I’m stumped. We live on the first two floors of a three floor brick condo building. About 2-3 feet of wall next to the corner on both of our floors suddenly, after a big rain, show signs of water damage - blistering, bubbling, discoloration, cracks, etc. Roofer says he sees no problem, no place for water to get in. Guy who constructed a brand new porch system last year says he can see no place the water could be getting in. I need to find where the water is coming from, fix it, and then re-do the dry wall in the two rooms. But I really don’t know who does this kind of work. I don’t know who to get next to come out here and figure it out. Short of opening up the wall during the next big rain - or using a hose -and trying to see where the water is getting in, what is my next move? Jeez, the dopers have been so good over the years, is there a chance I could count on them one more time?
Is the same thing happening on the third floor above you? Is there any place in the building where you can get a sense of the actual construction - is the brick actually structural, as might be the case in an industrial building revamped as condos, or is it brick veneer over a wood or steel stud frame, which is how most ‘modern’ brick buildings are constructed. The waterproofing details, and failure modes, are very different in each. Brick is amazingly porous, so details for letting water get back OUT are crazy important, but subtle.
Our townhouse had some water leakage in the basement that was ultimately determined to be because the support for the deck upstairs, going into the house, was not adequately caulked or something. I think we had a general handyman come out and deal with it, but this was 30+ years ago, so I really don’t remember.
I mention that because you said a porch system was installed last year. Though you said they told you there was no way it could be getting inside from that - still, it’s a thought.
The other thing I can think of is whether the building has gutters, and any kind of downspouts. Gutter blockage can lead to water leaking into the house. Have yours been cleaned recently? If not, you could explore that. Obviously it’s not terribly feasible for you to get up to the third floor on a ladder; a gutter cleaning service would be able to handle it - and might even be willing to run a hose up there to send some water into the system before and after cleaning, so you can see if anything is going on.
So how many people live in the condo? Is there any management structure who have some responsibility?
What do the people who live in the third floor say about water intrusion? Are they getting it?
You might post some pictures–both of the exterior and the interior damage.
You say the drywall is damaged? Cut it away and try the hose. If that doesn’t pan out, wait for a downpour. Could the gutter be blocked, and water is rolling off the roof and down the exterior wall?
Maybe a company that specializes in flood remediation or water damage could do it. If not, I bet they could recommend someone who could do it.
A few years back my balcony was leaking water into the walls of the flat below me. This was due to blockage of the drain in the center of the tiled surface. I had been away and during a period of torrential rains a small lake had formed on the balcony.
The guy that came and fixed it was a plumber I believe.
If fixing the drywall includes ripping it off then you hav a chance to see what’s behind. I would have suggested waterproofing the inside, but if it’s brick veneer over wood sheath then you aren’t waterproofing the inside brick face, so the wood will still get wet, and you will have unnoticed problems until the whole wall is rotten.
I had water coming into my house from a window after a driving rain. Turns out the calking between the window frame and the wood framing (fortunately all plastic wrapped, so no wet wood) had a gap in the top about a finger wide; when there was a driving rain blowing really hard from the north, it forced the water through that gap. Extra caulking filled the hole and no more water.
I recently moved to a house that had damp in the living room on an interior wall, with no sign of where the damp might be coming from, plus some water ingress from an outside wall. I hired a damp proofing specialist, which is basically a builder who knows how to identify and fix water damage and damp. So he came along, used a damp measuring tool to identify the damp area, had the knowledge to ascertain what was causing it (rising damp from a cellar in the living room, a dodgy drain pipe on the exterior wall), and then fixed the drainpipe, tanked the living room wall and did all the wall repair work (plastering).
If he had found a leak from interior pipe work, he would have instructed me to get a plumber, and then he would have repaired the wall.
I don’t know if they’re called the same in the US, but here in the UK, ‘damp proofing specialist’ is the google term.
SanVito, thanks. Sounds like exactly what I need, but when I google “damp proofing specialist” I get lots of hits - all in the U.K. Waterproofing companies prevent further damage, but none that I have found indicate that they find the cause and repair it. I think I’m going to have to keep looking and spend lots of time on the phone.
It’s a condo? Shouldn’t the condo association or whatever be taking care of this??
This is a problem to you, but it’s not your problem. It’s theirs.
That was going to be my comment.
Former condo prez here. At least in my state (FL), if you do anything to try to repair that you’re going to be getting in hot water and spending money unnecessarily. That is the COA’s job, not yours. Those are their walls, not yours. Call them, and if necessary get pushy. Unless they too are useless, they’ll know who to call because they’ve done it before.
Semi-professionally speaking, wall leaks are a real PITA in a large structure. The actual opening might be 200 yards from where you’re seeing damage. More likely it’s 5 to 15 feet straight up, but there’s no guarantee that’s true.
Appreciate the help with the problem. As for being a condo, there are only 10 units in a former 3 story apartment building - not a huge edifice. A small, almost self-managed association. I’m just doing a little spade work for the Board. I do not intend to spend any money on the problem, I just want to know where to go to get it diagnosed and fixed.