Concrete Lintel / Damp Repair

ryan7

I've little yellow discolouration on the inside wall. 
The large window at the front of the house sits on top of long 2m concrete sill/lintel which I presume has become weathered and is now seeping water during prolonged wet conditions. 
Due to the positioning, It barely gets any direct sunlight in the winter and only a couple of hours in the summer.
Are these repairable by way of rendering and painting over or is it better to remove and replace? 
Thank you

stuart45

have got a photo?

ryan7

stuart45 said:

have got a photo?

Attached. 

grumbler

What's the purpose of this 'lintel' if it's UNDER the window?

And it's not clear from your photo whether the window has a proper sill preventing water leaking to the wall under it.

ryan7

grumbler said:

What's the purpose of this 'lintel' if it's UNDER the window?

And it's not clear from your photo whether the window has a proper sill preventing water leaking to the wall under it.

All the houses on the street have the concrete hearth under white pvc plastic window sill,which is in the image. Perhaps not obvious but still visible in the picture.
Thanks 

grumbler

If it's not a lintel and doesn't hold anything except the window, then I don't see any point in replacing it.

Protecting from water possibly leaking from the sill - maybe.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Ryan.

Any chance of a wider photo too, to show the whole sill? And a pic of the stain inside?

That's been painted? With what type of paint? And, apart from being rough, what is the condition of the concrete like - crumbly or quite solid.

Are there weep holes/vents along the bottom section of the PVC that sits on that sill? If not, or if they are blocked, then any water that gets inside the PVC section - say, from seeping past the rubber seals on the glazing units, on from around an opening section - won't escape as it should, and could then come inside the house instead. Possibly...

Provided the sill is structurally sound, I can't see much wrong with it. Its looks can be improved - if you wanted - by skimming it with an exterior filler (a 'cement' type that sets), but you'd need to remove all the paint first to get to the bare concrete.

stuart45

Jeepers_Creepers said

Are there weep holes/vents along the bottom section of the PVC that sits on that sill? If not, or if they are blocked, then any water that gets inside the PVC section - say, from seeping past the rubber seals on the glazing units, on from around an opening section - won't escape as it should, and could then come inside the house instead. 

That's a good point. Looks like the area between the plastic and the concrete cill has been well filled.

ryan7

Photos attached. 
The concrete slab is not crumbling. I think the previous owner had painted over it with regular paint as it was peeling off with ease. I removed this and gave it two coats of sandtex masonry hoping it would block off any potential channels for water to penetrate.
I'll probably look to get it rendered in the summer as it's unsightly however I'm unsure whether it is the route cause for internal wall stains. 

stuart45

Check around that cable outside, and also make sure there is a drip groove under the cill.

Jeepers_Creepers

I'm assuming the concrete sill goes right under that window, and the window frame sits on it. In which case, since the lower frame doesn't appear to have weep holes, there's a good chance there should have been a gap left all along the front to allow water to escape. That looks to have been filled in with sealant.

But, I don't know.