ShareThisQ: I just had a new garden window installed in the kitchen. The installers made the opening bigger than the actual window. I saw them put in black water-resistant paper before they put on the wire mesh and stucco. The stucco dried with cracks.After a couple of hours of rain, it started to leak at the top of the window. It doesn't appear that the window itself is the cause. Is the cracking in the stucco the problem? Would applying elastomeric paint over the new cracked stucco fix the problem, or do I have to have them remove the cracked stucco and put some sort of sealant, then apply new stucco? -- Hanz, Calif.A: It is a necessary practice to create an oversized opening when a window or door is installed. The window manufacturer supplies the "rough opening" dimensions for the installer to prepare the wall.The extra space allows the installer to move the window from side to side and up and down so that the window will be plumb and square. The remaining space around the window frame is then filled with an insulating material before trim is applied.On the exterior, the window should have been flashed to prevent water entry. The installer removes as much of the stucco and waterproofing as possible in order to apply the flashing under the base paper.When water penetrates the stucco siding -- and it will -- the flashing forces the water out and away from the window. A properly flashed window will not leak.Stucco, when applied properly and with good quality materials, is virtually waterproof, so the water entry must be at the cracks in the siding or from a roof leak somewhere above the window. Seal the cracks with a paintable exterior grade caulking and then, using a garden hose, spray the siding above the window and check for leaks.If there are no leaks, then spray the seam where the top of the window meets the siding.If there are still no leaks, you probably have repaired the problem. If, however, the window leaks the next time there is a substantial rain, you may have a roof leak that somehow finds its way inside the wall cavity until it reaches the window.Flashing, tar paper and stucco will not stop this kind of leak, and a small pesky roof leak is often difficult to locate.(Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 286, Evansville, Ind. 47702.)
Use garden hose to pinpoint leak in new window
Submitted by administrator on Sun, 12/30/2007 - 11:36
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