Signs of water infiltration on the partition wall.

[Eli Smith]

Hello everyone,

I have done the inspection of a semi-detached year 2008.
I noticed some dry dribbling or old water infiltration signs on the foundation wall. However, what's interesting is that the dribbling are on the partition wall and I m wondering where did they come from.

I was thinking about an excessive condensation problem, because it is also the room where the furnace, air exchanger and water heater are. There was rust on the furnace, leading, again, to a humidity problem.

I was also thinking that, maybe, they forgot to place a vapor barrier between the partition wall and humidity get trough.

I do not think its because of the reinforcement since the foundation wall has no contact with the exterior, therefor, water cannot leak trough.

Feedback or suggestion would be appreciated.


Thank you.

[Raymond Wand]

Staining could be from when the house was constructed - rain, snow.

[Mark Fisher]

Hard to tell from your words and pictures, but that does not look like condensation to me. My experience with residential concrete construction is that concrete forms rarely stayed on as long as they should. This means that the walls are very raw when the forms are stripped and subject to some surface material loss if rained on, which results in the staining.

The furnace rust looks like flue-gas condensate draining back to the furnace. Unlike atmospheric draft flues (which must maintain an uphill slope away from the furnace) forced draft exhaust should be sloped slightly down away from the furnace so any condensation in the flue gases drains away and out.

[Steven Turetsky]

Hard to tell from your words and pictures, but that does not look like condensation to me. My experience with residential concrete construction is that concrete forms rarely stayed on as long as they should. This means that the walls are very raw when the forms are stripped and subject to some surface material loss if rained on, which results in the staining.

The furnace rust looks like flue-gas condensate draining back to the furnace. Unlike atmospheric draft flues (which must maintain an uphill slope away from the furnace) forced draft exhaust should be sloped slightly down away from the furnace so any condensation in the flue gases drains away and out.

I agree with Raymond and Mark, and another place to look at is the partition wall. Does it pass through the roof? If so, it is possible that water is entering roofside and draining downward.

[Eli Smith]

Thx everyone,

Hey Steven, Thx for the answer.

I thought about water coming from the roof, however, the floor, just on top of the stains, is intact, which brings me to believe that it cannot come from the roof or stains would be visible on the wood components.

[Steven Turetsky]

Thx everyone,

Hey Steven, Thx for the answer.

I thought about water coming from the roof, however, the floor, just on top of the stains, is intact, which brings me to believe that it cannot come from the roof or stains would be visible on the wood components.

Is there active infiltration, or do you just see stains?
Are there water lines in the wall?
It's either this or that.

What is the purported history?

There could be water coming down between the walls.

[Eli Smith]

Is there active infiltration, or do you just see stains?
Are there water lines in the wall?
It's either this or that.

What is the purported history?

There could be water coming down between the walls.

No active infiltration, just stains.
No water lines in the wall.
the owner said he never noticed these stains.

[Steven Turetsky]

No active infiltration, just stains.
No water lines in the wall.
the owner said he never noticed these stains.

Go sit down and watch the hockey game.

In other words, don't lose any sleep over the stains. They could be from when the house was built.