Weeps weeping

[Mike Lamb]

This 5 yr old bldg has quite a bit of efflorescence (I think) coming out of the upper wall weeps. Some of them almost looked deliberately sealed but the stuff was hard and calcified when I scraped it so I'm assumimg salt. Nearly all the upper weeps had white stuff coming out of them. It was brick cavity construction. Has anyone seen this excess before?

The top floor unit had moisture entering through the wall/ceilings in various places and also water coming in from the the tops of the windows and above the back door. I believe someone neglected or truly screwed up the flashing.

The builder mopped/painted the entire 5 yr old mod bit roof with plastic cement including the tops of the limestone coping. I don't believe this was ever a roof problem.

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[kurt]

Originally posted by Mike Lamb

Has anyone seen this excess before?

Daily. It's like this all over the City. Had one yesterday on the South Shore. Another in Bucktown this AM.

Not sure of all the exact causes, but it's gotta be about screwed up flashing where we can't see exactly what's wrong.

Probably no end dams, sloppy laps, and generally cavalier attitude to flashing installation. I also doubt it's a roof problem.

[Mike Lamb]

There was also a recent discussion that roofing membrane should not extend up the parapets and that they should not be painted or sealed due to moisture vapor transmission issues. Oh, my.

[kurt]

That could be part of it, or all of it, too.

I think we'll be looking at all these crappy things built between 1997 and 2007 and thinking they should be torn down.

I looked at one up on Pratt near Sheridan Rd. that was literally running water. The whole thing was stained from parapet to ground.