When it rains hard, the rain comes streaming into our second floor bedroom through the wood framing.

Question

I'm not sure what else to call it, but the top of the inside wooden part of the window starts to HEAVILY drip water into the house when there is a bad rain storm. We can see that the water is streaming down the side of the house (along the windows.) We bought the house a year ago and the previous owner installed mesh gutter toppers, but we can see that the top piece of siding near the window is bowing out a bit. Should I call a roofer, gutter cleaner, or siding expert? HELP! We know that the water is damaging the wood and probably the interior of the walls.

Answer 1

I had a similar problem. The guttering was blocked and then it overflowed into the eaves at the lowest part of the guttering and down into the wall cavity where it hit the window frame inside the wall and then started leaking out the top of architrave around the window. It was running down the blind like a lovely indoor water feature. First step check if your guttering is blocked and if so clean it out. If your guttering is ok check that the drain out to the road isn't blocked. If it's blocked the water can back up and do the same thing. If you need to get your guttering repaired you need to call a roofer.

Answer 2

This situation can deteriorate very fast if nothing is done. First of all you do not need a roofer, it is not a roofing problem, secondly you do seem to have guttering which is notsufficient to cope with the volumns of water, or alternatively, the downpipe which disposes the water is not big enough. You need "deep flow" guttering, to an 3" downpipe. I would change the gutter size. Now you will need to get rid of the bow in the siding, so you will need to get that repaired. Thirdly you will need to get the head of the window frame sealed with a quality silicone to prevent any further ingress of water. If you have "wood siding" then all of the wet timber must be allowed to dry out thoroughly before the repair can be done. Where the roof tiles meet the gutter they should "overhang " half way in to the gutter, or alternatively the roof felt should lap into the gutter by the same amount, if all of this is done your problem is solved. Not such a big job, should not be too expensive, but the job cannot be completed in one go..

Answer 3

water damage can cause a real expence, sometimes locating the source is very difficult depending on what the building appears to be.

the home owner, if comfortable on ladders can be sure the gutters are cleaned and draining proper. be sure the drip edge on the roof is pulled away from the house just a bit and also check the chaulking around the windows. the windows should all be flashed on the top portion of the window, thus keeping entry of water out of the home.

other than that, a good roofer could be your answer to this, you must remember that in your walls you have insulation and electrical that water could destroy.

best of luck

Answer 4

If possible, you let the owner look for somebody to fix it.

Answer 5

Look for a handyman..it seems the rain is simply going in under the siding where it is bowed..the gutters have the screening over them to prevent stopping up..check the bowed siding..This is more than likely your culprit..A common handyman will handle small problems like this..

Answer 6

water is coming into the house from bottom edge of the roof by the rain gutters.

Get a roof guy to look at it

  Instead of the roof run run-off going directly into the gutter and down the pipes its getting behind everything and down your inside walls.

Answer 7

you might cure your problem with a metal or vinyl flashing it makes a little "roof" over the window diverting the water,a few nails/screws and caulking ,and no more leak........tom  

Answer 8

Sounds bad.

I would work at making sure the gutters are clean and ok first off.  After you clean them, test them and make sure they'll work.  Secondly, you have to fix the siding, espescially around the windows.  I would get someone to take the side off, and reflash the window.  This guy you hire should see this stuff in the rain.