The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

First Aid For The Ailing Houses

As the first step in doing any such waterproofing work, all flashings should be inspected and repaired, and joints around window frames closed with caulking compound.

Brick veneer is usually separated by an inch or so from the sheathing of the frame. Should there be leakage through the brickwork, water runs down inside and collects in the bottom of the space. If the sheathing is not covered with waterproof paper or felt, the water may soak through the inside wall. It may also drain into the cellar. To take care of this condition, 1/4-inch holes can be drilled through mortar joints in the lower part of the wall on an upward slant by which water can drain off to the outside.

Cracks The usual cause of cracking in a masonry wall is unequal settlement; it is wasted time and effort to repair the damage until settlement is definitely over. The repair consists of raking out the mortar along the crack and replacing it, the new mortar being forced into the crack to as great a depth as possible. The masonry along the crack should be wet at the time of applying the mortar.

When appearance makes little difference, a crack can be filled with plastic roofing cement.

Leaks may also occur between the top of the foundation wall and the sill, this being the timber lying on top of the wall and supporting the framework. Leaks at this point will be from poor workmanship or from the falling away of the mortar in which the sill should be bedded. This leak can be closed from the outside with a mortar of 1 part Portland cement and 3 parts sand. All of the old mortar that is loose should be removed, and the joint between the foundation and the sill tightly packed with new. The surface of the new mortar should be sloped to shed rain. Such a crack can also be closed from the inside with mortar.

Sometimes leaks will occur around the sill if the metal sheeting, placed between the sill and the foundation as a termite barrier, is accidentally sloped toward the sill rather than sloping away from the house. Water will be trapped there, thus permitting it to work its way into the wooden sill, eventually causing rotting.

leaking Chimney Leaks in a chimney will show themselves as wet places on the inside walls. Rain water may enter thhrough the crumbling away of mortar from the joints exposed to weather; these leaks should be closed by raking out the defective mortar and replacing with new.

A broken or cracked chimney cap will admit water to the nasonry outside the flue lining; the repair is to repair or renew the cap.