[HMLRHT1]

Want to ask if any one knows why my carpet got wet. It was all along the edge under the windows. No wet areas on the wall from roof leaks. Home warranty gave me some crap about the stucco being cracked and water leaking in that way. Stucco isn't cracked. Any ideas and if so how do I fix it or should I have home warranty fix it. House is 1yr and 1.5 months old. No serious rain since it was built. First time in bad storm. Any ideas or suggestions?

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by HMLRHT1

Want to ask if any one knows why my carpet got wet. It was all along the edge under the windows. No wet areas on the wall from roof leaks. Home warranty gave me some crap about the stucco being cracked and water leaking in that way. Stucco isn't cracked. Any ideas and if so how do I fix it or should I have home warranty fix it. House is 1yr and 1.5 months old. No serious rain since it was built. First time in bad storm. Any ideas or suggestions?

If it were me, I would continue an open dialogue with home warranty until they at least had the courtesy to come out and take a look at the damage to ascertain where the leak started. That seems the fair thing to do on their part. They can at least give you something to go on, I would think. I would pester them until they advise you what they can suggest you must do to fix it.

Take the "squeaky wheel" approach would be my advice.

Good luck, barb

[gfmucci]

We had wet carpet also under a window in our wood frame home.* Neither the window sill nor interior wall was wet.* The window is on the NW corner of the house where there was a lot of horizontal blowing water from the roof.* We suspect it was wet for several weeks as a result of the several strong thunder storms we've had during this period because the carpet tack holes in the carpet in that location were rusty, the carpet tack strip wood was darkened from moisture, and the wooden leg of one of our upholstered chairs was watermarked one inch up, and the metal stud on the bottom of that leg embedded a rust mark into the carpet.* All that would not have happened from an event as recent as Fay.* We only discovered the wetness when we moved furniture away from the wall for a painting project four days ago.

We called the warranty department and they came out to inspect yesterday.* They are sending two sets of people out tomorrow:* People to remove the siding to inspect for a source of water entry, and people to inspect the carpet for damage.

Yes, definitely get the attention of and work with the warrantee department. If that fails, get someone to do a thorough caulking job around the window frames outside, and paint the exterior of that wall with a water proofing coating (assuming your home is masonry construction. Masonry is porous in a strong wind-driven rain.

[RayB]

I had the exact thing happen to me during Fay. I live in a poured concrete villa. It was under a large window facing to the west. Rug was wet about six inches away from window. Interior wall, base board area or window frame molding was not wet. There was no evidence of dampness in rug in living room window which faces the same direction. During the storm there was massive wind blown rain pelting the windows facing the West. First I noticed the window which had dampness in the rug had about a quarter of an inch of water standing on the bottom metal window framing. This was between the screen and the window. The same window facing in the same direction where no rug was wet did not have any standing water on the bottom framing between the screens and the window. I think the water on the wet rug window may have been seeping down the wall between the pored concrete wall and the wall board and seeping out under the rug. In between rains I took a drill outside and drilled holes in the screen framing and a lot of the standing water in between the screen and the glass window drained out. After that I did not observe any more water accumulating between the screen and window.

Second observation: The gutter downspout came out at the corner of the house near the window in question. The water would gush out of the downspout and would accumulate right under the window in question as the ground angled to the house rather than away. During the storm I went to Home Depot and purchased a vinyl gutter extension which now expels the gutter water about eight feet away from the house. Perhaps the water from downspout was accumulating in sufficient quantity to seep under the cement flooring of the house and seeping up through a crack in the cement floor.

I took both actions during the storm so there was plenty of wind driven rain after I took these actions. I have a rug shampoo machine so I was able to to suck up more than a gallon of water from the rug. The rug took a day and a half to completely dry. We have had several heavy rains since and no wet rug. We will watch it.

[gfmucci]

UPDATE:

Our leak was repaired.* It was located between the two window units (bottom) where the joining window frames were not sufficiently taped/sealed behind the siding.

Two remaining actions by the builder are scheduled for next week:

- Open the drywall to check for mold/mildew
- Replace the tack strip along that wall, replace a section of padding, and clean the carpet.

There is one stain from a rusty chair foot that may not come out.* That part would be cut out and an unstained carpet section would be spliced in.

[F16 1UB]

Thanks for the update. We appreciate your information.

F16

[billyD]

check outside and make sure water cant build up on the outside walls over the inside floor level if it does water will come in!