Bill from Paradise, Newfoundland writes: "I need to settle a bet between a buddy and myself. When you put in a vinyl window should a drip cap always be used? My buddy never uses one, and claims water never gets in under the window."
Well Bill, you win. Yes you should always put a flashing over t...
Several viewers are complaining about low water pressure in old houses. Old steel pipe tends to collect corrosion and calcium on the walls, enough to slowly choke off the flow of water. A look at the graphic shows what happens to water flow compared to a clean new 1/2 inch pipe. When it becomes r...
We caught a consumer in the hardware store and he was asking about the leaking roof on his new addition in the Beaches area of Toronto. Often in that area, a back porch is converted into living space with what we call a "compact roof" -- a roof/ceiling assembly that is about one foot thick with i...
This article deals with walls below grade, foundation walls. For insulating above grade cinder block walls see How do you Insulate a Brick and Block construction as well as Insulating an Above Grade Block Wall from the Inside.
The best way to prevent water from leaking into the basement is not ...
Barbara in Montreal had water damage in her bay window area as wind driven rain always found it's way in. Contractor repair bids ranged from $1,200 for a patch to $4,000 for a new roof. A study of the detail where the added-on bay window joined the very edge of the roof showed a flashing flaw tha...
Randy in Winnipeg has found small cracks in a foundation wall and wants to know how to fix them.
Right up front I want to make the statement that it is often not worth the bother to fix a small crack in a foundation wall that is not moving -- especially if no water is coming in. The best way to...
Yes it is a problem Lorne, except for roofs in some desert areas where evaporating water is part of the air conditioning design, and the roof is specially designed like a swimming pool. For the rest of us, standing water will lead to a premature ageing of the roofing material, whatever material i...
A caller from Ontario has a leak that keep's coming in through the wall despite the efforts of two contractors.
It is often very difficult to find the place where water gets into the wall, when it is not something obvious like a crack in the caulking around a window. You need to make a careful i...
First ensure that this is not a leak in the basement wall. Click here for details on Waterproofing a basement wall.
Second ensure that the wall is well sealed, especially around electrical outlets and floor and wall joints. Click here for details on Air Sealing.
Finally, make sure there is no a...
Every spring basements get flooded with water and I get flooded with letters about basements turned into swimming pools. Although there is a lot of information on this site about the problem, let me summarize and link it together. For solutions, see PREPARING FOR A FLOOD
The spring thaw is the...
