[Becca42]

My husband and I own a 7 year old townhouse, bought brand new from the builder.

We have done some updates including hardwood floors in the living room. After a bad storm we noticed the floorboards were buckling. My husband is handy and he pulled off the baseboard, cut off the bottom of the drywall and found that the windows were leaking in the wall, and pooling on the subfloor, making the floor boards swell and buckle.

There was also a little mold--evidence that the bad storm we got was not the first time it got wet. Downstairs was a similar situation. We had a contractor take a look and confirm that the windows were not properly flashed--they had a clear tape around them not the metallic tape you're supposed to use. Some of this is with vinyl siding, which my husband can handle fixing.

But we're worried there is more than just the tape issue. What if they did something else wrong? Even more concerning is that some of the windows are surrounded by an engineered stone veneer outside, and I've read some pretty scary stories about how that can be installed wrong. So, it could be likely we will have to have the stone veneer replaced.

This is going to cost a fortune! Since it is no fault of our own, but the contractor hired by the builder, can we get them to pay for it?? Any thoughts or suggestion are greatly appreciated.

Becca

 

[joecaption]

And exactly why do you think he should pay. A 7 year old house has gone way behind any warrenty any builder may or may not have had on it when newer.
The man you had look at it may have been looking at the tape on the seams and gaps on the house wrap.
Window sealing tape is black rubber looking stuff, some people just use tar paper.
If he sold you the house and he's a licenced realitor or if he himself had lived in the house and he knew the window had issues and you can prove it and it was not disclosed to you then you may remotely have a case. But it would cost you more for the lawyer then it would cost to do the repairs.

I personaly have never seen a home even some new ones that did not have a few issues.

 

[md2lgyk]

I would say you have zero chance of getting any resolution from the builder. I will say, with 100% certainty, that you need to have this problem fixed, sooner rather than later. A friend of mine had a similar issue with every window in his home. The mold problem was so bad that he and his family had to move out as it was making some of them sick. It was more than six months before they could move back in.

Check with your insurance company. They may cover some of the cost.

 

[gregzoll]

If this is happening after 7 years, it is not a problem from the builder, it is due to the house is showing its age and not being kept up. That is if you just let it go, it will fall apart. Sad thing is, homes built these days are throw away items like everything else, and barely last 15 years, unlike the homes built back in the day.

 

[Windows]

Flashing of windows is something that is routinely done incorrectly by DIYers and professionals alike, so I wouldn't necessarily go straight to 'if this is wrong than everything is probably wrong'. So many years after the sale, it is better to put your energies into correcting the problem. Similar thing happened at my s.i.l.'s house from a previous homeowner's DIY window replacement. Cost them many thousands to repair the rot. And they were lucky - they found the damage by fluke. Had they not, could have been many 10s of thousands a few years more years down the road.

 

[Fix'n it]

it is due to the house is showing its age and not being kept up.

what ? how do you "keep up" on window installations ?

 

[gregzoll]

what ? how do you "keep up" on window installations ?

It has to be done right from the beginning. But if it has taken 7 years for this to finally happen, it is not a flashing issue, it is a upkeep issue. Really need pictures of the outside & inside areas of the window area, to see what is going on.

 

[Fix'n it]

It has to be done right from the beginning.

But if it has taken 7 years for this to finally happen, it is not a flashing issue, it is a upkeep issue.

indeed

7 years to finally happen ? if it was don't incorrectly, seems to me it would be a case of "took 7 years to show itself". unless, of course, they used cheap caulk, that can be seen without removing any materials.

 

[gregzoll]

Cheap caulk is not the problem. Really need pictures instead of guessing what the problem is. Until the OP comes back, instead of being a One post wonder, we can only guess what is going on.

 

[hammerlane]

he pulled off the baseboard, cut off the bottom of the drywall and found that the windows were leaking in the wall, and pooling on the subfloor, making the floor boards swell and buckle.

On my first floor I removed a wooden floor down to the subfloor in preparation for ceramic tile. While waiting a few weeks for the tile install we had a heavy, long wind driven rain storm. That morning I found water in our 1st floor bath. See photo.

The front of my house is a brick veneer. The brick was saturated in the area of the 1st floor bath window. see photo.

I came to discover that my problem were the window sills which were a rowlock course of brick and not having the proper weeping system behind the brick veneer. I ended up having the rowlock sills replaced with limestone sills on front of house.


Additional info:
I had a local company that does brick restoration come in and he showed be a Rhilem Tube test to demonstrate how the brick can absorb water.

Here is an excellent video demonstrating a Rhilem Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFurv7A42tM


After learning that brick veneer--mortar joints and bricks--can absorb water, I had a water repellent made by Prosoco called Siloxane WB concentrate applied by to entire front brick veneer of the house. After the application, water beads off of the brick veneer as water would off the hood of a newly waxed car. Again this product is a water repellent not a sealer. Big big difference.
http://www.prosoco.com/Products/8258...6-57731831a3c9

The Prosoco product will not impair the natural breathing characteristics of treated surfaces.

As a note... the house was built in 1997 and the builder was no longer around.

 

[hammerlane]

another photo showing new weep holes