Sill Repair

We have an "A" frame house. Along the entire front is a concrete ledge that is about 18" wide. When we moved into the house we found out the front sill of the house was completely rotten and we rebuilt the affected wall and sill. We used pressure treated lumber and put down a good amount of sealant under the sill and along the interior and exterior edges. Water continues to seep in when it rains heavily. Water just puddles right against the trim and it comes in under the sill. It's bad enough we can't complete the dry wall and trim work inside.

Does anyone have any help they can offer to end this leak short of rebuilding the entire front ledge?

 

Hello, can you build up the ledge so that the water drains off instead of pooling against the wood sill? I assume you caulked the space between the ledge and the sill? How about cutting a treated piece of wood at a taper or wedge shape and then using some of the great adhesives that comes in caulking tubes to glue it down on the ledge and the right angle butted up against the sill? Paint and caulk this, so that water will run away from the sill.

Maybe I don't completely see in my mind your problem? There must be a method to aid in this issue though.



Dale
Indy

 

actually I think you've got an accurate picture in your head.

We've tried about every type of caulk and adhesive known to man but they all just crack and peel away after a short while. I think it has to do with the temperature extremes we experience.

What I've got in my head to try but don't know if there is such a product is something similar to spray on bed liner for pickups. Spray the ledge and the wall about 3 inches up. At this point I couldn't care less if it was black at least then I could do the drywall work and trim work in the livingroom and paint my walls.

 

As you have discovered, when repairing water damage it is necessary to address the drainage problem that caused the problem in the first place.

Smith Brother is on the right track, building up an angled surface on the ledge so that water drains off away from the wall. To this I would add metal flashing, tucked up under whatever the exterior wall surface material is, down to the joint between wall and ledge, and extending out over the (new) sloping surface. This way you don't have to rely on caulk or adhesive to stand up to the weather.