Doors and windows, an opening in the wall or roof of a building, is a mechanism used as an entrance to allow access into the room for people, light, air and such. It’s important and is definitely installed in every building. However, there are always unwanted guests or things that enters through doors and windows. Not implying that burglars and thieves are less dire, water entering through doors and windows can also pose major problems like structural failure and aesthetic damages. In mild cases, a few drops of water along the window or door edges or few patches of water stains might occur. In more extreme case, puddles of water forms on the floor, requiring buckets and towels to start mopping up the water that has been leaking into the building. Identifying such problems is not tough, but steps to prevent these from happening should be taken seriously to cease water leakage.
Such entrance leaks are common, and occurs in almost every aging household or buildings. This is due to varying weather conditions that they are exposed to, and building settlement due to earths ground shifting. The edges of the entrances are no longer water-tight, as seals may be broken or cracks have formed in the joint between the installations and the wall.
Main causes for water leakage are usually:
- 1.Lack of overhangs that drains and drives water from the entrances
- 2.Poor installation or breaks in the water filtration system
- 3.Inappropriate flashing design that causes water to be able to seep in through the wall area around the entrances
- 4.Broken or missing seals around the edges
- 5.Cracked walls along the edges that causes the entrances to be detached
- 6.Wear and tear of materials used in the waterproofing system
Proper steps should be taken to solve the problem. First and foremost, when water stains or water droplets are visible in areas where there shouldn’t have any, a water leakage inspection should be done. This should be done by experienced waterproofing contractors as they will be able to tell where the source of water is from. Next, determine the appropriate solution that should be employed to fix the water leakages issue.
There may be more than one type of solution to the problem and contractors should give occupants the choice of which they prefer. The contractor will then carryout the relevant solution to fix the water leakage issue with the window or doors. With efficient and correct methodology used, the cessation of the water leak will be immediate upon completion of the repairs. It is then important for the contractors to closely monitor the leakage area along with the occupants such that the solution has been employed well and guarantee that no more water leakage will happen in the same area.
Unfortunately even after a fix done to solve the water leakage, possible water leakages may still happen in the future, in about 10 to 20 year time. This is due to uncontrolled circumstances like wear and tear of the materials due to weather and geological settlement factors. The leakage may not occur in the exact same area but possibly due to similar conditions like worn out seals. As such, it is important for landlords to closely monitor the conditions of their households along with their tenants so as to ensure comfort for the occupants.