heavy rains = leaks
During the recent heavy rains, we’ve noticed that after a few minutes of the storm, water starts to pour off our roof one side of the house. It flows down the side of the building, over the windows, and leaks into our top floor window. The wall around the window is completely soaked with water…
During the recent heavy rains, we’ve noticed that after a few minutes of the storm, water starts to pour off our roof one side of the house. It flows down the side of the building, over the windows, and leaks into our top floor window. The wall around the window is completely soaked with water as well. We had a handyman refinish the windows (put new aluminum around the edge of the windows), but the rain is still getting in. We’ve checked the gutters, and they are not clogged, but we are thinking of having someone angle them more towards the downspout which is on the side of the roof that is not overflowing. However, we’re still worried about the wetness in the walls around the third floor window. Could the water be getting into the brick of the building? It’s a brownstone with brick wall in back that was stuccoed over.
We’ve had a few people come by to take a look, but no one seems to know what to do. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Your gutters and leader may be undersized and improperly pitched. Water getting into the wall in and of itself is not a problem, so long as there is a way for it to get out. Generally these older walls had open mortar joints to allow water to travel out; stuccoing them over meant that the water was trapped inside. On the other hand, some walls were built solid and relied on the integrity of the wall itself to keep out water.
Water damage in the walls will evidence itself; if the stucco is in poor condition, rip off a section and check the condition of the mortar; if there is white powdery stuff, water is getting in but it’s not the end of the world, but if the mortar is sandy, you should do some serious investigation
wow does this sound familiar! Does anyone know of a reputable person to repair or otherwise mitigate the drain/gutter problem that causes this?
Many thanks
It can be the sewer in the corner of the block. Your drain should be able to handle the load even during a heavy rainfall. If the main sewer is blocked then you will have water pooling up.
A few times I had the same problem and simply went to the corner sewer and cleared out all the garbage on top of the gutters and the water receded very quickly.
The last time the water backed up I did not see any garbage on top of the corner sewer, but I saw a lot of mud inside. I called 311 to complain and they came to clean the sewer. I called back to check up and they confirmed that the sewer was clogged and they fixed it.
Unless your gutters are obviously angling away from the leader that’s probably not the answer. It sounds more like you’ve got an obstruction in the leader or, if the downspout dumps into a storm drain, the drain itself. A garden hose test won’t always identify the problem because during a heavy rain a lot more more water is being dumped into the leader than you can duplicate with a hose.
A friend recently had her house painted and her painters forgot to replace her leader. Then there was a heavy rain. I couldn’t believe how much water came out of that hole in her gutter. It was literally a waterfall.
When we had a similar thing going on (waterfall down the back of the house) it was that our pipe just couldn’t take the volume of water in these heavy rains. It would back up so the waterfall happened and/or back up into the cellar. Probably a blockage in the waste pipe somewhere out between our house and the street, but we solved the problem with a rain barrel. Maybe a plumber and a scope could help figure it out?