Common Moisture Intrusion Points
in Masonry Buildings
Leaking Balconies and Railings
Leaking Balcony with railings in Old Town neighborhood of Chicago
Leaking Juliette Balcony Connections in Wicker Park
Above: Leaking Connections for Juliette Balconies funnel water into the building. When fixing Juliette Balcony leaks, we remove the balcony hardware and install polyurethane sealant and rubber washers to stop the water intrusion – Wicker Park, Chicago
Leaking Railing Post Connections in Lakeview, Chicago
Below: Our client had leaks coming from their parapets, not surprising, but these leaks were further fueled by water coming in through the Railing Post Connections on top of parapet capstones. The post holes allowed water directly into the wall. We repair railing post connect leaks using a boot, specifically designed to seal railing posts, rubber washers and polyurethane sealant for good measure.
Lakeview, Chicago
More Balcony and Railing information and pictures coming soon...
Unstable balcony connections in Chicago Near North neighborhood
The brackets attaching these balconies to the wall are tied into the brick facade only. They are NOT connected to the building framing beyond the brick facade as they should be. Connecting balcony supports to the building framing is essential to ensure the balcony can hold the weight of furniture, people etc. and will not pull out of the masonry or the masonry does not break. The masonry pictured above is spalling, a condition caused by water becoming trapped in the brick, then freezing during the cold winter months. As the water freezes, it expands and cracks the face off the brick, thus weakening the brick. We advised this client to stop using their balconies until the situation was repaired.
Leaking ledger boards in UpTown and Little Village, Chicago
Leaking ledger boards connections under balconies in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood above and Little Village neighborhood below.
Legder board connections (the board that attached the balcony or deck to the wall) are typical culprits for water intrusion. The entire length of the ledger board needs to be flashed from above to prevent water from entering the holes where the lag-bolts connect to the building. Its also important to apply sealant around the hole.
Leaking Doors -
Sliders and Service Doors
Leaking rooftop service door in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood
Leaking sliding glass door in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood
More leaking door information coming soon
Service doors and sliding glass doors onto balconies and rooftop decks are common leak points, especially if the rooftop deck extends all the way to the door.
Unfortunately, rooftop decks are often built without regard to the height of the door curb, threshold or sill. If there isn't enough space between the deck and the doorway, rain water and snow melt enter the building.
In addition, the roof membrane may not be installed properly to prevent leaking under the sill stone.
Leaking Windows
Leaking Windows below "stone" detail in Chicago's Ukranian Village neighborhood
Leaking "stone" window sills on leaking Split Face Block building in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood
More leaking Window information coming soon
The masonry openings around windows leak for many reasons including the header above the window and the sill underneath the window not being flashed properly.
More information on what causes window leaks to come...
Leaking "Limestone" surrounds window in Lincoln Park
Leaking brick "soldier" window header in Chicago's Wrigleyville neighborhood
Rusting steel lintel in window opening in Uptown, Chicago
