can't tell where window leak's coming from

[Lobo]

We have a big window that leaks at the lower right hand corner when it rains. Nothing appears to be open anywhere inside or outside. We have steel siding and our builder came out and looked and said everything looked fine. It gushed in the first time, but has been more of a seepage since (of course it may have been raining harder the first time too .... I hadn't really been paying attention. It's a sealed double pane window that doesn't open. It's square on the bottom, but angled on top to follow the roof line. The leak is in the corner with the longest vertical side.

Any thoughts on how to find where the leak is? Thanks. Lobo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Delete the obvious to reply to me personally. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ransley]

How old is the house, could the builder be stalling you till your warranty expires. Mail your complaint registered or whatever proves he has it. Its leaking you just have to look harder and fix it.

[ransley]

Look above the room and work down, is it the attic, you should do this when its raining, I took a hose and started low spraying water and kept raising it until I found my leak was a window sill of a window I put in. Any near invisible small crack can allow in alot of water after a good rain. With metal siding the builder knows he may damage siding to fix it right and just wants to avoid a big repair. It has to be fixed, its the damage you cant see now that is the real long term issue, like wood rot and mold.

[norminn]

Excellent advice. Start at the top of the house, inside and out, and look for leaks in roof, fascia, soffits, siding, flashing, etc. Photograph the problem. Get another contractor to look at it. Contact the window mfg. and file a warranty claim - they probably have expert installers who will look at the issue and likely find a cause.

In our condo, one unit had massive water intrusion - running out little holes in ceiling where there were hooks for hanging plants - that looked for all the world like a roof leak to the unintiated. The problem was a fairly small gap in warped fascia.

How old is house? When did first leak appear? Was there high wind when first "gusher" showed up? Have you inspected the exterior yourself, esp. at the peak of the window?

[DanG]

Probably nothing to do with the window itself, though you should check for weep holes at the bottom of the window. The problem is most likely installation, flashing of the opening, or shrunken or missing "end dam" caulking in the subsill. The resolution will require removing the window and CANNOT be solved by smearing more caulk on the outside.

[Red Green]

"Lobo" wrote in news:QcednTfCyfgwIgXXnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Since it may or may not be the window my thoughts are if practical:

Cover it totally, including trim, from the outside with plastic and tape. See if it leaks. If it does then obviously it's not the window.

You MAY be able to use a hose for the next part.

If it didn't leake above then uncover lower half and see if it leaks. Depending on results, move it up or down 1/2 the distance of remainder in question until you find it. Basically you're doing what's called a binary search.

[Lobo119]

There is no attic; the ceiling is peaked in the leaky window area. The window is a big trapezoid (sort of) "picture window" that does not open. It's above another big window that's a "picture" window on top with 2 awning style windows on the bottom.. The house is 10 years old. The only thing that might be a possibility is that the siding on the fascia came loose this spring during a storm. It was loose from the peak to about 4 feet down above the leaking window. I think the replacement siding looks smaller.

The builder looked at it (and I will say I trust him) and is coming back again today. I will suggest to him the idea about covering it with plastic and blasting the area with a hose.

We had rain last night and this a.m. which hit the window directly and it's still leaking. Doesn't seem to require high wind to leak, although that makes it worse. Lobo