Expert: Dan Griffin - 9/18/2008

Question
My children bought a 5 year old home that is made out concrete block and a little face brick on the front.  they noticed peeling paint on a window frame recently. The house was caulked last week around the windows.  When the handiman went to replace the wood frame he noticed mold.  He subsequently pulled down a wall of drywall and found that the cement block underneath was soaked and some of the wood stripping was black.  The construction was brick, cement block, insulation, plastic and then drywall.  The bottom of the plastic was holding substantial water and the insulation was wet.  Were the materials installed in the wrong order.  I would think that the plastic would have been over the cement block and then the insulation and then the drywall.  Please advise.

Answer
Michele, water is getting into the exterior block somewhere, This could be rain, potable water, or drain water.  The water source needs to be found and dealt with.  Get things dried out, keep the inside open to be able to watch for water.  Use a garden hose to create the "rain".  Start low and wait a niminum of 30 minutes of sprinkling to see water, move higher, repeat.  Save the roof and any vent pipes for last.  If the block work at the top and above the window is wet, the window is probably not the source, it will be something higher.