A month ago with 40~50km wind blown 30~40ml rain,
I found water dropping from the top frame of living room window, about 1.5 liter.
rain was not shower just light to middle rain.
The window wood top frame wood shows a little gap all the way and white powder drops, seems to be drywall got broken.

I caulked suspicious area above the window a few days ago.
but, yesterday another 30~45km wind blown 30~40ml rain, about 2 liter total leaked,
the dropping speed was maximum 2~3 drops per seconds when it rain outside harder.

I went to the attic and crawled to the house front, but it was hard to find water hint at the small space, I took pictures but can not confirm if there're water leak or not.

House is 9 years old, second floor window has no leaks.
5 weep holes are only under the living room window, but I saw rain leaks for many years at the softfit under the garage door roof. I guess the leaked water should get out from those weep holes. I did not check yet water comes from or not when rains.

I don't know what to do now.
When I caulked abobe the window area, gaps between stones and cement looked normal, I caulked a little bigger gaps.

Which one could be the 1st try??
- apply "Thompson’s WaterSeal" on whole or some of the front of the house.
worry if stones get shine or not.
- apply caulking more minor cracks and gaps above the window.
- call roofer to check roof.
- open up the window top wood frame and see inside..

 

some more pics seperated here due to max 10 pics

 

The next day, yesterday, it rains about 20ml withOUT wind.
Window top did NOT leak.
Soffit under the garage door roof leaked as usual.

Any helps?
Is it possible the cement between stones penetrate water?
Do I need to open and see the soffit panels?

 

No one replied yet. so I'm doing own frustrated researching.

Masonry sealing seems to be the 1st thing I can try.
Aquaseal Masonry Brick Stone Concrete Sealing,Bricklayer Flashing Issue - YouTube

There are many sealers for stone, masonry, mortar..
I could find LastiSeal, Everbuild Water Seal, StormDry, Miracle 511, Miracle Cover, A-Tech, Micro Inviso Shield etc...
However, in Canada easily accessible is just Home Depot items.
Thompson's Waterseal Advanced says only 2 year guaranteed,
while Behr Concrete & Masonry Waterproofer is 10 years.
I'll get Behr's.

With a pump sprayer, reaching my house's high wall on a ladder can be danger and challenging. I might spray only where I can reach.

 

I haven't replied yet as I don't have any very good suggestions and I don't know that we can pinpoint one solution to the problem. I'm kind of afraid that it could all go back to the way the stone veneer was applied, the type of WRB that was used, and the way the windows were installed.

I can't comment much on the stone veneer or sealing as that's not my expertise... although I will say that the crack in the mortar shown on the left side of the window sill is problematic. If there are more cracks like that in other areas you need to have the mortar joints in those areas ground out and repaired.

Windows leak from the top when water gets behind the siding or veneer and runs down the WRB (your housewrap- assuming there *is* housewrap) and then runs behind the top nailing flange of the window. This sort of leak can be avoided if the installer would only cut a flap in the housewrap on top... fold it up, install the window, fold the flap back down, then tape the cut corners. Newer method include the use of window flashing tape, where the flange is taped to the WRB on the sides, then to the sheathing on top before the flap of WRB is folded back down over the top piece of flashing tape. This is a relatively new installation procedure that has been the standard for probably 10 or 15 years at least but some guys are either slow to catch on, just plain ignorant, or don't give rip, not thinking it's that big of a deal.

The primary places I would suspect would be 1). cracks in the joints, as mentioned above. 2) any horizontal ledges (tops and bottoms of masonry window trim, masonry sills and masonry frieze banding) and also horizontal flashings like above your metal roof 3) the metal roof itself. 4). the gable roof above, or a combination of one or more above.

The caulk along the horizontal flashing doesn't inspire confidence in me... if it was done properly that would not need to be caulked to shed water. It's possible the flashing itself is not incorporated into the WRB (lapped the wrong way). Every layer should shed onto the next... which is the idea behind why the WRB should overlap the top window nailing fin.

Depending on what type of veneer this is... if it's applied right to the sheathing with a thinset or mastic type of adhesive, there is no drainage plane behind it and that's also problematic. I think that sort of installation has been discontinued in favor of installing it on a drain wrap type of WRB like DrainWrap or StuccoWrap but like I said, that's not my area of expertise. I have read articles about totally rotted walls behind stone veneers that had no drainage plane. Water gets in via capillary action and can't get out fast enough, rotting the wall.

In the attic picture, which I suppose is the 2nd story peak above the windows, the stud on the left looks like it's been wet in the past, so that's a possible clue. So it's less likely but still possible that a leak along the roof edge could be getting behind the aluminum fascia cover, running back to the house via the soffit, then running behind the veneer. I've seen it happen. Does any water drip out of the gable end soffit, as it does from the lower soffit below the metal roof? It would be easy to look for a missing shingle or ridge cap. Or keep an eye on the upper soffit for drips.

If the house has no WRB I would be *VERY* worried about the future of that entire wall. Hope some of this helps.

 

Thank you very much.
I looked all my pictures again. Instead of the wall sealing, I'd better check the attic again.

Attic pictures are showing suspicious water leak hint like you pointed.
I really don't want to go up the attic, due to dust and height, I could not see the suspicious are with my eyes, so I took pictures with a hand. I need to touch and feel the insulation with my fingers to check if it got wet or not.

Also, I noticed, the roof's the aluminum fascia installed wrong, overlapped opposite way, rain can drip into the fascia J-channel. the overlapping location looks close to the attic suspicious location.

Especially with wind-driven rain,
is it possible the wrong overlap can make enough rain to the attic and the water flow down to the living room window top?

Then, caulking the overlapping fascia with a polyurethane sealant, worth to try?

 

Yes, the wrong overlap could be sealed with a clear urethane sealant. In your attic picture with the yellow circle and blue chalk line the thing I wonder about is what the heck the clay colored aluminum flashing is doing there, INSIDE the attic. Something about that doesn't sit right with me. And the discoloration on the plywood definitely shows it's been wet. If you're in a cold climate, that could also be frost, however. (melts warm days in the winter).

The upper corner miters on your exterior masonry trim are also gapped open where the caulk has broken loose, so that would be a good thing to seal.

 

I went outside and saw the fascia, soffits, roofs and pictures again.
I found the wrong overlapped fascia is not only for the window left side (1).
Window's right side (2) & balcony top fascia (3) are also wrong overlapped fascia with 2 screws.
Probably another overlapping fascia must be over the window left top (4) at the main roof.
I can not see because of the height and angle but pretty sure there it is. Of course wrong overlapped.

I doubted if (1), (2) and (3) can bring enough rain into the attic,
because I thought most water can fall down to the outside thru J-channel open end.
(1)&(2) just made some wood wet I guess.
(3) strangely got some bad water attic inside sometimes past.

However..(4) is totally different.
The main top roof is connected to the window's front roof
and there's no soffit, no active J-channel between the two roofs.
I guess all water into the (4) drip to the attic inside, then fall down to window top, garage then outside.

I found the attic picture inside of the (3) fascia.
the wood has black stains and the insulation under the stain is depressed,
probably windy rain could intrude thru the overlapped fascia.
but that's the above the balcony ceiling, not a room. that's why I did not notice.

These overlap locations and wet attic seem to be enough evidences,
My home builder did not learn enough or ignored very basic things.

This builder made other mistakes at the attic,
He did not glue at all one joint of the drain vent pipe, which made 2 liter leaked water on my 2nd floor washroom and 1st floor dining room ceilings. I have to repair the ceiling and paint.
One empty vent hole for a bath tub drain is just next to the pipe, not connected anything, just waste warm air. I blocked the hole with the black vinyl.
Also, I found the washroom fan hose is detached from the roof vent, I connected again the screw clamp.

Thanks for reply to make me look back the attic and fascia.
I was almost ready to buy wall sealant gallons and a pump sprayer.
At least the fascia overlaps are the 1st suspect.

Can I go up there with 50 yr sealant?
about 30 feet.. I am scared. I'm gonna find a guy to take my $100 or so.

 

update;

My guessing on the ground was totally wrong.
I found guys to go up there for me, he took pictures showed me.
Wrong overlapping were not big issue.

Main roof has drip edges over the shingles.
9 yeas old house caulking has obvious cracks.
Other caulking cracks also were between main roof and front roof.
My guy caulked all the way the edges on the main roof and other cracks.
Overlapping areas are not even caulked at all this time.
I'll go to the attic and lay papers then wait for next windy rain.