Water leaking above uPVC window

Hi,

I had some double glazing installed at the beginning of the year.

This evening I noticed the window on my landing has the signs of three small trickles of water (see photo).

There isn't much water but I am concerned as it doesn't look like condensation as the rest of the frame is dry.

I'm going to give the double glazing company a call tomorrow so they can come and take a look.

Has anyone seen anything like this before, I assume it could just be a leak above the frame on the outside. However there hasn't been any rain over the past few days, it has just been cold.

What do you think, any comments?

Thanks.

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Could be condensation, any photo from outside?

Hi,

I have been outside and taken a look and didn't see anything unusual between the lintel and the frame.

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So I went back inside and took a closer look.

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I have removed some of the 'trim' plastic installed my DG firm to bridge a gap between the uPVC frame and wooden 'header' board (sorry I don't know what this part is called). This (now exposed gap) is about 2cm from the wood to the frame.

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As I look straight up into the gap, I can see the lintel has moisture all over it, I assume condensation, and there are three points where water is slowly dripping from. This is then dripping inside the house.
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If I look around I can't see any objects that are bridging the cavity, but this piece of wood that is used to secure the wooden header is quite close.
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The cavity insulation doesn't appear to be damp in any way but I'm concerned that is is happening. I'm assuming that moisture shouldn't be occurring here.

Moving outside again, I can see that there is a brick, dislodged and it isn't inline (flush) with the pointing but I can't actually move the brick. I can't actually see a gap, but it might be worth filling with mortar before the snow comes, incase there is outside air getting in to the cavity from here.
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From the inside I can see that there is also an approx. 1.5cm gap between the top of the uPVC frame and the underside of the lintel, this gap is also evident from the outside, as there is more 'trim' at the top of the window frame.
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I'm assuming that there shouldn't be any voids where heated air inside the house should be in direct contact with the external brick?

How should a double glasing unit be fitted when replacing a old single glased unit?

Is this just a poor DG installation or do I need to address the problems myself?

I see the cover at the top is coming apart, carefully remove the upvc strip with maybe a wallpaper scraper and see what is lurking behind, I'm seeing damp/water in the top left corner as well

masona said:

I see the cover at the top is coming apart, carefully remove the upvc strip with maybe a wallpaper scraper and see what is lurking behind, I'm seeing damp/water in the top left corner as well

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The part you have called a cover, is the bit I have described as 'trim' in my second post.

I'm not sure what these parts are called and I'm uncertain if the DG installers should have filled these voids.

Can you take another photo above the lintel outside, need to see the condition of the facing brickwork just above the window

Also what room is this window?

masona said:

Can you take another photo above the lintel outside, need to see the condition of the facing brickwork just above the window

Also what room is this window?

Click to expand...

This is the only other shot I have of the brickwork above the lintel.
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It isn't a very good picture, but the brickwork looks okay, other than the brick I mentioned in my second post.

I must learn to read more slowly

The only thing to do is to remove the trim cover and keep an eye on it to investigate where the water drip is coming from

Does look like the window is too close to the front brickwork

masona said:

The only thing to do is to remove the trim cover and keep an eye on it to investigate where the water drip is coming from

Does look like the window is too close to the front brickwork

Click to expand...

From my limited experience of construction, it 'looks' like condensation is forming on the lintel (because it is cold compared to the heat of the landing) and because this lintel over hangs the uPVC frame the moisture drips inside on to the 'trim' and then into the house.

If I'm right and there isn't a leak from anywhere, how do I fix it.

Should the window frame be set further back closer to the cavity, so the moisture would drip from the lintel, land on the frame and be directed towards the outside.

Or, shouldn't moisture be forming there in the first place, becasue the void hidden by the 'trim'/cover shouldn't actually be a void and should be be some form of insulating material/moisture barrier?

Does anyone know a good online resource that would show how uPVC frames should be fitted to a cavity wall with an external stone lintel. Something like that shown at the bottom of this page: http://staffweb.lewisham.ac.uk/Elearn/construction/start/walls/cavity/section9.htm

AnimalGlu said:

Does anyone know a good online resource that would show how uPVC frames should be fitted to a cavity wall with an external stone lintel. Something like: http://staffweb.lewisham.ac.uk/Elearn/construction/start/walls/cavity/section9.htm

Click to expand...

Thinking about this further, I can't just have one external stone lintel, I also need one (or something similar) for the internal skin of brick. D'oh!

Some further googling later and I have found the following and I'm inclined to think I have 'cold bridging'.
http://www.knaufinsulation.co.uk/se...nal_walls/mc01-full-fill_with_built-in_g.aspx

http://www.diywindows.com/measurewd3.html

http://staffweb.lewisham.ac.uk/Elearn/construction/start/walls/cavity/section8.htm

Should the DG company have sealed the unit with a DPM of some description and installed something under the lintel to direct moisure out over the top of the unit?

There should definately be some expanding foam in critical places but I don't want to just start spraying and create another problem.

I would remove the top trim cover and let it dry out, at the moment I think it's cold bridge condensation and the only way to find out is to keep an eye on it, by removing the trim cover which will now be ventilated then let us know what's happening over the next few days

Hi,

So a little while after posting here the double glazing company who fitted the units came round and took a look. At the time the lintel was soaking wet (which was handy).

They are thinking that the loose tile sat in the gutter (see original photos) might be cause water get onto the soffit and down my cavity to drip on to the stone/concrete lintel and into the house.

They said get the gutters cleared and get roof repairs completed. It will all be fine come the spring. They attached the trim back to the wooden internal 'header' to bridge the gap to the cavity.

So, I thought, I'll go along with what they say and see what happens.

I immediately got the gutters cleaned out and any leaks repaired. No leaks or issues were reported above the window area, the only leaks were found on the gutters near the downpipes at the corner of the building. Everything has been patched and the roof is fine. No leaks found.


The roof and gutters and have been fine for two weeks and no water has been observed above the window. Even though it has rained and cleared a snow shower away.

However, on Friday, Saturday and a little on Sunday where the temperatures were -6 to -8 and it snowed again, leaks have appeared in the same original place.

I definitely think this is an example of cold bridging. This is a poor attempt at a cross-sectional view of my window.

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As you can see there is a clear air pocket that is being heated from inside the house which i guess is causing condensation to form on the lintel and drip inside the house.

The DG company confirmed that the brickwork seemed to be solid and the position of the unit seemed to be correctly recessed (~2-3cm).

Is this a poor DG installation or do I need to resolve this problem myself? I would have thought any self respecting DG company would deal with open cavities and close them?

How can I tell if it wasn't cold bridging? What other tests/checks can I do?

Does anyone know a good online resource that describes how uPVC units should be retrofitted to a 1930's house, as I don't want to inject foam into the wrong places especially if I have another unidentified issue?

Many thanks.

Yeah looks like bridging. Perhaps a foam back cavity closure would have helped. Otherwise, i'd whip the window out, fit a cavity closure and a bit of dpc above the window. Also i'd drill some holes into the top of the frame so any water that does get onto the frame will drop through the inside of the chambers and out the bottom onto the external cill.