4 years ago I purchased a house built in the late 1990s.
It has vinyl Milgard windows, 4 of which have minor leaks occasionally, usually when it's raining and quite windy. They all leak only on the right side - which is the side which opens when the windows slide to the left - and only in a fairly narrow zone. See picture with drip spots - the water seems to be making its way to the inner edge of the window & then drips down.
I'm looking for some suggestions on how to permanently prevent this leaking. The house has a full 2nd story & 2 of the leaking windows are difficult to reach because of porch roofs under them.
Currently, the leaks to the interior are fairly minor. However, on a few windows, the MDF lining the inside of some of the window frames shows evidence of swelling toward the top of the windows so it's a problem I'd like to solve.
See pictures.
The previous owner of 10 years did no work on the exterior. After my first year in the house, I caulked the windows I could. For one of the 2nd story windows, I took off the screen & just tried to add caulk (blindly) to see if that would help - I don't currently have a good way to access that area safely (I've thought of investing in a climbing harness & ropes, and may do that in the future - that would allow me to paint & caulk around the trim). It seemed to slow down the leaking.
For the 2 first-floor windows, I caulked over the existing caulk. That seemed to help to a point.
Last summer, for one of the first floor windows, I removed the inside wood trim from the top of the window. The trim around the window was MDF (note: my exterior walls are thicker than is standard, 2x6s, rather than 2x 4 studs). I chose this window because the water damage on the top horizontal trim was the worst - you could see it had swelled quite a bit at one point. (I had replaced & caulked the exterior trim on this window after I had owned the house about 10 months - the trim was rotten because of lack of maintenance & this window gets the most southern exposure).
There is about a 3/4" gap between the top of the window & the framing of the house. There was no flashing that I could see - there was certainly none wrapped over the framing at the top of the window. On the "out" side, one strip of foam pipe insulation had been squeezed in between the framing of the house & the top horizontal strip of wood trim above the window. Since I had some of that around, I replaced it with another piece to see if that (plus the exterior caulking) would help. (This past winter, I removed the interior top piece of trim from another window & found that it too had this foam pipe insulation so I'm wondering if this was put in by the original builder (this cannot meet code??) - there was really no indication (no extra nail holes) that the previous owner had ever removed the wood trim, unless a new piece of trim was installed). I replaced the top horizontal strip of MDF with pine - I figured solid wood would stand up better against leaks if the exterior caulking hadn't solved it. This window did not leak this past year (I'm in the northwest so we get rain from fall to spring) on the interior side.
The windows have no drip cap. Modifying the windows to add the drip cap would be a good amount of work, although digging out & recaulking the exterior every few years is a lot of work, too. Should this style of window have drip caps? Above, I mentioned that there seems to be no flashing - I didn't see any when I removed the inside trip along the top of the window. I'm guessing the only way to add that would be to remove the window frame? (I'm surprised as I live in a major metro area whose building inspectors seem to be fairly strict - and I thought code required flashing?).
I've started digging out the existing caulking above one first floor window & am planning on re-caulking. The vinyl window sticks out close to 1/4" from the exterior trim, which I'm guessing allows water to sit on the lip & work its way in. I'm planning on putting a good deal of caulk on to try to create a slope so the water slides down the caulk & doesn't sit on this lip.
What is the best way to solve this leaking problem? Only 4 (of 8 total) windows are leaking now, but I assume others will likely develop the problem. Short of removing all the windows, and flashing & installing a drip cap, is good caulking the best solution? What is the best caulk? I looked at options at HD, and thought DAP Dynaflex 230 (exceeds ASTM C 920, class 25) - indoor/outdoor sealant, waterproof & paintable, might be the best option - does anyone have other suggestions?
This house has the 4 x 8 sheets of siding on the 2nd story, with vertical wood strips every 2 feet or so (presumably to cover joints & nail) - plus a wide horizontal board at the bottom of the sheet, where it meets the clapboard siding (full of knots) on the first floor. The newer construction materials & approach used in this house seem critically dependent on the owner maintaining the caulking around the windows & siding.
It has vinyl Milgard windows, 4 of which have minor leaks occasionally, usually when it's raining and quite windy. They all leak only on the right side - which is the side which opens when the windows slide to the left - and only in a fairly narrow zone. See picture with drip spots - the water seems to be making its way to the inner edge of the window & then drips down.
I'm looking for some suggestions on how to permanently prevent this leaking. The house has a full 2nd story & 2 of the leaking windows are difficult to reach because of porch roofs under them.
Currently, the leaks to the interior are fairly minor. However, on a few windows, the MDF lining the inside of some of the window frames shows evidence of swelling toward the top of the windows so it's a problem I'd like to solve.
See pictures.
The previous owner of 10 years did no work on the exterior. After my first year in the house, I caulked the windows I could. For one of the 2nd story windows, I took off the screen & just tried to add caulk (blindly) to see if that would help - I don't currently have a good way to access that area safely (I've thought of investing in a climbing harness & ropes, and may do that in the future - that would allow me to paint & caulk around the trim). It seemed to slow down the leaking.
For the 2 first-floor windows, I caulked over the existing caulk. That seemed to help to a point.
Last summer, for one of the first floor windows, I removed the inside wood trim from the top of the window. The trim around the window was MDF (note: my exterior walls are thicker than is standard, 2x6s, rather than 2x 4 studs). I chose this window because the water damage on the top horizontal trim was the worst - you could see it had swelled quite a bit at one point. (I had replaced & caulked the exterior trim on this window after I had owned the house about 10 months - the trim was rotten because of lack of maintenance & this window gets the most southern exposure).
There is about a 3/4" gap between the top of the window & the framing of the house. There was no flashing that I could see - there was certainly none wrapped over the framing at the top of the window. On the "out" side, one strip of foam pipe insulation had been squeezed in between the framing of the house & the top horizontal strip of wood trim above the window. Since I had some of that around, I replaced it with another piece to see if that (plus the exterior caulking) would help. (This past winter, I removed the interior top piece of trim from another window & found that it too had this foam pipe insulation so I'm wondering if this was put in by the original builder (this cannot meet code??) - there was really no indication (no extra nail holes) that the previous owner had ever removed the wood trim, unless a new piece of trim was installed). I replaced the top horizontal strip of MDF with pine - I figured solid wood would stand up better against leaks if the exterior caulking hadn't solved it. This window did not leak this past year (I'm in the northwest so we get rain from fall to spring) on the interior side.
The windows have no drip cap. Modifying the windows to add the drip cap would be a good amount of work, although digging out & recaulking the exterior every few years is a lot of work, too. Should this style of window have drip caps? Above, I mentioned that there seems to be no flashing - I didn't see any when I removed the inside trip along the top of the window. I'm guessing the only way to add that would be to remove the window frame? (I'm surprised as I live in a major metro area whose building inspectors seem to be fairly strict - and I thought code required flashing?).
I've started digging out the existing caulking above one first floor window & am planning on re-caulking. The vinyl window sticks out close to 1/4" from the exterior trim, which I'm guessing allows water to sit on the lip & work its way in. I'm planning on putting a good deal of caulk on to try to create a slope so the water slides down the caulk & doesn't sit on this lip.
What is the best way to solve this leaking problem? Only 4 (of 8 total) windows are leaking now, but I assume others will likely develop the problem. Short of removing all the windows, and flashing & installing a drip cap, is good caulking the best solution? What is the best caulk? I looked at options at HD, and thought DAP Dynaflex 230 (exceeds ASTM C 920, class 25) - indoor/outdoor sealant, waterproof & paintable, might be the best option - does anyone have other suggestions?
This house has the 4 x 8 sheets of siding on the 2nd story, with vertical wood strips every 2 feet or so (presumably to cover joints & nail) - plus a wide horizontal board at the bottom of the sheet, where it meets the clapboard siding (full of knots) on the first floor. The newer construction materials & approach used in this house seem critically dependent on the owner maintaining the caulking around the windows & siding.