Window and stucco leaks in Santa Clarita Home
No matter how new your Santa Clarita home is, it can still have windows that leak in the rain and stucco walls that leak in the rain. The age of your house has little to do with whether or not these systems will leak.
During rain events, wind applies pressure to the building. It’s this pressure that forces water through windows and into the house. Or, similarly, this wind pressure can also make a stucco wall leak. There are multiple reasons why stucco walls and windows leak in the rain out here in Santa Clarita, CA, so here are just a few;
- Improper window installation
- Damaged window unit
- Deteriorated waterproofing around windows
- Penetrations in the building stucco envelope
- Cracks in the stucco wall
- Holes in stucco wall
- Building envelope deteriorated
Should you use a water hose to perform window leak tests?
I would never recommend ever using a water hose to perform a leak test on windows or stucco walls. Where I live in Santa Clarita many contractors who provide stucco repair services and general stucco repairs will regularly perform water hose tests to discover leaks in roofs, windows, or walls.
The problem with this is… the water hose produces much more volume and pressure than what normal rain will produce here in Los Angeles. Also, the use of a water hose cannot be replicated or duplicated if necessary. So in summary, using a water hose to perform water intrusion tests can actually force a window leak if you’re not careful.
The only way to perform these tests is to use a specialized piece of spray equipment that sprays water onto the building just like rain. It’s a professional AAMA water intrusion test we often perform here in Santa Clarita.
3 ways to test your windows if you think they leak
- The first way to test your Santa Clarita home’s windows is to simply wait until it rains and observe. You may want to purchase a simple moisture meter to moisture map around the window to see if you can show a pattern when it leaks.
- You can use a water hose to test your windows for leaks but as long as you understand that this method is not suggested as a professional method for many reasons. You can make a window leak that may not have leaked in the first place.
- Hire a professional like building leak detection in Santa Clarita to perform a highly sophisticated water intrusion rain leak test on your windows.
What causes stucco walls to leak in Santa Clarita?
Things that cause a stucco wall to leak when it rains can be many but usually narrowed down to just a couple of ways.
- The most common stucco leak causes in Santa Clarita homes are improper installation of the building’s envelope wrap around penetrations or windows or even in the field.
- Cracks or homes are another super common means for stucco walls to leak when it rains.
How to test stucco walls that might leak
So the best way to test stucco walls that leak in Los Angeles or Santa Clarita is to use a professional testing method like the ASTM E2128. With this test, you will not use a water hose but rather a professional spray rack apparatus to apply water onto the building stucco wall in a uniform standardized manner.