Are My Windows Leaking Water?

JRMN

I was wondering if you guys could help me figure out an issue I am having with water coming into my house. We were hit pretty badly by Irene. I’m really not sure how the water came in, it could have been wind driven-rain or it could have come in through the windows. We had water come into the living room slash foyer, the master bedroom and a guest room. The master bedroom is on the second floor, the area with the three dormers. The living room slash foyer area is directly below the master bedroom on the first floor. The affected guest room is the two windows on the left side of the house above the garage.



To make a long story short, we had a water restoration company come out and they removed the baseboards, drywall and insulation under each of the two dormer windows. Only the baseboard directly under the guest room window was removed. I should also mention that only about a foot from the floor up of the drywall and insulation was removed in the master bedroom.

Since Irene, I’ve had a roofer make some minor repairs to my roof and I’ve also puttied the flashings of the left two dormers. Fast forward to today, we’ve had a lot of rain over the past week and the baseboard areas directly underneath the three windows I marked in red are wet to the touch. I also drew a yellow box around the gutters. I believe the water might actually be coming in through the windows.

Here is another photo of one of the windows in the master bedroom. Do anyone know what the name of that putty/caulk is in the window?



What do you all think, is it my windows?

kwikfishron

I see multiple things that could be happening. Your dormer trim is the first thing that stands out to me.

Unfortunately the detains I’d like to see are behind the trim and siding.

More that likely a poor window/trim installation but with no overhang on the dormers there could be issues with that detail too.

There is just no way to tell from these pictures alone. A hose test would be a good place to start.

What is your caulking called? I call it a mess.

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Windows on Wash

+1

Water test the dormers and windows.

Start high and work your way down.

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kwikfishron

Really, I do just the opposite.

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JRMN

@kwikfishron, thanks for the suggestion. So you think it's the trim around all the windows, not just the dormers? I ask because it seems I have the same issue in the guest room, but no dormers. I plan on having the trim redone when I have my roof replaced. I just don't want to have all that work done, just to turn around and have to redo the work on the inside of the house because my windows are leaking.

kwikfishron

It’s the details behind the trim.

You have to look at the siding and trim as just the frosting on the cake. It’s the weather barrier and flashing details behind the siding/trim that protects the house and keeps the water out.

Google “window flashing details” to get an idea of what you should have and probably don’t.

The person you hire for this should be well versed in these details. Low bid handyman is not the one for the job.

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Windows on Wash

I should have clarified...I was referring to the though process of where the leak is.

Leaks that show up on lower surfaces are very often the result of water infiltration on high surfaces.

Water tests are more surgical from low to high.

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