window leak caused by brick sills?

[mpaton2009]

Hi

apologies if this should be in the windows forum, but i believe the problem to be caused by brickwork failure.

the paint is flaking off on the interior architrave surrounding the downstairs kitchen window and the top left of the sealant has moved away from the actual window leaving a small gap

i think the window sills above are in poor shape and water is leaking in from them - they are old brick sills with a sloping face - some of the surfaces have spalled and the pointing around them is not great.

what is the best way to repair them? i presume they are solid bricks set into the wall with a slope, so removing them is not an option myself - is it possible to reface the surface then paint with ronseal brick paint and then thomson weatherseal the whole lot?


Edited to add pictures of the brickwork and exterior

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[stuart45]

Have you got any photos of the exterior?

 

[mpaton2009]

added

 

[stuart45]

It's a tiled cill. When the window was replaced it looks like the brickwork above was lost. When replaced a tray was probably omitted. It looks like a poor job.

 

[mpaton2009]

thanks
i had the lintels replaced back in 2005, hence the new brickwork courses around the lintel areas - i don't think there are cavity trays in any of the reveals (i am currently reboarding another room and can see only the cavity wall insulation)

what is the best course of action here? i only had the windows put in in 2006 - i would have thought they would have spotted the lack of cavity trays and advised accordingly when they did the work?

is it possible to re-tile the cills? forgive my lack of knowledge on this aspect of building works!

 

[stuart45]

What type of lintels did you have put in, concrete or catnic? The cills can be replaced if they are the problem.

 

[mpaton2009]

hi stuart,
the exterior wall lintels are all steel

EDIT: I presume the catnic lintels are ones which form a triangle which bears load across both walls simultaneously, if so I haven't got those, each lintel is separate inner and outer leaf.

 

[stuart45]

There is the chance for water to run down the inside of the exterior skin on to the window head if there is no tray fitted.

 

[mpaton2009]

is it possible to easily retrofit an appropriate tray, or will i have to resign myself to fixing the cill and preventing the rain from getting into the cavity in the first place?

 

[stuart45]

Retro fit requires removing the brickwork. The water can penetrate through the brickwork in heavy prolonged rainfall. It might not be coming from the cill. That is why cavity trays are fitted when the cavity is bridged.

 

[stuart45]

The cill is a tiled cill, not a brick one and the brickwork below hasn't been corbelled. It's been taken out for the lintel and rebuilt flush. Do you actually understand what a corbel is? You can't even spell it.

 

[gday2uk]

I've never built a timber shack in Australia, but thanks for that anyway
Also can't see a brick cill only a tile one which is perfectly acceptable nor can I see any corbelling of brickwork but there you go.
If the cills are in poor condition then it could be a factor but wouldn't be if whoever put the lintels in made weep holes for the water to drain out of when it ran down the brick. I know there's this whole 'weep hole' argument going on but thats my opinion and I'm sticking to it (until someone has a better idea)

 

[fastneattrowel]

your right cowboy , you can only trust a few , one of the best is noseall , hope he dont read this cause he sure noses a lot

 

[mpaton2009]

not sure what happened to this thread, but anyway!

is it possible to retro fit weep holes? is it nothing more than a hole in the brick at the top of the lintel?

i'm actually in the process of whipping off that architrave which has nicely rotted... will have a look at what lies beneath!

 

[fastneattrowel]

not sure what happened to this thread, but anyway!

is it possible to retro fit weep holes? is it nothing more than a hole in the brick at the top of the lintel?

i'm actually in the process of whipping off that architrave which has nicely rotted... will have a look at what lies beneath!

knock the lot down and rebuild it