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Last Weekend during a really bad storm I noticed what appeared to be a damp spot on the wall next to the front door. Our entryway is a two story foyer with a window on the second story directly above the door. the wall was not wet on the outside it just felt damp to the touch.
My husband cut into the wall and the back of the drywall was dry. It appeared that somehow moisture had gotten between the paint and the sheetrock. My husband cut through the drywall and the insulation and wall behind the insulation were completely dry. The drywall screws were not rusted at all. The entire damp area is about 3 inches wide and two inches long.
What could this be? The only thing I could think was that somehow water was leaking from side of the window but I'm not sure how the water would get all the was down to the side of the door without leaving any other marks on the wall.
someone threw a cup of water at the wall. If inside the sheetrock was not wet, it had to come from the outside. Smart to cut out the sheetrock, but I would wait to see if it goes away and or if it does return or gets bigger. Is there a water pipe nearby, but it's not wet inside. Find out who is throwing water at the wall.
Check the attic for a roof leak. Lift the insulation at the area above the wall with the wet spot to see signs that water puddled there.
I had a similar situation, where the paint bubbled out right at eye level between 2 windows. It turned out to be a leak at the chimney on the opposite wall, and the water ran down the inside of the roof to the end wall and down the drywall inside the paint, just like yours. Perhaps osmosis wetting the inside of the paper layer? If you're expecting more rain, cover that section of attic with a plastic dropcloth until you can pinpoint where it's coming in.
Did someone leave or hang a wet umbrella against the wall to dry? Or maybe a bag of greasy fast food or something else somehow got up against the wall (maybe in the shuffle of coming in the front door with your hands full or something)?
oh yeah I completely forgot anout the bag of greasy fries that we hung 7 ft up the wall and left for a week
Seriously, my husband went in the attic and could not see any places that showed any kind of water comng in. Where the spot showed up on the wall there was a drywall crease, so it appears that water is getting in somewher,not hitting the outside wall(all insulation has not gotten wet) and coming down to that seam and cracking the paint. Water is not coming inside from the window and when there was a break in the rain we caulked around the outside window and gutters.
When you cut the drywall where the damp spot was the middle of the drywall feels damp but the back of the drywall is dry. We can't figure out how in the world this could happen. Nothing inside the hole iis wet damp or has any sort of water mark.
Was the area cold, so that water condensed there? An AC duct blowing on that spot or above might cool it so that when the AC went off, the area was cold enough to condense out and absorb some water. There are also some chemicals like "damp rid" and waterglass that absorb moisture from the air. Any possibility something like that was involved. Sometimes you can trace problems with a handheld infrared type of thermometer. Good luck.
he actually cut the hole bigger during the middle of a bad storm today and when he went up higher he found a super thin line of water that was running down the back of the drywall, so little that you could never actually get water on your fingers you had to cut the board and look at the back of it to see it.
the back of the wall is completely dry and the insulation haws no water strips on it. Somehow water is getting in and coming down the drywall and not touching the actual wall. I am thinking it must be the window because ther are two seams going to the two story foyer and where the wall bulged was the first seam under the window. My husband climbed up on a ladder to make sure the other seam did not have any water coming out and it was completely dry. Does that sound like something that could happen?
These were BAD storms with super high winds and torrential rain. It was raining sideways. It rained earlier in the week and it did nothing at that spot.
he actually cut the hole bigger during the middle of a bad storm today and when he went up higher he found a super thin line of water that was running down the back of the drywall, so little that you could never actually get water on your fingers you had to cut the board and look at the back of it to see it.
the back of the wall is completely dry and the insulation haws no water strips on it. Somehow water is getting in and coming down the drywall and not touching the actual wall. I am thinking it must be the window because ther are two seams going to the two story foyer and where the wall bulged was the first seam under the window. My husband climbed up on a ladder to make sure the other seam did not have any water coming out and it was completely dry. Does that sound like something that could happen?
These were BAD storms with super high winds and torrential rain. It was raining sideways. It rained earlier in the week and it did nothing at that spot.
Yes it is something that can happen. Breaches of the building envelope don't have to be sizable, they can be pin-hole sized. Also, breaches don't have to occur instantaneously. Events can merely weaken the envelope, meaning the consequences won't be immediately apparent, or multiple events may have a cumulative effect.
It's possible this breach was a result of design or construction failure. Or its possible the envelope simply was not designed to withstand the conditions to which it has been exposed (building envelopes are generally designed to withstand the most typical environmental and climactic conditions, but not every single scenario that might ever occur).
Kudos +++ to your husband for taking the effort to properly get to the root of the problem. 90% of homeowners just shrug and forget until it gets to be major.
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