Water ingress from above patio windows.

casper_gutman

If this is the relevant policy wording then "Major Damage" is defined as "Physical Damage to any portion of the Residential Property" and in turn Physical Damage is "A material difference in the physical condition of any element of the Structure of the Residential Property from its intended physical condition which, results in the Residential Property being deemed unfit for purpose and, manifests itself after the completion of the Residential Property." The Structure includes "Any external finishing surface (including rendering) necessary for the water-tightness of the external envelope".

Presumably they aren't really expecting you to accept either that the intended physical condition of the external finishing surfaces includes a condition in which several litres of water end up on the floor inside the house when it rains? Or that the property is anything other than "unfit for purpose" given that this happens? Sounds like it meets their definition to me!

ComicGeek

Get out there in the rain (or volunteer someone else!) taking videos and trying to see if there are any obvious water ingress points. As others have said, that is a LOT of water coming in - some people complain about a few drops, but filling a plastic box means a serious water leak!

But the fact that it hasn't happened in the first 6 years would suggest something happening to cause the issue, rather than it being something from the original base build. The warranty provider will always try and blame poor maintenance, so key to find what changed after 6 years of no problems.

You have a rainwater hopper at roof level, which looks like it's in the valley of 2 large roofs - water is going to be pouring into that hopper at a high rate during heavy rain. You need to go outside and watch it - does the rainwater overflow the hopper, does it pour off the side of the gable roof? Do you get the hopper checked and cleared out regularly? The brickwork on that rear elevation does look generally damp in the photos, could be an issue with sealing around the gables and hopper, and then rainwater gets into the cavity.

The other strange thing that others have pointed out above is the position of the weep holes above the doors. First of all check that weep holes aren't just fake, which happens all too often - if they are fake (or installed too high) then any water into the cavity will run down the cavity tray and try and find its own way out. Given the poor condition of the pointing, I think you would be able to physically see this from outside when it's raining as water will be running out of the brick joints - get out there in the rain on some steps and take a video. If the water is running out of the weep holes then it might just be overwhelmed with the amount of rainwater running down the cavity.

That amount of water isn't normal cavity drainage - so I would think it's a combination of rainwater getting into the cavity (blocked hopper, breaks in seals etc), and poor or overwhelmed cavity drainage which happens to be just above the doors.

plumb1_2

Yes I’ve come across plastic weep holes being cut in half just for show, the rest of the joint filled with mortar.
good advice for CG , also get outside and spray the wall from the top of doors slowly to above the weep holes 

stuart45

plumb1_2 said:

Yes I’ve come across plastic weep holes being cut in half just for show, the rest of the joint filled with mortar.
good advice for CG , also get outside and spray the wall from the top of doors slowly to above the weep holes 

Great tip when I forget the weeps.

Scottish_Dorset

As an updated on the water ingress, we had builders come round to look, they have quoted us £5800 plus VAT. I'm really hoping that we can get the majority of this cost covered by the warranty company, ICW. They have said the policy excess, which started off at £1000, is now £1650.

This is what the builders found:

The mortar was very soft throughout the whole gable end and the problem area . And the property was built with at 10 mm cavity instead of a minimum of a 50mm cavity to allow airflow throughout.

To fix it they say:

Rake out all purp and bed joints, re-point using a 5:1 mortar mix and a half round finish. Once complete we will re-set the existing French doors into the cavity so they can be trimmed in the correct manner at lintel height to form a water tight seal at this point. 

We were surprised at the cost, this does include full scaffolding and putting a layer of waterproof cream on the brickwork afterwards.

I have attached some pictures of their investigative work.

Interested to hear your views, is this right, are way going the right way about it?

Many thank.

stuart45

You have full fill insulation boards, which are designed to be used with just a 10mm gap to allow for drainage.

Kingspan K106 Cavity Wall Board – Insulation UK

Scottish_Dorset

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82180380#Comment_82180380

Thank you @stuart45, that is interesting to know. Are we being ripped off, should the builders know this stuff?

stuart45

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82180526#Comment_82180526

Builders should know about full fill insulation boards needing only a 10mm gap. My guess is that the main weakness in the wall is the bed joint above the soldier course and the cross joints in the soldiers.pointing those in should help. The tray is on top of the soldier instead of below it.

WIAWSNB

Can I suggest you need at least one other recommended builder out for an opinion, and an explanation for the lintel setup used.

As I understand it, poor - porous - pointing still shouldn't explain this. Any water percolating through that outer skin should be expelled safely away by the cavity tray/lintel arrangement. When a bit of pointing fails, you still shouldn't get water piddling in to your house.

In your situation, it appears that water is being effectively directed in to your inner skin - it is coming through at a specific point, and in considerable volume. It is not a seep or dampness - it's a rivulet.

Something has been built incorrectly, imo. And someone needs to determine what this is.

Repointing and waterproof coatings may cover the symptoms, but not the cause.

What did this builder say about the weep holes and lintel setup - were they able to explain what was going on there? And, when it rains, do the weeps weep? Or are they completely ineffectual?

I'd want to know these basics before considering allowing anyone to carry out a 'fix'.

WIAWSNB

And do you have LegProt...?