Wooden sash window leaking in heavy rain

[judethedude]

I had my wooden sash windows looked at resealed with chalk and filled but still I am getting a leak in the front room window . The person who overhauled my windows did the best possible job with the money I had . We just can’t work out where the water is getting in from and I have asked several tradespeople .please see attached video any help would be appreciated.

 

[fernicarry]

Is it just the staff bead thats wet? Any sign of water dripping from higher up? Can you post a picture of the whole window reveal inside and outside.

Things to check would be the mastic around the outside of the frame and the masonry above it. Any water that penetrates the wall will track down until it hits the reveal then it has to drop out so you'll need to check all the way up to the roof line and possibly some distance either side.

If there is a window upstairs of this one then that could be leaking and water running down internally until it hits this one. I get a drip in my living room window which is actually caused by a leak in the bedroom window above it.

 

[judethedude]

Thank you for your reply there is a window directly above ,just waiting for the weather to get warmer to get someone to help me.
i really hope it’s not a big job ,sorry if the photos aren’t good . The second picture is the window above ,

 

[Stevers]

Water could come out at the staff bead if it was leaking into the box section across the top of the sash. Is that a modern masonry paint on the wall, the sort that might allow water to track for miles behind it? The problem with keeping water 'out' is that it's an approach that can also keep water 'in'. Like myself you're in an area with a reputation for high rainfall so not a problem to ignore.

 

[aockenden]

If there is a window upstairs of this one then that could be leaking and water running down internally until it hits this one. I get a drip in my living room window which is actually caused by a leak in the bedroom window above it.

Yes we had this exact same issue in our cottage when the integrity of our upstairs window reveal was damaged (by me widening it back to its original footprint, reversing a bizarre post-war narrowing of the reveal).

Every time we got driving rain from the south water would start dripping through the lintels of the downstairs window and onto the sill. Horribly depressing, but once we repaired the window reveal upstairs and replaced the upstairs window itself with a new unrotted one, the problem has gone away!

 

[Gothichome]

Another possibility is rain running down the exterior wall and then running horizontally (surface tension) getting in behind the window box. Next heavy rain run out and have a look, or just run the garden hose and check.
Ron

 

[fernicarry]

Lots of possibilities... These things can be very difficult to trace.

I had 4 separate water leaks during the gales the other week. The living room one I knew about and a bit more gunk upstairs between wooden and stone sills slowed it down, but didn't completely stop it. Another try required when the weather is more reliable. Thing is I only know about this one because the woodwork into the upstairs window reveal has all been removed (very rotten, wonder why?) so you can plainly see the water running down the inner face of the wall.

Another from the ceiling in the big room at the bay opening. I lifted a floorboard above it and the back of the ceiling was absolutely swimming. That part of the ceiling has been repaired with plasterboard so expecting to find it on the floor before too much longer. Either this is like the one on the other side where water is getting past the upstairs window somehow or its something to do with the flat roof over the bay, which is a right mess tbh.

Water running down the fire flue in the same room. This had been a problem ever since we bought the house but it hasn't recurred for the last couple of years since the chimney stack was rendered so I thought we'd finally cracked it. Apparently not. At a loss on that one.

And finally a tiny little drip from the soffit in the upstairs window above the bay. Very similar to the OP's problem. This is either a pointing defect somewhere above it (but was all repointed 2 years ago), or the rain being driven upwards over the top sash and into the head of the box where it runs inwards and comes out the soffit.

Anyone got a can of petrol and a match?

 

[mardinor]

Anyone got a can of petrol and a match?

Self-immolation is understandable, but a touch extreme. Try a kit-kat and a nice sit-down first.