water leak

[John Dirks Jr]

By looking at the first picture, is there clearly a missing or incorrectly installed part that is allowing the rain to leak into the bottom of the gas fireplace insert? This is the first time I've seen this happen.

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[AHI in AR]

I can't say that there's any "clearly' missing part allowing leaks but I can say that the "self flashing" vinyl trim as shown always allows water to drain below/behind it.

[John Kogel]

This much is clear. It is a stormy day and the wind is blowing straight against the wall.

I think in this case the flashing should be modified but have never seen this problem either.

Do you have a brand name, model #?

[Marc]

When it comes to appliances installed through a hole in the wall, there's a gap between code flashing requirements and appliance manufacturer requirements that often results in leaks. John's particular installation, a FP insert through vinyl siding, is a good example of that.

Such an application needs robust flashing born of an intimate knowledge of flashing techniques to avoid leaks.

There are some situations where it simply isn't possible to flash something properly.

JMHO

Marc

[Charlie R]

Could be some condensate issues too - cold and wet outside, warm in the home.

[Jim Katen]

I had one just like that several weeks ago. The problem had nothing to do with flashings. They solved it by reinstalling the vent so that it sloped slightly toward the exterior.

[Eric B]

Good catch John.

[David Meiland]

Not sure, but guessing that the water is coming in on the outside of the pipe, rather than through the pipe. Flashing that particular wall cap nicely would be hard, as you'd have to make a custom sheet metal piece to protect the top of the wall cap, which is going to catch a lot of water. Putting that thing in an exposed location is asking for trouble.

[kurt]

That's probably it.

Putting that assembly on vinyl means you'd need a horse collar under the vinyl detailed into the WRB, a drip cap, and I don't see anything remotely like that.

Doing that thing with a conventional J channel surround is a leaker.

[John Kogel]

The vinyl siding and all the metal are dripping large beads of rain water, like the wall was hit with a sprinkler.

Maybe a board fence could be built to block the prevailing wind.

[Leighton Jantz]

On the top section of sheet metal with the 90 degree bend near the vinyl,is there any scrape marks? Like something got ripped off? Shortly after I moved into my current house we had a strong wind in the middle of the night and the cover for my fireplace vent was hinged,after rattling and slapping for 1/2 an hour I went out and ripped it off,then built a solid one out of a piece of stainless the following weekend,seems to draft ok. Maybe they didn't get around to replacing?

[Hearthman]

That looks like an HHT trapezoid cap. These have a 'U' channel across the top so the back of it is behind the siding. A little bit of rain can make it into any cap, whether horizontal or vertical. Unless somebody took it off, water should not be getting in.