I have experienced several window leaks in my home. The construction is brick veneer over a two-story wood frame. There are lentils to support the brick across all of the house’s windows. From time-to-time, there have been leaks from what appears to be water running down into the lentil and then through the frame to the inside of the house.
I have repointed several voids in the mortar of my home with limited success. We still have problems with three windows. We informed the builder of these continued leaks. They have come out and drilled several holes through the mortar just above the lentil, in an effort to have the water drain out from the house. I contend that this is not a proper repair – it treats the symptom and not the problem. While it might be desireable to keep the water out of the home, it still does not find the source of the leaks.
Also, things could become worse. Wind-driven rain certainly can push water into the holes. We have not had a hard rain to test this. I am very tempted to repoint these holes with mortar.
So, my question is this. Would you consider this a normal method of repair? If not, what would you recommend doing to find the source of a leak behind brick veneer?
Replies
Wow....this should be an interesting thread. I've seen this so many times it's not funny. There's a lot of info on the internet about weep holes in brick and proper window installation. Sounds like the builder needed help with both subjects.
I don't know what the proper thing to do now is, but there's a lot of intelligent folks here that should be able to help.
Good Luck!
jocobe
Edited 7/15/2005 2:49 pm ET by jocobe
From what I read, there were weeps, butr the HO plugged them up in his attempt to 'fix' the problem. The builder has already drilled them out again, indicating that he knows what is needed. Yes he might have messed up on the flashing too, but he is on the right track
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There should be a weather barrier, house wrap or builders felt (tar paper) on the sheather behind the bricks and flashing at the window so that any water that gets into the wall will run down and out the weep holes.
....but what do you do now?jocobeView Image
The holes they were drilling may have been to open up clogged weep holes so the flashing can kick the water out instead of having it backup and cause a mess.
Some amount of liquid water is likely to form back there just from condensation.
This is not to say you do not have bigger problems.
Should that not be Window Leeks and Lintels
Friday afternoon could not resist.
I was going to say that the first thing I would do is sue the contractor who used legumes instead of lintels to support the brickwork...; )
Are we there yet ?
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I wonder if his first name was Jack?
Leek and lentil soup sounds good to me
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That method is the first solution I would propose!
All brick veneer will let water pass into it so a standarad requirement is to build with weep holes at the base of the wall and over such opennings as you describe.
if a veneer wall has proper and unblocked weeps, it will drain properly. The problems that can come about are:
>if the tarpaper and flshings top the window are not properly done before laying uip the brick, the water can pass in as well as out
>if too much waste mortar falls behind the brick and stops up the weeps from behind, they fail to work well and water finds its way though a properly flashed wall.
>if a homeowner thinks that the masons messed up by leaving those holes in the mortar and plugs them up, they create problems for themselves. it is similar to another common problem HOs have - when they caulk the weeps in windows closed so condensate can'tt drain out
Since this is a new house, and you seem to believe that the leaks pre-dated the mortare 'repairs' that you made, I would instinctively say then that there was something improper in the way the wall was flashed before laying up the bricks, but by you having tampered with the product by doing something harmful to it, you could have voided your warrantee, unless you are willing to hire a mason to remove some of the veneer to inspect the suspect flashings to find evidence of whether they were indeed done wrong - or right, as the case may be.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
The source of your leaks is the brick.
Bricks are not waterproof, never have been, never will be.
Unless you have a better solution for how to get the water out from behind the wall, drilling holes seems to be a good start.