
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