Hello all,
Been a while since I posted on here but hopefully some of you may be able to help with an issue we are having.
The property was built in 2007 Redrow and is west/south west at the rear and is very exposed to prevailing weather over the Pennines with only fields beyond the garden. We have extensively decorated and improved the interior and was just about finished when this latest leak has occurred so we are keen to get to the bottom of it asap.
The kitchen extends out of the back of the house and has a separate roof of it's own and this is how the house was built. The previous owners (who had it from new) added a conservatory to the side of kitchen pretty much as soon as it was built.
Last March (2019) we had a leak in the kitchen around a spotlight, bad enough to damage the plaster but not that bad that I couldn't fill and repair the ceiling and repaint it.
We had little use for the conservatory as it was (cold in winter, hot in summer) so last summer (July/August in the heat) we had a solid roof put on it. At the same time we chose to replace the roof on the kitchen and create a valley across to hopefully stop any leaks into the kitchen again. The old tiles were stone and the new ones are the modern lightweight ones suitable for conservatories etc.
We are more than pleased with the overall finish and quality of work with the conservatory conversation etc. The guy who did it replaced all the old lead flashing above the kitchen and used the same line as the old lead flashing to install the new stuff. He used leadmate rather than motor to seal.
A week or so ago following more heavy rain and wind there was yet again water coming in from the same light fitting as last March only a lot quicker.
That night it was bad enough to warrant me cutting a hole to see behind the ceiling.
Photos are attached to the end of this thread but as you can see water is pouring down the inside of the brickwork, and even inside the bricks. I believe the grey blockwork matches up to the house bricks outside as you can just see the bottom of a house brick if you lift the black membrane when I reach up into the hole in the kitchen ceiling.
I have looked at the weather conditions for last march and they are remarkably similar (gusty, wet weather) although probably worse and more consistent this year.
My wife and I have ran tests with the hose pipe and if we aim the hose a few bricks above the lead flashing water can be seen to start dripping inside, again like it is either coming out of the bricks or mortar between the bricks and running down the inside of the cavity itself. The ctual house side of the cavity is bone dry, as you can see from the photos. So the water coming down from the spotlight was just obviously running backwards to find the lowest point.
Now I have done an awful lot of reading on lead flashing/weep holes/cavity trays etc over the last few days but wanted to see if any builders/roofers/experts on here had any opinions on what the problem is and how best to solve it.
Some of the mortar could do with topping up but not actually near where I believe the water is coming in and most on lower parts of the brickwork actually.
I'm wondering if the bricks have become so saturated over the last month or 2 that any extra rain simply pushes waters down and into the kitchen what we are seeing here.
The chap who did the conservatory has been back and is very helpful, he says the lead flashing what he did all looks in good order and is at a bit of a loss. He mentioned waterproofing the bricks and we also had a discussion on if the actual weep holes are in the correct place, they look to be below one of the damp proof courses, would anyone like to comment please? Again see images below.
If anyone wants any further images from different angles please let me know but as ever I'd be very grateful for your opinions on this issue.
I'm in no particular rush to get the ceiling re plastered as I want to know 100% that this issue wont return.
thank you in advance
Liam
Been a while since I posted on here but hopefully some of you may be able to help with an issue we are having.
The property was built in 2007 Redrow and is west/south west at the rear and is very exposed to prevailing weather over the Pennines with only fields beyond the garden. We have extensively decorated and improved the interior and was just about finished when this latest leak has occurred so we are keen to get to the bottom of it asap.
The kitchen extends out of the back of the house and has a separate roof of it's own and this is how the house was built. The previous owners (who had it from new) added a conservatory to the side of kitchen pretty much as soon as it was built.
Last March (2019) we had a leak in the kitchen around a spotlight, bad enough to damage the plaster but not that bad that I couldn't fill and repair the ceiling and repaint it.
We had little use for the conservatory as it was (cold in winter, hot in summer) so last summer (July/August in the heat) we had a solid roof put on it. At the same time we chose to replace the roof on the kitchen and create a valley across to hopefully stop any leaks into the kitchen again. The old tiles were stone and the new ones are the modern lightweight ones suitable for conservatories etc.
We are more than pleased with the overall finish and quality of work with the conservatory conversation etc. The guy who did it replaced all the old lead flashing above the kitchen and used the same line as the old lead flashing to install the new stuff. He used leadmate rather than motor to seal.
A week or so ago following more heavy rain and wind there was yet again water coming in from the same light fitting as last March only a lot quicker.
That night it was bad enough to warrant me cutting a hole to see behind the ceiling.
Photos are attached to the end of this thread but as you can see water is pouring down the inside of the brickwork, and even inside the bricks. I believe the grey blockwork matches up to the house bricks outside as you can just see the bottom of a house brick if you lift the black membrane when I reach up into the hole in the kitchen ceiling.
I have looked at the weather conditions for last march and they are remarkably similar (gusty, wet weather) although probably worse and more consistent this year.
My wife and I have ran tests with the hose pipe and if we aim the hose a few bricks above the lead flashing water can be seen to start dripping inside, again like it is either coming out of the bricks or mortar between the bricks and running down the inside of the cavity itself. The ctual house side of the cavity is bone dry, as you can see from the photos. So the water coming down from the spotlight was just obviously running backwards to find the lowest point.
Now I have done an awful lot of reading on lead flashing/weep holes/cavity trays etc over the last few days but wanted to see if any builders/roofers/experts on here had any opinions on what the problem is and how best to solve it.
Some of the mortar could do with topping up but not actually near where I believe the water is coming in and most on lower parts of the brickwork actually.
I'm wondering if the bricks have become so saturated over the last month or 2 that any extra rain simply pushes waters down and into the kitchen what we are seeing here.
The chap who did the conservatory has been back and is very helpful, he says the lead flashing what he did all looks in good order and is at a bit of a loss. He mentioned waterproofing the bricks and we also had a discussion on if the actual weep holes are in the correct place, they look to be below one of the damp proof courses, would anyone like to comment please? Again see images below.
If anyone wants any further images from different angles please let me know but as ever I'd be very grateful for your opinions on this issue.
I'm in no particular rush to get the ceiling re plastered as I want to know 100% that this issue wont return.
thank you in advance
Liam
