Thread: Puzzler

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• puzzler

Dan,

It could be condensation or it might be wind driven rain blowing through the window screen and settling at the sill.

I agree the hole looks like security sensor hole. Many windows these days have stickers that say that if a hole is drilled in the sill it will nullify the window warranty. That, however, doesn't seem to stop people from drilling the holes anyway. I sometimes see holes drilled for security sensor right through the sticker stating not to drill holes.

Eric

Dan--
It's a little hard to tell from the small pic, but that sure looks like a vinyl window frame, not metal. You aren't going to find vinyl sweating under normal conditions in your climate. In any case, the staining is from rain, and it's normal.
Sealing the hole is very important. I've seen rot damage in walls just a few years old from unsealed alarm contacts. The contacts are there, but water seeps around them into the wall. If there's no contact at all, you're begging for water intrusion. Especially when you get a homeowner who's all too happy when he's using a pressure washer...
I've gotten some "no other inspector has ever said that" comments when the agent hears me telling a buyer to caulk around the contacts. But it's very quick thing to do and does not use but a fraction of a tube of sealant.

Gotta keep the water out!

Dan is a HVAC duct blowing on window?

Originally Posted by Fritz Kelly

Most windows are made with weep holes in the frame to let water out of the area where you see the staining. There is no attempt to keep water out of this channel. Any water running down the outside of the window is allowed to collect in the channel and run out the weep holes (unless the homeowner has caulked the weep holes). The alarm sensor hole should probably be sealed.

I agree with Fritz ... except for that last sentence ...

There should not be ANY "alarm sensor holes" *in the bottom* of the window. That's just plain stupid - it will leak, horribly, and rot the wall out. Do the alarm guys who do that also own construction companies and make a good living out of repairing rotted out walls under windows their alarm company drilled those hole in?

JP:

In Dallas it's no problem. They just slap a dab of strucutral silicone caulk on the sensor (before they clean the debris out of the windowsill) and all is well! Sometimes they even drill two or three holes in the frame before they are happy with the results. Of course, silicone is expensive, so they never fill the extra holes.

Aaron

There are but two types of holes in the bottom of window sills:

1) Those which leak.

2) Those which will leak.

Originally Posted by Fritz Kelly

"strucutral silicone caulk". Is that like structural duct tape?

Fritz:

Yes, and don't forget structural expanding foam insulation.

Aaron