Drywall water damage? Need advice please!

[East Bay Mike]

This was written by my girlfriend, English isn’t her first language so be nice. I told her the barfers are bound to have some good ideas.

Thanks for any help!






I have a townhouse. Water damaged area at the bottom of the wall in the upstairs bedroom. The other side of the wall is outside of the house. There is a "V" shape roof that adjacent to the water damaged area. A window is also above the water damaged area.

The cause of the water damage is from the leaking roof or outside of the house wall. This method is widely believed.

Someone also says the water damage is from the window because the retro-fit windows above will leak in 3-4 years from the initial installation. This window falls into that time frame.

This is a townhouse. HOA wants the homeowner to find out the cause of the problem, submit a formal investigation report. HOA will fix the problem in the common area if any.

What is the thinking process to find the cause of this water damage and can anyone recommend a trustworthy company?

 

[CasualSteve]

Kind of looks like black mold in the photo. I'd cut the sheetrock out, remove the insulation and see if I can spot where the water is coming from. As for companies, I haven't had first hand experience so no recommendation from me. I'm sure the google reviews should be a good starting point for phone numbers. I'd try to get a few quotes and see what one(s) make sense.

Leaks can be tricky to find as water could run across different studs, trusses, ect. and the water could not fall directly down from where the leak is.

 

[Blankpage]

How could you trust the advice of a bunch of anonymous phonies.

 

[phil turdwater]

what is her real name?

 

[GPzPop]

I just served on a jury where un-remediated water damage / black mold in a rental unit was the primary issue

It is serious and needs to be taken care of

 

[DReg350]

What street does she live on?

Ok, ok. She, you, or someone you hire is gonna have to peel that sheet rock back and follow the moisture trail. Find the source first. Then focus on the cleanup and rebuild. I'm not an expert, but I kinda recall hearing that black mold is really bad for the respiratory system. So, ya don't want to spread that shit around. Ya might want to google "Black Mold Remediation" and see what pops up. :2cents

 

[Climber]

Agreed. But out the wall board and see what's happening behind it. Most likely it will be apparent. The wall board will have to be replaced anyways.

 

[Holeshot]

Dry it out first with one of those bullet heaters aimed at the dark spot on the wall. Those things are like a jet engine. It'll solve all problems in that unit AND the HOA.

 

[SFSV650]

Did this appear recently? We haven't had any rain 'round here.
Is it possible this is plumbing related.

If windows were replaced within the last 5 years and you're seeing water damage below, it seems like they might have some liability.

You need a decent general contractor or water damage specialist to open that wall and see what's up. Don't ignore the problem.

 

[afm199]

You have to remove interior, and almost certainly, exterior, siding until you find the source. I've seen 15 vertical feet of wall wiped out by a leak.

 

[Climber]

OP, Beelzebub (his given name :laughing) is likely to be the guy with the most knowledge on this subject in here.

 

[gnahc79]

+1 on pulling the siding

We had something similar in our townhouse that got fixed a few years ago. Since we bought our place in 2008 a section of drywall near the window on one side would always get wet during the rainy months. As part of regular maintenance the entire complex had the siding removed and replaced as needed by the HOA. We asked the contractors about our issue and they found that the flashing/sealing tape thingy was done poorly by the builder back in '88. They sealed up the arch of the windows really well and patched the drywall inside our home. It was all covered by the HOA. The photo is the after, the before had maybe 2-3 1ft tape thingies across the top of the entire arch.

 

[mikev]

You have to remove interior, and almost certainly, exterior, siding until you find the source. I've seen 15 vertical feet of wall wiped out by a leak.

This.


anything that's wet will have to be removed (no, I'm not talking about panties)



water damage can totally fuck up things you can't see behind the drywall.