Water leak above patio door
#1
09-23-11, 01:19 PM
Water leak above patio door
I have a brick home. About 13 years ago, we had windows removed and sliding patio doors installed when we had a deck built. I've had no issues until recently.
During a heavy rain, water leaks from above the door, dripping from the door casing above it onto the floor. There are no signs of water on the drywall above the door.
The door is under an overhang of between 18"-24". I went outside and looked at it during a downpour, and could see that water had filled up the gutter, and it was pouring out over the outside edge. The downspouts are at the ends of the house, and this is near the center. The downspouts were clean, but the gutters won't handle a bid downpour.
The water appeared to go over the edge of the gutter, run down and off the gutter to the deck. The gutter was bent a little on the outside edge at that point (I have since corrected this, but haven't seen it rain there yet), which is probably why the water overflows at that area. Some water runs down the fascia board, but no water appears to run along the bottom side of the soffit. Both the fascia and soffit are wood, and are intact. There is no damage to the shingles above this area. The drip edge on the roof is intact, and appears to be installed correctly. I haven't gone into the attic yet, but will do so over the weekend.
I'm not sure how the water is getting to the door, or how to fix it. There's no way this is getting blown into the door - it's completely dry under the overhang, even when it's pouring. When the wind blows, rain may hit the door, but never up close to the top.
During a heavy rain, water leaks from above the door, dripping from the door casing above it onto the floor. There are no signs of water on the drywall above the door.
The door is under an overhang of between 18"-24". I went outside and looked at it during a downpour, and could see that water had filled up the gutter, and it was pouring out over the outside edge. The downspouts are at the ends of the house, and this is near the center. The downspouts were clean, but the gutters won't handle a bid downpour.
The water appeared to go over the edge of the gutter, run down and off the gutter to the deck. The gutter was bent a little on the outside edge at that point (I have since corrected this, but haven't seen it rain there yet), which is probably why the water overflows at that area. Some water runs down the fascia board, but no water appears to run along the bottom side of the soffit. Both the fascia and soffit are wood, and are intact. There is no damage to the shingles above this area. The drip edge on the roof is intact, and appears to be installed correctly. I haven't gone into the attic yet, but will do so over the weekend.
I'm not sure how the water is getting to the door, or how to fix it. There's no way this is getting blown into the door - it's completely dry under the overhang, even when it's pouring. When the wind blows, rain may hit the door, but never up close to the top.
#3
09-23-11, 02:33 PM
No clue - it was done by a contractor. The thing is, there's no water getting at the top of the door. The only thing I can think is it must be running back on the inside of the soffit, then down . The brick above the door isn't wet, and it's protected by the overhang.
#4
09-23-11, 07:26 PM
Group Moderator
Number one, you can probably replace your outlets and downspouts with larger ones that will handle more water. I don't even know why they sell the little 2x3 downspout (6 sq in) when 3x4 (12 sq in) will handle twice the water. Changing them is pretty easy, and will solve a lot of your overflowing gutter problems.
Number two, windows and doors aren't usually meant to be waterproof if water is dumping on top of them from somewhere it ought not (like out of your soffit). You can likely trace that leak back to the way the fascia is covered (if the fascia is covered with aluminum fascia cover and it doesn't extend higher than the back of the gutter it will catch water if the gutter overflows), or perhaps the roof flashing isn't long enough to extend into the gutter, causing a "leak" where roof drainage goes behind the back side of the gutter.
Number two, windows and doors aren't usually meant to be waterproof if water is dumping on top of them from somewhere it ought not (like out of your soffit). You can likely trace that leak back to the way the fascia is covered (if the fascia is covered with aluminum fascia cover and it doesn't extend higher than the back of the gutter it will catch water if the gutter overflows), or perhaps the roof flashing isn't long enough to extend into the gutter, causing a "leak" where roof drainage goes behind the back side of the gutter.
#5
09-24-11, 04:20 AM
I agree with Brant, if the gutters are overflowing in the front, it doesn't take much for them to overflow the back, seep in behind the fascia, over the soffit and down the wall cavity. Larger gutters are definitely going to help. I don't believe I would try to "seal" anything until I took care of getting the water away first.
Larry
Larry
#6
09-24-11, 05:26 AM
Group Moderator
Like you said, the water probably wouldn't be running along the "bottom" of your soffit, it would more than likely be getting on TOP of the soffit somehow... such as if water was running OVER the top of your fascia, running down the back side of the fascia, then it would be trapped on TOP of the soffit, where it could run back toward the house and leak down on top of your window. (you really saw it drip from the top, right???) I've also seen water leaks caused by the seam of the drip edge not being lapped far enough. If the gutter has been raised so high that it's higher than the top of the fascia, that is probably the cause.
I guess a 3rd possibility could be a roof leak, where water would be getting into the soffit from above. You wouldn't necessarily see drywall damage, since water could be running down the outside of your sheathing, or even between the 2 halves of your header. It then would sit on top of the window itself and then drips out of the casing, never really touching the drywall. A roof leak higher up would drip on the drywall.
I guess a 3rd possibility could be a roof leak, where water would be getting into the soffit from above. You wouldn't necessarily see drywall damage, since water could be running down the outside of your sheathing, or even between the 2 halves of your header. It then would sit on top of the window itself and then drips out of the casing, never really touching the drywall. A roof leak higher up would drip on the drywall.
