Another of those many contemporary homes with the flat roofs & the vertical cedar siding.

Water stains are reported by our client as showing up at the top of one of his dining room windows.

If you are able to look closely, you may be able to see the brownish stains on the sheetrock there at the top.

One of the techniques we employ, depending upon a myriad of factors, is to start at the evidence and work backwards.

Initially, this may allow you to localize the point of entry, if indeed the point of entry is local. If so, this technique can save money by avoiding the…

…costs associated with having to tear off so much siding. However, this was not to be in this particular case.

As you can see by these photos, the leak began at the very top, having to do with the parapet flashing not being properly applied.

And the damage extended well beyond the plywood sheathing and on into the structural wall components.

In fact, it ended up running the full length of the wall, from top to bottom.

Journeyman Jared Anderson shown here continues the discovery portion of the project.

Up on the hill in North Newberg.

Care to guess which side of the house gets all the weather?

Please note the red self-adhesive flashing membrane laying on-top of the bottom nailing-fin.

This was somewhat systemic for most of the flashing practices we found on this house, as the damage above attests to.

And if there is any place in the Willamette Valley that a structure is going to be sorely tested by the elements, it’s the Southwest by West facing side of this hill above Newberg.

We don’t exactly know yet why that is. We don’t know what it is that is so unique as to seemingly exacerbate the weather when it moves up this hillside.

We only know that we’ve observed a pattern emerge among the projects we’ve done like this one on this hillside.

For example, if interested, you might scope out Project 24759, which is also in this category. Check out the exterior trim on the doors. We’ve only seen that exact phenomenon one other time, and it too was on this hillside.

Well, as you can see by the photos, we are well on our way on this portion of the house, replacing the water-damaged structural components & putting everything back together.

As is common with these projects, once we’ve been given opportunity to remove some of the siding…the extent of the problem that caused the damage, as well as the extent of the damage soon becomes apparent. Change-order work is not uncommon when we perform these type of repairs.

The Southwest Hills, just north of the Bridlemile neighborhood area. As it would happen, our initial on-site inspection fell upon a mid-January 2012 dusting of snow.

The primary subject of our client’s need for our services had to do with these two back facing openings. The 2nd story Master Bedroom & the Living Room below.

Pans on the window-sill to catch the water leaks showing up at the top of the opening.

No drips today (yet), but the telltale stains on the naturally finished woodwork correlate with our client’s assertions.

The Master Bedroom Double-Doors and Sidelight Assembly leading out to the Juliette Balcony.

Substantial water staining at the flush-bolt strike-plate in the door assembly header-jamb indicates that we’re not merely dealing with a door opening leaking down to the window below.

The door & sidelights are removed, showing a sill-pan below the door assembly, but no pan beneath the sidelights. And thus it was that we would return at a later date during more accommodating weather to apply our expertise.

The water coming down from above the door assembly led to the conclusion that the stucco needed to be removed and the moisture-barrier checked for proper flashing techniques.

As it would happen, the history of this home, and especially “this wall” was such that there were apparently several overlapping remodels and repairs by these and previous owners. Thus it was very difficult not only to know who had done what, but also what it was that had been done. Based upon conversations with and the desires of the home owners, a plan “A” was hatched to remove all the stucco from the peak of this wall,…

…down to the bottom of the door assembly in hopes that re-flashing the wall above the door assembly and adding sill-pans to the sidelights would stop the leaks. However, subsequent water leaks would necessitate a plan “B” involving a more thorough redo of the entire wall down to the ground almost a year later which led to the discovery of substantial flashing foibles and substantial water damage to the structural wall components.

This particular project doesn?t fall into the construction defect category in as much as the water damage wasn?t due to the usual improper application of flashing materials.

This bank of three Pella wood double-hung windows, and the two mulled double-hungs in the adjoining wall had rotten sills as shown in the next photo.

As you may be able to discern, this is not just the beginnings of some minor water-damage. This is a hole. And you probably needn?t be told what the ramifications of the hole were going to be.

So we carefully removed the jamb assemblies from the rough-openings.

We employed the use of a lift, which we were going to need to access those afore mentioned ramifications related to the hole in the sill,?

?and used it to retrieve the jambs, and carefully lowered them to the area below?

?that we had set up for repairing the various window assembly components?

?a sample of which is shown here. And yes?we repaired them, as in milled new sills and jambs & exterior trim components as needed. This is what we do. And while some will ask if it isn?t less expensive to replace them with new windows?and while the answer sometimes is yes, it?s instructive to remember that this particular line of Pella windows are no longer made, so replacement is not always a viable option.

And then back up to those ramifications related to the hole in the window sill. Now technically now days?a sill-pan would be considered by some to be part of a flashing system.
And indeed, a sill-pan would have kept this subsequent damage in the wall below from occurring. And I can assure you that there is a growing chorus of construction related folks who would scoff at the notion of installing windows without sill-pans.

But even now, as of this writing, 8 years since we completed this project?sill-pans are still not used in the majority of window installations. Although high end construction would probably be an exception to that ascertain, I do suspect that it?s just a matter of time before general building-codes will require it in regions with weather patterns such as ours in the Willamette Valley.

South side of our client’s home, on the left there, and as you can see, there is no “eve” to help protect this wall that bears the brunt of the sun and the prevailing moisture laden weather patterns.

These are the two openings where the water was showing up. A decent overhang may have helped prevent this water-leak, providing a modicum of shade, minimizing the sun’s relentless baking…

…and the Willamette Valley’s rain-patterns from soaking our client’s cedar siding. Both of which can contribute to the leakage this home owner experienced by causing the siding to excessively expand and contract, opening up the joints between the adjoining courses of siding.

If you enlarge the photo by clicking on it, you may be able to make out the water-stains on the sill, the swollen MDF surround material, and the water that was dripping down upon the top of the vinyl sash the day we inspected this project.

On the day we returned to locate and correct the water leak, one of our technicians took this photo of a handyman’s classic attempts to stem the flood.

It’s unusual to find flashing products laid directly over a vinyl window, since vinyl windows have their own inherent flashing system, but it clearly didn’t help.

And upon removing a course of siding, we discovered why it did no good.

How the moisture-barrier came to be in this condition is somewhat of a mystery. We see it cut too short fairly frequently, but the “frayed” edges left us scratching our heads.

What wasn’t a mystery any longer, was how the water was getting in. Above, you can see the water-stains on the rough-opening materials (studs) after we removed the water-damaged MDF surround materials.

The good news in this particular case was that the leak wasn’t pervasive, it only leaked when the wind blew a certain direction, so there wasn’t any structural wall damage. We corrected the moisture-barrier to window relationship, and the costs for this project were relatively minimal.

The Madison South Neighborhood in Northeast Portland.

The offending exterior wall that our client inherited from a previous home owner.

An opening that has clearly had a long history of moisture penetration problems…

…as evidenced by the advanced state of swollen wood components pulling…

…apart, and poorly repaired drywall below. Not to mention the ceiling (not shown).

The report of a handyman’s efforts to stem the flood was relayed to us by our client, the evidence of which can no doubt be seen here at the top of the lower window. Note the brand new metal-flashing that was installed. Who needs to hire an expert when these handymen are out there working for $35.00 – $55.00 an hour? If you’re not in the trades, you might not be able to appreciate what I’m showing here, sorry.

The sins were many on this wall, but the primary maleficence in the equation was that a retrofitted vinyl window that had been installed into the upper original wood window jamb was never sufficiently sealed to its surrounding original components, and so water was being routed into the wall via holes in the original…

…rotten wood window sill, as the water-stains coming down over the shiplap sheathing evidences in the above photo.
So we replaced the water damaged sheathing and some structural studs that were substantially damaged inside the wall, etc., etc., installed your requisite moisture barrier, properly flashed the windows and re-sided the exterior wall.

If you’ve been going through very many of these remediation projects in our portfolio here, you have probably noted that we possess the means to deal with all manner of exterior siding.

This is due in large part to the good fortune we have had in employing some of the finest talent available in the construction trades. Much more than merely “handy.”

One of those contemporary designed homes in Lake Oswego.

Uh oh. Plastic on the roof. That can’t be good.

Uh oh, water stains on the window sill…that can’t be good either.

Sure enough, we find substantial water penetration via improperly flashed walls

Vertical cedar siding is known to be problematic in our climate, but if the exterior…

…envelopes moisture-barrier were properly flashing to all the related surfaces, windows and joints, then it wouldn’t…

…matter that water was finding its way in-between several of the boards or whatever.

It’s understandable that every homeowner who encounter’s these types of expensive revelations regarding their…

…house would be inclined to feel that their misfortune is isolated and unique. Although it’s no consolation, a little surfing through our list of construction defects…

…projects here, which represents a mere smidgen of the projects we do, and you will quickly realize that nothing could be further from the truth.

Not terribly unlike cancer, water damage due to construction defect can go largely unnoticed for years.

And then the symptoms may begin to show up slowly. This photo shows a window that had begun to leak, and the homeowner pulled-off some siding and attempted to affect the repairs himself.

But when water began showing up around other openings, he decided he might want to get someone involved who does this type of work for a living.
Sometimes we will open-up the walls as needed to…

…ascertain the extent of the cause and the damage in a particular area, but then move onto other known problem areas before repairing or replacing the wall components in order to gain the full-scope of what the project is going to entail.

This is why you can see portions of the exterior walls covered-up in our photos here. This provides protection to opened areas while we continue the inspection process.

As you can see, if the weather requires it, as it often can in the Willamette Valley, we can provide and erect a temporary cover for a impromptu shop for storing and cutting materials as needed.

The same goes for protecting the house while we perform the repairs. We get lots of practice, so we we’re fairly good at providing the necessary cover.

Almost done on this end of the house.

We move around now to the front of the house and make our way to the other end.
And yes, we can contend with all the various types of siding, including EFIS and the masonry types of stucco as well.

Tim Afonin is our chief siding expert, and chiefly responsible for the reputation that we enjoy in this particular department of our business.

What begins as a relatively simple project installing a new client-supplied window on this contemporary house up in the west hills…

…explodes into a substantial water remediation project when we discover damage below and above the window we were to remove. Soon, we were replacing wall studs that took us through to the interior walls…

…of the bathroom where the new window was to be installed. If the “DURING” photo looks weird, it’s because we tried to stitch three photos together that show the extent of the water damage, and the “stitching” didn’t go so well. Although we suspect you get the idea.

Many of the structural wall components had to be replaced. Sean Miller is shown installing the new insulation, after which the new drywall was applied.

Back to the exterior, we find the damage extensive. For a slightly closer view, you might try clicking on the photo to enlarge it. And the damage extends all the way down…

…to the deck…

…and on up to the top floor where the water was getting into the wall.

Here is a shot of a flashing piece that is supposed to separate the top floor moisture-barrier from that which is below. Can you discern here one of the problems we discovered with this wall? The moisture barrier is not overlapping the flashing, rendering it utterly ineffective.

This wall and this house have numerous more such issues, as we attempted to communicate to our client.
Most of us can relate to having something other than unlimited resources and the need to defer certain expenses.

But the risky aspect of “out and out denial” as it relates to this particular type of repair, is that ongoing neglect easily translates into the need for more extensive repairs and thousands of dollars more down the road. Rot is a living organism that never sleeps.

Multifaceted. All this architectural gingerbread is an exterior envelope engineers dream. Or nightmare, depending upon whether you’re a glass half-full or half-empty sort of person.

If you enlarge the above photo by clicking on it, you may be able to make out some of the water damage that was showing up pretty much directly beneath the window with the RED ARROW pointing at it in the previous photo.

We’ve got bump-outs, exterior-trim, lap-siding, belly-bands, board and batten siding, cornices, wood corbels (AKA “tassels” or “braggers”) and pseudo dormer roof-lines.

Lots and lots of seams and joints to be tested by the weather here in the great northwest.

Developing a strategy for opening up the wall in pursuit of finding the point of entry is always less than an exact science. You can easily do more than the bare minimum needed, just as easily as not doing enough. It’s not unusual for there to be more than one point of entry.

Understandably, the more of these type of projects you do, the quicker you begin to recognize the patterns and the tell-tale signs. The culprit is found (above). Note the metal L-Flashing that separates the two types of siding. Note its relationship to the moisture-barrier above it. It wouldn’t have helped prevent this leak because the water was already behind the moisture-barrier, but the lack of expertise is no doubt still related to the leak.

The window assembly is temporarily removed so we can replace the damaged sheathing, and to also facilitate wrapping the rough-opening with the self-adhesive flashing membrane before reinstalling it.

Tim Afonin is our resident flashing expert. His experience level is immeasurably important to our company.

As the water-remediation section of our portfolio here will attest to, we have resolved water penetration issues in just about every type of construction and siding type known to modern man.

Experience is key.