Ok, I’ve posted this twice before in the past 2-3 years. Here we go …

In 2003 a hurricane came through Atlanta, GA. The day after at ~5AM the drywall ceiling below the study’s bay window dropped to the floor. The drywall soaked up so much water that it liquified, sling mud everywhere in the room. During that day, I cleaned up what I could and let the room dry out while removing my wife furniture, electronics, etc.

The problem seems to have been caused by water infiltrating at several locations on the front facade of the house, and was only evident during a driving rain on the front of the house. This occurs in less than one out of five rain events, and it has to be a driving rain at that.

The dropped drywall eposed the cavity underneath the bay window’s roof, or what I later learned was just an ornate ‘cap’. After investigation, the Gwinnett county code did not require a structural roof over a bay window, and didn’t actually require ANYTHING to prevent open exposure to the outside. Nice going county dipsh!ts.

Anyway, I cleaned out the cavity, removed the batt insulation and inspected accordingly. The brick lintel had evidence of prior water running down both the exterior and interior surfaces of the brick, and the wood stud water and OSB sheathing behind it coming down from the second floor also showed signes of previos water problems.

First problem was to get someone to inspect where the water might be coming in. First and most evident was the metal ‘cap’ over the bay window. This product, I later learned, was meant to be used with a brick facade, but rather with a wooden or stucco sideing as the lip that goes against the facade that was clearly exposed due to chronic failure of common silicon caulking.

It took me 5-6 roofers to determine that above the bay window, above the second story bedroom, there is a Greek (Cornice) return that was improperly flashed at the wood-brick interface (~18′ off of the ground). As the Greek return’s wooden structure warped, the improperly-installed flashing acted more like a funnel, collecting face-driven water down into and behind the brick facade.

Also during these early inspections revealed that the per-code through-flashing below the second story bedroom (which is above the study) window wasn’t installed, nor did the county code inspectors catch that missing component before they exchanged the certificate of occupancy for whatever bribe they work on. As a result, rainwater driving on the face of the home got collected by the Greek return’s ‘funnel’, ran behind the brick all the way down to the brick lintel at the study and simply dripped off onto the bay window cap’s drywall ceiling.

After +2 years, I finally got some courageous people to actually accept blank checks. The first one (#15,16, or somewhere around there) supposedly repaired the warped Greek return structure, and fixed the flashing. Unfortunately, I had no real way to personally inspect this repair at the time. Next, I labored into finding someone that could replace the bay window metal ‘cap’, and finally I found a general contractor with a subcontractor specializing in handcrafted metalwork experience.

The replacement of the bay window ‘cap’ with a flashed & counter-flashed standing seam metal roof complete with structural subroof was done for ~$1,000, but I was more than impressed with that work, and water testing with the garden hose shows no more water infiltration on the exterior of the brick behind the bay window roof. Kudos! I would highly recommend this subcontractor for any metalwork in the future. As for that general contractor, he declined solving the other problems of water infiltration that continued to let water in behind the brick. Boo!

Ok, if the metal ‘cap’ was replaced, resolving water infiltration on the exterior of the brick behind the bay window roof, and someone claims to have fixed the Greek return water infiltration problem, I now needed to identify where this water was still sourcing from such that it was still getting into and behind the brick. I broke out the garden hose and started up the elevation.

As the stream of water struck the dead-center of the lower pane of glass for the bedroom window above the study, water came creeping into the study below. The source was behind the brick facade. I carefully tested above the new metal roof and started up the exposed brick’s exterior surface up to the bottom of the brick sill and had gotten no water to come in. Only when I got ~12″ high and onto the actual bottom portion of the window for the bedroom above did it into the structure and behind the brick.

I will mention at this time that a year earlier a contractor (who was one that declined the blank-check opportunity) opened up the drywall directly beneath this bedroom window that sits directly above the study below. No signs of water infiltration, which apparently was commonplace when through-flashing wasn’t installed. No signs of water infiltration there meant something else was amiss. Until I solve the water infiltration at this elevation, I cannot continue up the brick’s elevation to the next test point.

My home is easily identified on Google maps and I am in the 30519 zip code, which is part of Buford, GA. In addition to installing a through-flashing under the window, I am open to any thorough solution to resolve this +3 year old problem. Rain in late November once again hit the front of the house and on one occasion it was a driving rain that allowed water to infiltrate behind the brick. Do a search on FHB forums for previous posts showing lots of picyutes of the problem, damage, etc.

House was completed repainted a year ago last April, the metal roof done last Spring, and timeframe for this problem is by the end of February. If I have to, I’ll fly someone into Atlanta for this job. Desperate? More that I am just tired of the local yahoos that decline blank-check opportunities because of … well, who the h3ll knows. Please ask questions accordingly.