Any pro can tell me if there is water leak behind the stucco by looking at the pic?

Question

I think it looks like there is water behind the stucco. But I'm no pro and this is the only small stucco area of the house. I really don't want to pay $600-$700 to do the stucco inspection only for this small area.....

Id there any pro here can tell me?

Account Closed · Answer

Interior wall leak. Someone put a nail or screw into a water pipe in the wall without knowing it. Or a pipe joint failed.

Put your ear to the interior wall and see if you hear a "hiss" or a drip. Then listen on the floor. Then turn the water to the house off and try to listen again. If there is a change, you have a water pipe leak and you owe me a pizza. If no water pipe leak, ignore what I said and never tell anyone about the embarrassing diagnosis I made by seeing only one picture and never speak of the faux pas again. ;-)

Joel Forsythe · Answer

Nina, I would recommend getting more of an experienced remodeler, GC, to have a look at your situation rather than a stucco sub. I don’t think the stucco assembly is a primary issue, you have water intrusion evidence from above, that frankly, looks like a significant amount of water based on the total area being affected: it’s not just some little leak or drip.  The stucco is just soaking up the evidence that you have a problem from above. Maybe a stucco guy knows about other assemblies that may be failing but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Bill B. · Answer

This layman is going to guess there’s no drip edge on the porch exterior wall. If you own the house you could either install one or attach plastic to front opening for one rain storm and see if the problem persists.

Carlos Ptriawan · Answer

this is the time when "thermal sensor camera" is showing its magic lol

Carlos Ptriawan · Answer

- use moisture meter- use commercial dehumidifier- most likely the humid level would be reduced by dehumidifier, indicating there's actual waer leak- what you need to check here is the plumbing first, fixing stucco would not solve plumbing issue if there's water leak insidebtw if you are sensitive to allergy you would know if there is water leak or not lol you could just feel it

Nina Zou · Answer

Anyone can recommend reliable stucco repair contractors in Delaware County PA with offer reasonable price?

Joel Forsythe · Answer

The stains line up with the the porch ceiling’s board joint seams. No idea if it’s T&G type stuff or just butt joint material. The tannin carried by the water is likely from wood/dust debris from interior framing.

That’s a lot of moisture evidence for a covered overhang. The exposed stucco to the left looks drier than the covered area.  Could be sunlight related, drying out as it’s designed to do, and porch not getting sun etc.

Water is traveling where it’s not supposed to. A local pro might deduct something with roof, walls, windows investigation. That alcove should be dry stucco, especially up high at ceiling joint. Ceilings going to rot out probably. The stucco is probably fine with its vapor/moisture barrier.

Ned J. · Answer

Not a pro... but any decent pro is going to tell you..... "impossible to tell based on this one picture".

To my untrained eye it looks like the water is running down the upper wall and then tracking across the celling and down the lower wall

Aaron Schrader · Answer

I haven't done much with stucco but have done a lot of home repair and remodeling.  The striping is interesting to me in the staining- could that be stuff leaking down the front off a specific point?  Because it's brown, I'd kinda lean toward external staining vs. leaking from behind and pushing through.  Also, are you able to get a look in and around that soffit and see what might be contributing to it?  Or was there a leak from above in the overhanging portion that came down?  Have you tried to spot clean it and see if it cleans up?  Another option could be to get a moisture meter (they have two pins/probes and you press them into the material) and it'll tell you the moisture in the material. Maybe it's worth drilling a couple of holes inside the home and checking moisture on the backside of the exterior wall?

These aren't questions you have to answer to me but just things I'm running through in my head if that were my problem to solve.

Any pro can tell me if there is water leak behind the stucco by looking at the pic?

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