Home repair: Leaking window may be a flashing problem

Q. I read your column in the Daily Herald and am writing to see if you can help my daughter. She lives in a two-story home that has a master bedroom directly above the living room. Around Memorial Day, rain started coming in her living room picture window by the wood casing on the top of the window. She currently has plastic on the inside of her window, with a large bucket in front of the window to catch the water.

The top of the window on the outside of the house was checked for gaps and caulked. The situation still prevails. There are no watermarks or indications of a leak on or below the master bedroom window that is directly above the leaking window. She had a roofer come out and inspect the roof, vents and flashing, and he found nothing wrong. Where can the water possibly be coming from? What does she do next? Remove the window trim on the inside of the house? Replace the window? I hope you can give us some suggestions for this problem as soon as possible to prevent further damage.

A. Of all the photos you sent me, the only one I can make sense of is the outside view of both windows. Without explanations, the others are hard to figure out. However, from your description, my guess is that the necessary flashing at the bottom corners of the bedroom window may not have been installed, or was installed improperly. Water that gets behind the siding, as it always does, can run down between the siding and the housewrap, which I assume was applied over the sheathing. If the housewrap was cut in an “X” and folded over the framing before the windows were installed, it was installed incorrectly, as is so often the case, by builders who do not understand how important it is to channel water over the top window flange and to seal around the windows thoroughly.

External caulking is not going to solve that problem. Some of the vinyl siding will have to be removed below the bedroom window and above the living room window to determine if this is the cause. You will need a contractor who is fully aware of these potential problems.

Q. A few years ago the bathtub was replaced. The old one obviously was cast-iron. To reduce the struggle with weight, we opted for a lighter unit. It appears the base of material that was laid below has come apart. The base and sides wobble when taking a shower. What can be done to reinforce the tub?

A. I am not sure what you mean by “the base of material that was laid below has come apart.” The new tub, which I assume to be fiberglass since it is so wobbly, should be resting on a plywood or OSB subfloor. I assume the subfloor was checked for integrity before the new unit was set in place. If leakage somehow has occurred and damaged the OSB — a material that does not do well when wet for extensive periods of time — you could feel wobbliness between the floor joists. Or perhaps the tub bottom does not fully rest on the subfloor. Fiberglass units are quite flexible, so if the bottom gives, the sides would reflect it.

If my guess is correct, the tub should be removed and repairs made. But if it can be ascertained that the problem is due to the tub bottom not resting on the subfloor, spraying closed-cell foam under it should stiffen it up, and hopefully also take care of the sides’ wobbliness.

Q. Can you resolve a difference of opinion between my husband and me about this: I insist on keeping the oven door open after I have finished using it to let the heat into the house. My husband insists the heat will stay in the house whether the door is open or closed. But when I close the door, I don’t feel any heat, so I am sure I need to keep the door open to benefit from the leftover heat from my cooking.

A. Sorry to disappoint you, but your husband is right. It’s a fallacy to think that keeping the oven door open after baking will reduce your heating costs.

The oven is inside the insulated envelope of the house, so all the residual heat from cooking will stay in the house whether the oven door is open or closed. The only difference is that keeping the door open lets the heat out into the kitchen faster. If that’s important to you, keep the door open, but I hope nobody crashes into it while walking by.

Q. I have been reading your column for many years and have read your comments about how to select a good contractor and how to avoid bad ones. How come you have never mentioned Angie’s List as a resource for customers to check on businesses they are thinking of using? It seems to me that the list offers a great service and that you should make people aware of it.

A. In my opinion, Angie’s List is of very limited use to prospective customers looking for recommendations. I can see a benefit for a business that has had favorable ratings, but I question the list’s value in case of negative comments.

Angie’s List makes no effort to check on the validity of negative comments. It is up to the business to respond.

But what if the business is not checking the list regularly and is not aware that it has been unjustly targeted? Anyone with a gripe or even a personal grudge against a contractor, whether or not legitimate, can easily cause irreparable harm to the business with a trashing on Angie’s List.

To me, this is not a responsible way to run such a referral system. A responsible organization that claims to be a referral source for businesses and professionals owes it to its subscribers to double-check the truth of negative comments.

If a customer files a complaint with the consumer protection division of the state attorney general’s office, that office will send the complaint to the business and try to mediate between the parties. But there is no such safeguard with Angie’s List.

This is why I have very little use for Angie’s List. I don’t find it credible and think of it as a disservice to the public. However, I guess it’s good business for founder Angie Hicks, who makes money out of subscribers’ fees.

Q. This July we had a tremendous amount of rain. On one day we had about 7 inches. My problem is that my basement flooded. It appears water came in from the northwest corner of my house. I have a window well on the north side, about 4 feet from the west corner. All of my window wells have drains, and I have a cover on the window well in question. The drain is about 1 1/2 inches higher than the dirt ground. I had a water specialist come out, and he said the water came in behind the window cover and filled the well faster than the drain could handle the water. And the water wasn’t draining at all until it reached the level of the drain.

He proposed digging down a foot or so, cutting the drain level and filling in the area with dirt and stones. Then I was going to get a custom window cover and have it caulked to the brick.

Also, the downspout from my gutter empties in that same area about 2 feet farther north than the house. My son said he could see where the water came down so quickly that the dirt was pushed up, kind of forcing the water back toward the house. I had a cement thing that goes under the downspout that was in an area that didn’t need it, so my son moved it to the downspout in question. Now the water is diverted 3 to 3 1/2 feet from the house and the ground stays put.

Do you think the above will solve my problem? I don’t want to have the carpet put back in the basement unless I feel confident I will not get water.

A. The soil, and therefore the drain, in a window well should be kept at least 6 inches below the windowsill. The drain should not be higher than half an inch above the soil (to prevent soil from washing down the drain), and the soil should be covered with stones to the top of the drain. This is so the water cannot build up on the soil before the drain captures it. The stones are there to keep the area cleaner.

Your son did the right thing in moving the concrete splash block. Do check that the grade slopes away from the house all around the foundation; it is essential to move water away from the weak point that is the interface of soil and foundation. Hopefully, these steps will prevent another flood.

A GREAT SYSTEM FOR HANDY PERSONS: Anyone who has worked from a ladder knows how cumbersome it is to cart all the needed tools or paint supplies up the ladder and have them safely at hand. Usually, it means going up and down the ladder to get what you need and were not able to carry at one time.

This is no longer the case. There is a great system that allows you to fasten a bracket to the side of any ladder and attach a large tool or paint tray to it, or hang a bucket of paint or cleaning solution. The trays have holes for small tools and a large bin for bigger ones. I find it invaluable every time I use a stepladder or regular ladder. It’s called the Pro Ladder System, and you can see all the options at www.proladdersystem.com. It’s well worth having in your workshop.

HELPFUL TIP: A reader just sent me this: “The best place that I have found to buy Sikaflex-1a is DHC Supplies. You can order the caulk over the Internet at www.dhcsupplies.com. The pricing is very good as well. Best regards, Tim.” Thanks, Tim; good to know.

Ÿ Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via email at henridemarne@gmavt.net. His book, “About the House,” is available at www.upperaccess.com and in bookstores.

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