last year we had severe drought. this year we are having heavy spring rains & flooding. in our master bedroom we have French doors out to patio. with these heavy rains, we have seen water running down interior side of wall to exterior, running from the light switch cover area. we recently installed new carpeting and can smell mildew. we had new roof last year. husband cleaned gutters, removed rotted wood above fr doors and replaced & re-caulked above the trim. still water is coming in the wall- not the doors themselves, or at least not ONLY the doors. drips do run down from top of doors, but light switch is where we see a true running water issue. this is definitely rain related from exterior. this morning carpet is soaked in that area. if makes a difference- wall faces west so that is direction from which rain drives toward it. exterior is smartboard? type siding. please help- what do we check next?? or whom do we call in?? no ideas where else to check next to stop the leaking. please help

 

I would start at the top, the roof. Since you had a new roof installed last year it is quite possible something was not done correctly. First I would focus on anything that penetrates the roof like plumbing vent pipes, attic vents & skylights. Next get your head down on the roof and sight along it looking for nails sticking up or any unusual bumps. Then finally walk the roof in a search pattern carefully looking for holes even as small as a nail hole.

Water can travel horizontally further than you think so the leak may not be directly above your light switch area. Check the entire roof at that end of the house but give extra attention to the area above the light switch and up the roof in a 45 degree cone until you reach the ridge.

 

thanks for the tip- hoping for a rain let up tomorrow. roof is extremely steep & no vents etc above master area but will have husband check it out. amount of water entering is crazy & now will mean replacing sheet rock & carpet at very least.

 

Post a picture stand out away enough so we can see that whole area from the roof to the bottom of the door.

 

hope this works- there indeed IS a vent pipe above. the water comes out from a switch just below the visible light fixture, so probably more likely to be on that side.

 

did the photo help at all?

 

Can't see over the gutter, but I'd suspect that during a heavy rain, water is getting behind the gutter, which in turn gets behind the siding at that point. Maybe a picture from a ladder showing us what sort of flashing covers the back side of the gutter.

Also, since it sounds as if you have water on top of the doors, it could also be the way the trim is applied on TOP of the siding, with no flashing- only caulk to keep water out.

The rotted wood above the doors would indicate that it is trapping water. Was the siding behind it also rotten?

 

No Z moulding over the door?
There was suppost to be a piece of flashing that went up behind the siding and out over that 1 X 4 over the door.

 

i'll have to ask some more questions of husband- but it always looked like something had been removed above that door from the time we bought it. just a narrow area where paint was different than siding color. we had wondered if there had been a sun shade of some sort at one time, as it faces west & trees were much smaller then. we've lived here about 8years & never had any issues with these doors or water coming in anywhere. but flashing sounds like that could be right. last summer we had our roof replaced from hail damage. contractor said gutters needed to be replaced also, but insurance co guy said no they didn't. so if I am understanding correctly, if the wood is not wet or damaged in the area all the way down from gutter to top of doors, then the issue is probably needing flashing. but if wood is wet or damaged higher- closer to gutter area, then it is probably the water getting behind the gutter. would that be right? really appreciate VERY much your help with this- didn't have a clue of who to call for this type of problem other than someone who would charge to experiment til they found the right answer. THANK YOU!!!

 

You are correct with the two assumptions. Check one, then the other. Overflow over the back of the gutters in your situation could be critical as you have no soffit, and water could infiltrate pretty well behind the fascia.

Your bill is in the mail

 

YIKES! need any gardening advice to do a trade?

 

Yes, you have to serve time in the gardening forum to make it a wash. I'd say two weeks, minimum.