Dampness near Window

shu32876

Hi,
I'm facing some Dampness issue on external wall of the bedroom. It's near the window. I suspect somehow water from outside is seeping through.
Right now it's fine on touching, doesn't feel very wet. But after a heavy rain 1 night, the next morning I could feel it soaking wet on touch the damp spot while the near by area on the wall was dry on touching.
On seeing closely on the outside wall, you could see a white mark, there was a hole there and I thought the dampness could be due to that. So I just filled it with a silicone sealant but looks like it's not working or the reason could be something else.
Any help is highly appreciated.
Thanks.

shu32876

Any help or suggestion regarding this? What to do or who to contact?

Jeepers_Creepers

Almost certainly as you say - it's penetrating from the outside.

Could you take a photo of the outside sill from above, especially of that corner? Also a wider shot showing the whole window and the soffit above it.

Water's a tricky beast - where it appears inside is not necessarily where it's getting through.

shu32876

Jeepers_Creepers said:

Almost certainly as you say - it's penetrating from the outside.

Could you take a photo of the outside sill from above, especially of that corner? Also a wider shot showing the whole window and the soffit above it.

Water's a tricky beast - where it appears inside is not necessarily where it's getting through.

Thanks for your reply, These are the best I could take, not sure how I can take picture of whole window from outside:

neilmcl

Well you can immediately see that the outside corner of the window gets very wet and holds on to the water. Question is where is the water coming from, is it just a result of rain or is flowing off the guttering from above.

Jeepers_Creepers

A photo from the ground would be fine - it's just to try and see if there's anything obviously wrong above the window.

Thanks for the other photos - these are good. Ideally water getting in past the sill shouldn't really be making its way past the cavity, unless something is bridging it. When we had a bedroom window replaced a few years back, there had been a damp patch not unlike yours showing on and off for quite a while. When they took out the old window, they found rubble bridging the cavity which they removed - problem sorted.

Obviously you don't want the window taken out just for a looksee, but I think you may need the guidance of a general builder.

stuart45

Is it a cavity or solid wall?

shu32876

Jeepers_Creepers said:

A photo from the ground would be fine - it's just to try and see if there's anything obviously wrong above the window.

Thanks for the other photos - these are good. Ideally water getting in past the sill shouldn't really be making its way past the cavity, unless something is bridging it. When we had a bedroom window replaced a few years back, there had been a damp patch not unlike yours showing on and off for quite a while. When they took out the old window, they found rubble bridging the cavity which they removed - problem sorted.

Obviously you don't want the window taken out just for a looksee, but I think you may need the guidance of a general builder.

This is the window

shu32876

stuart45 said:

Is it a cavity or solid wall?

Not entirely sure, The building survey mentioned this:
 "External walls: these appear to be of small cavity construction, although it was noted that the brickwork pattern comprises snap headers which are sometimes provided with solid wall construction"

stuart45

shu32876 said:

stuart45 said:

Is it a cavity or solid wall?

Not entirely sure, The building survey mentioned this:
 "External walls: these appear to be of small cavity construction, although it was noted that the brickwork pattern comprises snap headers which are sometimes provided with solid wall construction"

The surveyor does not make sense to me. Snapped headers are normally used on a cavity wall to show a Flemish bond or similar and makes it look like a solid wall. A small cavity is normally a solid wall built in Stretcher bond. 
You could measure the width of the walls at the jambs.
How old is the house?

Jeepers_Creepers

Thanks for the photos.

I'm hoping someone will come up with possible causes, shu, as I'm out of my depth here.

That small 'filled' bit to the LH side of the window just above sill height - that couldn't possibly be a blocked drain?