IDing Leak Source
In our 5-story apartment building, we are suddenly experiencing water problems at several different places on a common wall. In three different spots it’s manifested as paint blistering out from the wall; in two places a moderate amount of water has dripped down from the ceiling. We also see drip stains on 2 floors of…
In our 5-story apartment building, we are suddenly experiencing water problems at several different places on a common wall. In three different spots it’s manifested as paint blistering out from the wall; in two places a moderate amount of water has dripped down from the ceiling. We also see drip stains on 2 floors of a perpendicular interior wall that may or may not be related. After checking our roof and the neighbor’s roof (which sits below ours), there are no obvious problems, though some of our sealant has flaked off and an exterior wall that gets pounded during rains has some small patches of exposed brick. it could be pipes, but that would mean two completely unrelated systems are leaking (the only similarity is age!). One thing that seems unusual is the amount of condensate we get on our cold-water pipes: this leaves puddles in the basement but our plumber has told us it’s normal.
I am stuck on what we do now: bring in a roofer, a contractor, or a plumber to help us ID the problem / next steps? Any advice would be much welcome!
You can have non-obvious water sources doing damage. We put a new roof on a few years ago because we had chronic leaking, even bringing a ceiling down.
Despite having patched the tar roof frequently before the new roof was installed, there were bubbles containing large amounts of water which remained inside layers of old tar. The new roofers removed some old material, and slit all the bubbles remaining and expressed buckets of water from the blisters before putting on the new stuff.
The only trouble we’ve had since is from the skylight and sometimes from the front when wind blows hard from an unusual direction.
We removed the parapet, repointed the bricks, redid the flashing, put on a new roof, and a nasty leak persisted. Architects, engineers, contractors, repeated water testing, cutting open walls and ceilings and using sophisticated water detectors all failed to identify the source of the leak. Ultimately new the roof was removed,the old roof pulled off, and new roofing put in, along with more flashing. Fingers remain crossed. This stuff can be nightmarish!
if you are getting a lot of water and it is not raining, then yes, you have a pipe break. call a plumber asap. water in the walls and floors is not a good thing-at all. Once you fix the pipe get a heavy duty dehumidifier to dry the space out. you want to avoid mold and rot at all costs.
once water gets in it can follow torturous paths.
my guess, and of course it is only that, is that you are getting water penetration through the masonry parapet and exposed sidewall.
you will need to remove the gunk that past generations have globbed on and then repoint the brick. You may also want to replace the coping on top of the parapet. and while you are at it check the flashing along your parapet. If the interior walls are old-time plaster on lath or plaster on block the portions that have gotten wet are toast. Those sections of plaster should be removed and replaced with sheetrock. Once plaster blisters, it is finished and will re-blister again and again.
thanks — is there any advice from anyone who is not promoting their own business?
fwiw, a lot of water coming through now (a gallon overnight, as drips through the light fixture) and we are thinking it is probably a plumbing issue.
a general contractor could be the first choice to call.You may call M.Hamid Construction Co.718-633-1500.