Leaking Windows, Leaking Roof, Leaky Walls | Los Angeles
Raise your hand if you’ve been unfortunate enough to have experienced Leaking Windows, Leaking Roof, Leaky Walls or have a deck that leaks. It’s no fun, trust me. Although rainfall here in Los Angeles and Southern CA is not what you’d consider torrential (at least not until more recently!).
Nevertheless, there is still precipitation, even in a perpetually Sunny Los Angeles. And with precipitation, all the areas that would otherwise never seem to leak, can and do sometimes fail miserably when the rains come down. Water intrusion testing for leaking windows, decks, roofs or walls is what we do here in Los Angeles and its surrounding cities.
Consider this, a house is constructed to withstand the elements. Be it rain, wind, snow and heat, none of these components should breech the buildings envelope. Yet, despite the progression in building standards and materials used, it still happens.
Over time, systems just simply degrade and fail, it’s that easy. Understanding construction, most specifically, how these systems come together is what makes the Water Intrusion Specialist Company unique. When it comes to water testing we absolutely have you covered.
Los Angeles Leaking Windows
Window leaks seem to be extremely common. Whether you have an older home with older windows, or a newer house, it makes little difference. Fenestration testing here in Los Angeles is a big business.
That is, the testing of windows, doors, skylights and curtain walls. For example. the testing performed on these components is normally standardized. That is to say, the local fenestration testing we perform is performed in accordance with standards such as the AAMA 502, AAMA 511-08 or the ASTM E1105.
Why are these fenestration tests performed to these standards? Well, for the most part, Los Angeles fenestration installers or window installers will install a product, but its the owner or builder who want the installation and or the product tested for quality assurance or as part of a forensic investigation.
Water Intrusion Specialist (WIS) performs these fenestration tests. In other words, we test windows for water intrusion or rain leaks. We are experts in water intrusion testing here in Los Angeles and the Greater LA area. We test for Leaking Windows, Leaking Roofs, Leaky Walls, and of course, decks that leak.
Water Intrusion Through Walls
Windows aren’t the only thing that has the ability to leak in a building’s envelope. Take walls for instance. Walls make up the perimeter of the building and are the forefront in stopping all things water, from penetration the exposure of the wall. Furthermore, it’s not just the rain that can affect walls. The weep screed is a flashing at the bottom of the exterior wall. This flashing when otherwise covered may allow water to enter the building from the bottom, up (Yes, that happens!).
Water intrusion through building walls makes up a large percentage of our business. In the Los Angeles Suburbs, most housing is newer or remodeled. Because of this, most people assume because their house is “newer” there is no chance it will leak from the walls. Wrong.
This could never be furtherest from the truth. Age has little to do with whether or not water will or can enter into a house or building. Still, on the contrary, degradation to building systems such as building paper, can expedite leaks.
Our building envelope observations and water intrusion testing follows the ASTM E2128 standard.
Los Angeles Roof Leaks
Roofs for whatever reason seem to be one the more problematic of all building systems, in our opinion. We think it has a lot to do with the whole out-of-sight, out-of-mind thing. Meaning, because you cant see it it simply doesn’t exist. Another thing to consider is this, however, due to age and natural degradation of performance (i.e.-wear and tear) there is a large need to regularly maintain your roofing system.
When testing roofing systems, there are a couple ASTM standards we can choose from (i.e.- the ASTM D7053). With that said, we recommend that you first contact your local CA State Licensed Roofing Contractor to assist with inspections, maintenance, and repair before anything else.
Even if you are in escrow on a house here in Los Angeles and find a ceiling stain which is suspect, we can verify whether the stain is in fact an active leak.
Deck leaks here in Los Angeles
Leaking Windows, Leaking Roofs, Leaky Walls and of course, let’s not forget decks. Decks leak too. As a matter of fact, deck leaks are extremely common up here in the Los Angeles Area. Walk-on decks have a life span much like many other systems, however, the life span of a typical deck is roughly ten to twenty years depending on the waterproofing system used.
After that, you can expect to have the deck resurface, or water proofed.
Water Intrusion Specialist (WIS) can provide deck leak testing. When we perform our standardized test of decks, it includes the ASTM D5957.
Why the need to perform standardized testing?
In a nutshell, the reason we perform our tests to a standard such as the AAMA or ASTM, is so that it can be reproduced. More importantly, it can be reproduced with the same results. Moreover, there are cases when a test has to be replicated by another testing agency. This is most common with litigation for example.
Infrared Inspections In Los Angeles
Infrared thermography and water intrusion testing go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, it’s difficult to test without the use of an infrared camera. As qualified Water Intrusion Specialists we also employ infrared scanning, we are specially trained in the use of such equipment. Not just to take pretty pictures, but to evaluate various conditions from a scientific and forensic point of view.
Infrared inspections are essential especially when buying a house. More times than not, when we find water intrusion in houses in escrow in Los Angeles, the leaks are typically found with absolutely no other signs, stains or indications of a water leak before (or very faint or minimal because the leak has been trapped behind drywall (Yikes!).
