# !!HELP!! Rain leaking between existing home and new addition



## Northern_Sunrise (Sep 8, 2008)

Ms/Mrs,

Here is what I can say from a contracting point of view. If this leak has been there prior to the contractor beginning work on your house, it may not be in his liability, or in his contract with you. However, if this leaking started after the contractor had commenced work on your home, there is a high probability that he/she is liable for the damage being caused. With this said however, you need to review your contract with them, and be sure that they are indeed making themselves liable for the work being done. If you have talked with your contractor and told them your house is leaking, and they only give you a reason that it "shouldn't" be leaking, even though it "is" leaking, then there is a serious problem. I myself, nor any contractor I know in their right mind would be letting a house get water damage, especially if we were being held liable for our work; as this would cause a much larger expense. Hopefully this clarifies things a bit for you. The best thing you can do is talk to the contractor and tell him the situation, because whether or not this problem started before the contractor commenced work, the fact is that there is water getting into your home. So if he is liable, he can get it fixed, and if he wasn't liable for it in the first place, you can ask he/she to do something about it, or get another person to come in to fix this leak problem. Without pictures of the issue at hand it is not possible for any of us here to make an accurate assumption of what you should do; however, if you do get pictures I'm sure we could attempt to take a shot at what the problem may be. Now that I've given you a long winded response... I'll leave you to ponder what I've said. I hope things work out for you, and if you need any further assistance please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,

NS


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## NJGirl357 (Sep 9, 2008)

Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I've never had a water problem in my room for the 16 years we've lived here. Sorry for not giving enough details in my post and after reading it again I can see how it got confusing. And also I'm clueless about construction so please bare with me as I try to explain the best that I can. Okay, the two car garage was completely taken down to just the foundation. After the first floor of the addition was built we had heavy downpours and the rain leaked into my bedroom. Water had seeped under the subfloor and the bottom of almost all of my walls were soggy and moldy. When we asked the contractors about it they said they highly doubt that the rain came in through the addition. We didn't push the issue because we were positive it had since the concrete floor or blocks weren't drylocked at that time. So we used our own money to drylock the floor and blocks which are behind two of the walls. And we also filled in the access door with blocks and drylocked those also. We then completely remodeled the room with a new subfloor, drywall, paint, and carpet.The next morning after finishing the room rain had leaked in again. At this time they had the second floor up but it wasn't complete. It was completely open on top so the contractors had put three peices of clear thin plastic which was held together by tape on the floor of the second story floor. There was at least two inches of water on both floors. The wall (firewall) in between the addition and our house was soaked and also the wall in my room which is on the other side of the firewall was soaked and I once again had water under the subfloor. When we asked the contractors about it that day they said they can't see how water could have gotten in our house even though it obviously did. Since then the contractors said they believe it had leaked down from the first floor of the addition since the first floor of the addition is a few feet higher then my room in the basement. As of now, they said they are waiting for the roof trusses(?) to be delivered so they can put the roof on. Furthermore they told me that my room cannot be fixed until the roof is complete and the windows and doors are on so that if water does come in again they will be able to catch a.s.a.p. After they are finished with the addition they say they will fix the room themselves assuming responsibility. Also, the flashing they put on was where the existing roof meets the inner wall to the second story addition. Is there any way to keep the rain out of my room? The contractors are just two men in business together, not a firm. I have another question also. Since so much rain has gotten into the addition, will this negatively affect the floors or the exposed firewall? I would like to post pictures but could you tell me what kind would be most relevant. Thanks again for taking the time to read this long response and I hope you have a better understanding of whats going on. Your answers are greatly appreciated!


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## Northern_Sunrise (Sep 8, 2008)

Nj,

I would ask you to PM me, but this forum doesn't allow that with less than 20 posts. So if you can, add me to your msn messenger

[email protected]

I'm online right now.

If that's not possible send me an e-mail : [email protected]

I would be happy to try and assist you.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

NJGirl357 said:


> We have a bi-level home and are currently having a two-story addition added where the garage was. The majority of water is coming in a bedroom located in the basement which had a access door to the garage. The first time water leaked into the bedroom the door was still there but was blocked of since the first level of the addition was already built. So we sealed of the door using blocks and we drylocked all of the blocks in the room and the concrete floor thinking this was the problem. After completely remodeling the room we got more rain which leaked in again. At this time the second story of the addition is up but it doesn't have a roof, window, or doors. Both times we looked at the addition and there was at least two inches of water on the floors. The only thing the contractors were using to keep out the rain was a thin clear plastic on the second story floor. From what we can see it looks like the rain is leaking down between our existing home and the addition. They didn't use a tarp on the roof where it meets because the said they already sealed by putting flashing on the roof. So here's my question...Should they have put a tarp on the roof where the two meet or does it seem they make a mistake when they added the addition to our house? The room that is damaged is mine
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The two of you could consider inserting a paragraph or two to make reading your posts a vbit easier please. 

Just hit the enter key once in a while.

Ed


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