9 month old 4 story condo building, 3rd floor unit.
Concrete floors with carpeting and hardwood on them.
FHA heat by gas, no humidifiers in use. No unusal interior sources of moisture.
Exterior temperature at time of inspection 46 F.
Client has lived there for several months and has complained to the builder about wetness around the windows. Client said he noticed the stain on the baseboard after a rain storm last week.

Lots of condensation found at the perimeter of the windows and water ponding found on the window sills. They don't drain very well. No visible weep holes and storm window sashes act as a dams.

Anyone familiar with these Universal Brand windows?


http://www.ablehomeinspection.com/in...nphotos1-4.pdf
http://www.ablehomeinspection.com/in...nphotos5-8.pdf

Attached Images

	window brand.jpg (26.6 KB, 38 views)
	windows.jpg (54.7 KB, 45 views)

Are inspection referrals from past clients important to you? If so, click here to get even more referrals!

They use them quite a bit here, they are bottom of the line. One group of condos here has had to replace many of them. I was calling it out as improper flashing and was informed by the association that it was the windows themselves, not the flashing, but, when I saw a couple removed, there was no flashing, just stucco paper up to the frame. Bottom line is, I think it could be the windows but could also be flashing. The builder should have the window rep check them out.

These would appear not to have any type of thermal break between the inner and outer portions of sash. Cold outer section -thermal break +warm inner section =condensation. Oh, could be that inner section is cold & outer section is warmer.
These would appear to be a very inexpensive window, you will probably see a lot of other problems with these, so they should still be fairly easy to spot even if the weather conditions have been pretty moderate. Plus stains or other evidence of moisture intrusion should be present.