We have just had a sun porch built on the back of our home. Construction is a concrete slab with a brick wall to 2' high with windows on top of that to the roof. We are currently waiting on the final electical inspection (that is how new).

We had a storm, I'm in Oklahoma, and also while hosing the windows off, water seeped through the brick/mortar in 5 separate spots. These leaks did not run down from the glass area as the brick between the glass and seeping was dry.

The brick wall construction consists of 2 walls of bricks with an interstice of about 2 inches with a layer of cap bricks perpendicular to the wall.

How can the seeping be stopped/fixed? Hopefully the walls will not need to be dismantled? The Sun Porch company will be coming this week to look in to it, but I'm concerned on what their potential solutions will be and want to be prepared to make sure that it is done properly as this is new construction and leaks just aren't acceptable.

Any help you can provide would be great. Thanks,

 

With a double wythe od brick, your wall is probably thicker than the window section and ther is some sort of a sill.

Is the sill level or does it slope to shed water away.

Your description is somewhat confusing. Is the leak coming through the brick or at a junction of the window system with the brick base wall or a brick column?

Glazing and porch people are famous for knowing their product, but just dump responsiblities on their subs without any concern for details.

Push them to find the real cause of the leakage and a solution they will guantee. Don't pay until it is right during a critical period.

dick

 

unfortunately masonry is porous, any water that contacts the mortar will have a tendency to seep into the wall, to keep water from seeping through it you will have to keep the water from contacting the wall, it should have a flashing on the inside of the wall at the bottom extending up at least 12 in and running partly out of the bottom so water that makes it's way into the wall is directed to the outside of the wall. you will also need a flashing under the windows to direct water away from the brick ledge, or the brick ledge should be angled to allow water to run away from the window and the wall.

life begins when the kids leave home and the dog dies.

 

Dick,

Correct, the brick is about twice as thick as the glazing. The cap layer appears to be level, which I agree could be an issue.

However, the leaking is not coming from the joint between the bricks and the glazing, but from about 2-6 bricks down in the wall and all bricks above them are dry.

 

I'm not a brickie but I do know you need drains or weeps at the bottom of the outside bricks to allow water to exit that space. As another posted, mortar is porous and water can infiltrate it. When it gets inside the structure, it needs to be allowed to drain out.

Do you have weeps or drains in the brick wall?