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Penetrating rain advise needed

Carl Spiby

Carl Spiby

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Joined
Feb 24, 2013
Messages
2,707
Location
Kendal, Cumbria
After the storm in Cumbria a few weeks back, it appears to have uncovered issues with my house wall.

Rain appears to be penetrating through the edge of the window and through the brickwork itself, in 3 different, seemingly unrelated places.

I know there's a few builders on here so I would appreciate your input on the matter, I'm currently struggling to get anywhere with it at the moment as most local builders are tied up for obvious reasons.

For reference the images with the xmas tree in are next to a window that is 3 wide, the windows are wood framed. The picture with the steering wheel, is directly above but a good 12 feet away. As you can see the plaster is blown, the render on the outside (I'm told) is quite thin and cracked, but I have been told by someone else that even if there was no render, water shouldn't be able to get access the cavity! Argh!

Hopefully you can view the link!

https://goo.gl/photos/SGg2NfRwBxfrx4NS8
 
Carl. I am no builder, but I have insulated a few properties. So I became aware that there can be problems when the wind blows rain against walls, even cavity walls. The NW of England is particularly problematic for this.

Two things spring to mind:

1 failed seals on the outside of your window frames so water is blowing across the window ledge and plasterwork that bridges the cavity

2 cavity wall insulation is transmitting water between the two walls. Pray that it is not this. If it is consider taking the insulation company to court.

http://www.askjeff.co.uk/cavity-wall-fill/


Also some general sources of trouble like this:

A, failed guttering so water runs down the walls

B, consider using a water repellant on the wall surface like thompson's water seal so that water is less likely to soak through walls

http://www.thompsonswaterseal.com/home
 
As Ronnie says put up some pictures of the outside wall,is this happening only on one side of the house,drd has covered nearly on the things that you should look for,have you got insulation in the cavity was it pumped in,have you got a cavity some houses don't their lathin plaster is strapped to the wall which acts as an air space,you might need to make a test hole ideally where your render has blown off to check your cavity and see if your insulation is lying wet.Where the wall is damp doesn't mean that is where the water is getting in so have a real good look and water can penetrate brickwork Depends on the type of brick and what state the mortar joints are as some bricks are more porous than others.

Hope this helps Brian
 
As David said !

But how old is the house ?
If the house is say 100 years old then it may have no cavity !

Render is it lime ?
 
It's a mews style house so these pictures are the best I can do without getting a large ladder.

Blue circles are where I estimate the damp on the inside to be.

I don't seem to have excessive condensation, the glazing is blown in a few places though.

It was built in 1996.
 

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As DRD says. I'd put a couple of coats of thompson's water seal on as a starter for six but applying at this time of year might be difficult... :(
 
All over the wall, the stuff that's painted red.
 
It's great for covering a multitude of sins on the wall, its probably adled somewhere and water is getting in. Also not allowing the wall the breathe as its non permeable, damp can only get out through the inside.
 
best of luck, Carl, my heart goes out to you in these weird weather conditions - make sure that you keep everything safe in the right order - first Gill and you, then the pins, then Mully the kitten, then everything else.
 
Carl

I can't help with a specific solution but was given some 'wise words of advise' by a very experienced building surveyor when we bought a new build town house back in the 90's and experienced significant problems with water getting into the large garage area built under the house. His basic message was that all walls will leak if you keep pouring water on/at them - it's just a question of how long the water entry will be delayed. The better the building technique, the longer the delay - modern houses should be built to a standard for the delay to be longer than even exceptional rain. The surveyor then went on to rip apart the quality if what had been built and quickly identify the key cause of the problem which, in our cause was a damp course built below the line of adjacent steps of ours. & several neighbouring properties.

If the house was built in 1996 (which was also late in a recession) then don't rule out poor building mate risks or technique or corners having been cut in the construction. That may have left a weakness which has only become apparent in the extreme weather or a material has now failed. Looking at the spread of the damp areas when marked outside & the apparent absence of cracks outside then a failure higher up May we'll be the cause with water working slowly down & through (e.g guttering as mentioned above).

A builder may well be able to help, but unless you gave a good local contact you might want to start with a suitably qualified/experienced surveyor who can get to the crux of the problem and may then be able to point you to a suitably experienced builder who speciałises in the type of work needed.
 
cooldan said:
best of luck, Carl, my heart goes out to you in these weird weather conditions - make sure that you keep everything safe in the right order - first Gill and you, then the pins, then Mully the kitten, then everything else.
Click to expand...

People don't rust! ;)
 
cooldan said:
best of luck, Carl, my heart goes out to you in these weird weather conditions - make sure that you keep everything safe in the right order - first Gill and you, then the pins, then Mully the kitten, then everything else.
Click to expand...
You've clearly never been to Carls then, the pecking order is Gill, Mully, the pins then Carl ;)

Best of luck getting this crap all sorted!
 
The window is knackered so it will need to be replaced, hopefully when they do that, they will be able to see into the cavity and see whats in there!

Surveyor route makes sense but I need my arm and leg :)

Just thought, if it was poor build quality the house next door would be affected too as it was built at the exact same time.
 
Last edited:
Surely 10 years has passed since 1996 as its nearly 2016?
 
Carl Spiby said:
The window is knackered so it will need to be replaced, hopefully when they do that, they will be able to see into the cavity and see whats in there!

Surveyor route makes sense but I need my arm and leg :)

Just thought, if it was poor build quality the house next door would be affected too as it was built at the exact same time.
Click to expand...

Carl

Fair point about the build quality, but it Could be the classic 'Friday afternoon' moment where the site manager is off site & whoever was meant to be doubt the job on the front of your house 'forgot' to put the waterproof liner on the building or out the right mix in the render.

Aside from the leak problems we found in our new build (after we'd moved in) we snagged our new property very thoroughly before we completed - we found around 80+ faults, including an electrical socket that literally 'blew up' when we plugged a lamp in to test it. The apprentice electrician hadn't quite leEnt his trade when wiring the house & somehow it ha slipped through the thorough test process....
 
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