Water behind vinyl siding
Richard Wagenknecht
I"ve got an 9 year four level home. The front of the top level adjoins the
garage roof and the garage roof slopes across it. I've uploaded a picture
since it's sort of hard to describe.
http://www.intellisys-mn.com/Personal/p0001855.jpg
Looking at the picture you can see that as water runs down the j-channel,
some of it will enter the siding. Most of this drains out. But you can also
see there's a window in the wall. Any water that hasn't drained out by the
time it gets to the window hits the j-channel. So far so good. The problem
happens when the water gets to the bottom of vertical j channel. It's
running down behind the siding and is getting the sheathing really wet.
During a heavy rain storm, the water will sometimes make it's way behind the
flashing and drip into the garage below. The room where the window is
doesn't have any detectable water infilitration though.
I'm not sure how to repair this. I've already trimmed the vinyl siding away
from the j channel along the roof edge so it won't pick up so much water.
There's still going to be some water getting behind the vinyl though.
What are my options for repairing this? Should I leave this to a
professional?
Chip
"Richard Wagenknecht" <ric...@nospam.excite.com> wrote in message
news:lFe39.759097$352.166264@sccrnsc02...
: I've got some problems with water behind vinyl siding that I need help
We normally put caulk in the bottom 2 corners of the J at windows, you have
to make sure the way you apply, so as the water is not directed into the
siding, *try* to get caulk behind siding at this point, forcing it with your
finger, smooth out so water will continue to flow down...water always
follows path of least resistance...also at bottom of your window, at the
finish trim, caulk between the finish trim and the window...
Also noted where J channel terminates at gutter, we run the J further past
the roof line, we slice the siding, cut down back of J so it slips through
siding, placing caulk between the siding and J...as of now, the water
flowing down your J, is diverted so flows behind siding...since to late to
run J further, i would suggest fashioning a small piece of flashing, and
divert water so as doesnt run behind the siding...(slicing the siding as i
tried to explain)
Also, your dryer vent, make sure no water is penetrating around it...
On the roof, the J channel looks like the small type vs the larger, if you
find the J cant handle the water flow (forcing water behind siding), you can
make relief cuts, about half inch wide, cutting the side of J and bottom of
J, you can make about every 2 foot, allowing water to exit before flowing
all the way down channel...the juncture *should* be properly step flashed,
so your not counting on the J as part of the flashing...
J channel is a nice finish trim, but when not properly installed, will do
more harm than good...
chip
Richard Wagenknecht
"Chip" <Roofguy35*NOSPAM*@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:nHk39.24791$Kl6.1...@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> "Richard Wagenknecht" <ric...@nospam.excite.com> wrote in message
> news:lFe39.759097$352.166264@sccrnsc02...
> We normally put caulk in the bottom 2 corners of the J at windows, you
have
> to make sure the way you apply, so as the water is not directed into the
> siding, *try* to get caulk behind siding at this point, forcing it with
your
> finger, smooth out so water will continue to flow down...water always
> follows path of least resistance...also at bottom of your window, at the
> finish trim, caulk between the finish trim and the window...
>
Ok, there is not caulk at the corners now. The finish trim is caulked all
around the window.
> Also noted where J channel terminates at gutter, we run the J further past
> the roof line, we slice the siding, cut down back of J so it slips through
> siding, placing caulk between the siding and J...as of now, the water
> flowing down your J, is diverted so flows behind siding...since to late to
> run J further, i would suggest fashioning a small piece of flashing, and
> divert water so as doesnt run behind the siding...(slicing the siding as i
> tried to explain)
>
I think I understand. We want the J Channel to dump its water over the edge
of the roof. Sounds like a piece of flashing should work.
> On the roof, the J channel looks like the small type vs the larger, if you
> find the J cant handle the water flow (forcing water behind siding), you
can
> make relief cuts, about half inch wide, cutting the side of J and bottom
of
> J, you can make about every 2 foot, allowing water to exit before flowing
> all the way down channel...the juncture *should* be properly step flashed,
> so your not counting on the J as part of the flashing...
>
It definitely is not handling high volumes of water flow well. I've already
inspected the step flashing and it seems well installed.
Does cutting the J channel work well? Do you do anything else besides that?
Also, is it normal to have some water running behind the siding?
Thanks,
Rich
Eric Ryder
Chips info sound good. Vinyl really has no positive ability to keep water
on the outside around vertical trims (corners, J's, etc). When I do vinyl
jobs, I do a couple of things related to your issues so I can sleep at
night.
I felt paper around windows before Jtrim (bottom, then sides and top). The
felt under the window is left at least as wide as a siding panel (8" often).
After installing the last uncut panel below a window, I bring the felt over
the panel top and trim it off flush with the bottom of the clip bead. The
notched panel under the window installs normally.
At roof/sidewall intersections (as shown in your pic), I'll run the bottom
stepflash at least 3/4" long. The J against the fascia terminates against
the underside of the flashing.
If the layout works out right, I trim off the clipbead and tuck the top of
the panel behing the flash. The following panel has it's lower edge trimmed
to allow the water to get out easier.
Otherwise, I slice the panel (about 1" off the roof) parallel to the roof
and tuck the part beneath the slice behind the flashing. The remainder goes
over the steplflash and continues into the roof J.
This works fine on double4", but could be a little challenging with your
dutchlap. On reside jobs, I have to add that last partial piece of
stepflash. It would have to angle away from the sidewall to make it over
the thicker dutch siding (or the center of a double4"). After the vinyl is
complete, I trim off any stepflash that hangs over the eave.
Chip
:
: It definitely is not handling high volumes of water flow well. I've
already
: inspected the step flashing and it seems well installed.
:
: Does cutting the J channel work well? Do you do anything else besides
that?
:
: Also, is it normal to have some water running behind the siding?
:
: Thanks,
: Rich
I have found cutting the J works...an alternative, would to fill the channel
with a matching caulk, (quality), we've done this before only on aluminum
siding, never tried on vinyl...over the years, we've done countless repairs
on new constuction trying different approachs that would be the least
obvious to the eye...we've tried drilling bigger weep holes in the siding,
at the point where siding meets the J (if you do this, be very very carefull
not to drill through and into the step flashing) the factory weep holes are
just on the bottom of the siding panels , we've drilled @ each 4" panel when
the siding is a double 4"...
I would say not normal, but is a normal thing to see, simply because of the
installation...when you have a juncture below a window (or another
window/door), is when you are going to see a problem, normally people dont
know they have water penetration, because the water flows behind the siding
straight down the wall to past the sill plate to the ground...the factory
puts those weep holes in I believe, to let any condesation that may form,
drain out, but not because water is expected to flow in...
chip