Water leaking issue - windows, stucco, or roof?

last year

Dear all, thanks for helping in advance.

We live in San Francisco (about 2 miles from ocean) and we have a downstairs hallway which has water leaking issue for 15+ years. We had been caulking around the windows, stucco cracks (if we can see them), and did Henry's "887 Tropi-Cool White 100% Silicone Reflective Roof Coating" but the problem still persists. The current exterior paint is probably about 7-8 years old (elastomeric paint).

We recently decided to replace the windows above the hallway, to see if that would really fix the water leaking issue.

Our ultimate goals are:

Really water-proof this area to prevent future rotten wood that can cause termite.
Prepare for the upcoming rain season (mid-Nov to March).
Ideally, find the "root cause" of the water leaking and fix it permanently

After the window contractor opened up the windows and the surrounding area (we chose to do "new construction" for the window installation), they found that some (but not all) of the "waterproofing building paper" (aka Water Resistant House Wrap) are in pretty bad shape (almost disintegrated), so the window contractor recommend that we call in the stucco guy to take a look.

Since we opened up about 6-inches around the window frames and need to re-stucco around the windows anyway, to avoid future double-work, we thought that it might be a good idea to just pay the stucco contractor a bit more and see if he can help us re-stucco the entire wall.

After the stucco guy took a look, he said that normally the "windows" are the culprit, not the stucco, and he said that he can always tell us to just re-stucco the entire wall (so that he makes more money), but he does not recommend that. Instead, he recommend that we put up another coat of elastomeric paint and see if it would be leaking again.

The problem is that there are three potential culprits - the window, the stucco, or the roof.

Our dilemma is that if we repair windows and paint the stucco (with elastomeric paint) right now, we may not be able to really find out the ultimate culprit of the leaking issue.

If we just tackle Windows this year, and during the rain season it still leaks, then we know for sure that it's not the window that's causing the leak. Then, next year we can then tackle the stucco (e.g., re-stucco the entire wall), and if that still doesn't solve the problem, the the following year we will replace the roof, etc.

My concern with the one-at-a-time approach is that, although it "might" be able to help us identify who is the real culprit, but what if all three of them (window, roof, and stucco) all contribute to some degree to the water leaking issue? Also, if we tackle all three before this year's rain season (for stucco we may just do a band-aid approach which is to just do one coat of "elastomeric" paint, and for roof we will put another coat of Henry's cool-roof), if the leaking issue is fixed, then we will just keep doing protective coating (elastomeric paint for stucco and cool-roof for roof) every 5-8 years.

What do you think? It seems that each approach has their own pros and cons, which route would you choose and why you think it's better? Thanks again!

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Comments (8)

woodbutcher_ca
last year
Hi, maybe the widows don't leak, but the roof may, and the water comes out at the windows. On a clear day flood the roof with a hose and see what happens.

Good Luck Woodbutcher
lkbum_gw
last year
Do what Woodbutcher suggests with the stucco still open
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Seabornman
last year
And the roof edge gravel stop/parapet flashing/edge detail whichever applies. That flashing should be kicking water out away from the wall and there should be a generous overlap of the waterproofing systems. Hard to tell in this one picture, but it's suspect.
outpaientzero
last year
Well shotgunning in hopes of hitting the problem isn't exactly how I would work. After 15 years of shooting away and then ripping out the windows has anyone ever investigated for the source of the leaks? And where are the leaks anyway?? Has anyone tried using a Thermal Imaging camera and moisture meters to pinpoint the leaks in the past? It can't see water but it can detect tell tale temperature variations and moisture patterns due to the cooling properties of water. When a suspected moisture pattern is found a follow up with a moisture meter can confirm the presence and together they can follow the leak to the source.

When the old windows were pulled out an examination of the opening would of determined if a window was indeed the problem. If the window or stucco around the window was leaking there must of been signs of dry rot in the wood and would be in your face obvious. If not I'd say the windows aren't the problem or the stucco around them. With this said I hope your stucco guy is the best at patching up the opening or your problem could just become worse.

The windows are a done deal and if there wasn't any indication they leaked I would suspect the roof flashing, but where are the leaks! Wind driven rain can move up under flashing rather easily and where I would start to look. A good stucco guy can just tap on the stucco to find a long term leak issue just by the hollow sounds, and after decades of leaking I'm surprised the stucco didn't fall of in sheets, I don't believe it's your stucco as being somehow defective but only where the stucco would terminate.
Sigrid
last year
Wait for a big rain storm and then look.
PRO
Windows on Washington Ltd
last year
15 years and nobody had figured this out? A water test, IR camera, and someone that understands stucco should have this figured out in about 15 minutes.
ci_lantro
last year
The leaking window? The one with the plastic & red tape?

Picture of the old window in situ? How was the bumped out stucco dealt with below the window.

I suspect that is where the leak was/ is.
outpaientzero
last year
SOB! I didn't notice the bumped out stucco below the window and believe you are on to something.

Why do these people come here with there problems but never respond back to answer questions? WHERE THE HELL WAS THE LEAK!!! Being SF why would I expect these people to have any common sense. Go ahead and rip off the stucco and replace the roof. I sure hope that entire wall doesn't collapse from dry rotted 100 year old timbers, or do I?