Follow The Water

Water and moisture is the cause of some of the most catastrophic and expensive damage to your home. Water damage can happen slowly, like a slow leak that causes buckling to a wood floor over time; or super fast, like a burst water heater. To really care for your home, you have to think a lot about water: where does the rain go, on the roof and at the foundation? Where does condensation from the HVAC go? Your house has systems to pull water safely away from places you don't want it, but sometimes these systems can fail, so it's important to understand how to follow the water.

On this dry, sunny day, it appears that nothing is wrong here. But the angle of the ground will cause rainwater to flow toward the foundation - something to avoid in any case. But here, it's been flooding the crawlspace and soaking the wood veneer of the house. You can see some discoloration where the wood has moisture damage.

Here is a great example of why you need kickout flashing. Kickout flashing, or diverter flashing, is a special type of flashing that diverts rainwater away from the cladding and into the gutter, keeping water away from the roof components and preventing possible leaks to the interior. In this photo, you can see the water damage to the original wood, and where it's been propped up until it can be replaced.

Here you can see the condensate line is leaking, and they've placed a bucket to catch the water. This is such a dangerous set up. Hopefully they remember to dump the bucket before it fills up, crushes the duct it's sitting on and spills gallons of water into the attic.

Plumbing is not for amateurs, and here's why. Doesn't this seem like more effort than just fixing the pipe? Imagine having this set up in a home you're trying to sell.