Help me fix the garden room.

[Raymond Fries]

I am reaching out to all of you because of your excellent knowledge, talent, and skills. The contractor that built the garden room settled out of court. Here is the previous thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?246776-Final-Chapter-of-the-leaky-room-Help-please
I hired a restoration company last fall to pull the siding and determine where the room was leaking. They sealed it up with caulk for the winter.
These pictures show what was found on one wall. I plan on pulling all of the siding and fixing the root problem as best as I can.
Please help me with the best repair plan. Here are my thoughts:
Remove all siding, downspouts, etc..
Pull all of the nails from the Anderson window flanges Pictures GR_L3 & GR_L4
Force a bead of silicone under flanges. Then, nail or screw the flanges back to siding. GR_L3 & GR_L4
If house wrap needs replaced, does it matter if it is applied under or over what is under the window frames? Picture GR_L1. Note that the restoration company did install house wrap to cover the wood but I do not know how it was installed.
Install new drip caps if they should be moved. Picture GR_L6
Seal windows with flashing tape.
Use flashing tape to seal the cuts through the siding. Picture GR_L5
Install flashing where walls meet. Picture GR_L2
Install vinyl and cedar siding & caulk gaps.
Rest easy…
Did I miss anything?
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[Frank Pratt]

Silicone should not be your go-to sealant. There are far, far, better choices. That's about all I have to offer.

[George Bokros]

House wrap should be applied before the windows are installed. It should be put right over the window opening then cut in an "X" from corner to corner then wrapped into the opening and stapled to the jack studs and cut flush with the inside edge of the jack studs them install the windows. Leaves no edges of the house wrap free on the exterior of the house.

[Raymond Fries]

Silicone should not be your go-to sealant. There are far, far, better choices. That's about all I have to offer.

What is better?

[Raymond Fries]

House wrap should be applied before the windows are installed. It should be put right over the window opening then cut in an "X" from corner to corner then wrapped into the opening and stapled to the jack studs and cut flush with the inside edge of the jack studs them install the windows. Leaves no edges of the house wrap free on the exterior of the house.

I understand that. I cannot remove the windows to start over. I have to work with what is there. I thought I could cut some strips and tuck them under the house wrap that remains under the window flanges. Just wondering if it is better to put the strips under or on top of what is there. I thought I could use sealant between the layers.

[George Bokros]

I understand that. I cannot remove the windows to start over.

Why can't you remove the windows? If you remove the interior trim they should come out since you plan to remove all the nails / screws that are holding them to the structure.

[Raymond Fries]

Why can't you remove the windows? If you remove the interior trim they should come out since you plan to remove all the nails / screws that are holding them to the structure.

The room is full of organic herbs and vegetables. If I pull the windows, my wife will lose everything in the room.

[Mark Furjanic]

Housewrap should be applied as mentioned, before the windows go in with an x cut it but that really only protects the framing if water does get in, it won't really prevent water entry. You can buy peel and stick rubberized window flashing at the big box stores that go over the window flanges. Bottom first with 6" extending past the windows on both sides. Then the sides overlapping the piece on the bottom and finally the top overlapping the side pieces. Housewrap over everything and water won't get in. As close together as the windows are your overlaps won't be exactly as described but you won't get water.

[Aaron Johanson]

Hello,
New poster but long time home builder. If it was me since removing the windows is not an option instead of house wrap I would cover the wall and window flanges with Rain and ice shield. it will give you a very good membrane for the entire wall. you can get it at most box stores and lumber yards.

[Raymond Fries]

Hello,
New poster but long time home builder. If it was me since removing the windows is not an option instead of house wrap I would cover the wall and window flanges with Rain and ice shield. it will give you a very good membrane for the entire wall. you can get it at most box stores and lumber yards.

Thanks for the tip.
I should have posted this comment in the original post. The restoration company that pulled the siding did put Tyvek house wrap back on before they put the siding back. I just did not get there for pictures before thesiding was installed. I have no idea if they tucked the edges under or over what protrudes from the window flanges. Will find out in the spring. I just want to have a course of action planned so I can proceed when weather permits.

[Mike Wilkins]

If I were doing this on my own home, I would remove the windows, replace/repair any sheathing that is damaged, then wrap the wall with house wrap as per standard building practices. Then replace the windows and wrap the flanges with sealing strips. The house wrap is there as a redundant measure should any water get behind the strips. I personally don't like using caulk as a weather seal; when I do I leave a gap at the bottom just in case some water does get behind the object that I am sealing, and it has an escape route.

Nice looking room by the way.

[Kurt Cady]

Let let me make sure I have this right... You had a problem because it wasn't installed properly and it wound up in court. Now you want to do it again but not do it properly. Doesn't make sense to me. Check out the link. It's pretty self explanatory. I always tell people to "think like a water droplet flowing down the wall". If you wrap the wrap under the window on the bottom and sides, water flows over the window and on top the top of the wrap, never getting in. At the top, water flows from on top the wrap directly on to the window, again never getting in.

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/building-envelope-systems/videos/window-install-after-homewrap.html




Hello,
New poster but long time home builder. If it was me since removing the windows is not an option instead of house wrap I would cover the wall and window flanges with Rain and ice shield. it will give you a very good membrane for the entire wall. you can get it at most box stores and lumber yards.

I don't believe you want to do that. It will not "breathe" and still several locations water can get behind. Again, think like a water droplet.

[Raymond Fries]

Let let me make sure I have this right... You had a problem because it wasn't installed properly and it wound up in court. Now you want to do it again but not do it properly. Doesn't make sense to me. Check out the link. It's pretty self explanatory. I always tell people to "think like a water droplet flowing down the wall". If you wrap the wrap under the window on the bottom and sides, water flows over the window and on top the top of the wrap, never getting in. At the top, water flows from on top the wrap directly on to the window, again never getting in.

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/construction-materials/building-envelope-systems/videos/window-install-after-homewrap.html







I don't believe you want to do that. It will not "breathe" and still several locations water can get behind. Again, think like a water droplet.

Kurt,

The leaks are mostly because the contractor did not put sealant on the window flanges before they were set and there was no external caulk between the window frames and the cedar siding. If I pull the nails and inject sealant between the flange and house wrap, how is that so different than pulling the frame and applying sealant?

I wish I could strip everything down to bare wood and start over. My wife has lost everything in her garden twice now because of contractors. I assured her it would not happen again. The restoration company that I worked with assured me that the windows can be sealed without pulling them. Are they wrong?

[Mike Dowell]

House wrap should be applied before the windows are installed. It should be put right over the window opening then cut in an "X" from corner to corner then wrapped into the opening and stapled to the jack studs and cut flush with the inside edge of the jack studs them install the windows. Leaves no edges of the house wrap free on the exterior of the house.
I unfortunately don't have anything constructive to offer, but I just wanted to chime in and say that this guy sounds like he know what he's talking about.

[Brian Henderson]

I wish I could strip everything down to bare wood and start over. My wife has lost everything in her garden twice now because of contractors. I assured her it would not happen again. The restoration company that I worked with assured me that the windows can be sealed without pulling them. Are they wrong?

Yes and no. There is a difference between doing it a serviceable way and doing it the right way. What's been described is the right way, it's how your contractors should have done it in the first place. Since they didn't, you can either choose to pull the windows and do it the right way, or you can find a way to do it that is serviceable, but incorrect, but may still work nearly as well as doing it the right way in the first place. What you need to do is stop water infiltration around the windows. Restoration companies are very good, typically, of finding a good way to approximate the right way in a setting like yours, where you don't want to go all the way down to the studs and new construction. There are always going to be trade-offs between what you can do and what you want to do. Good luck finding that compromise.

[Kurt Cady]

I think Brian hit the nail on the head. Personally, I would do it right according to all various manuf. instructions. But that's just me.

[Jim Dwight]

I guess if it was me, I would pull the siding, put a strip of ice and water dam over the flanges to seal them to the sheathing or house wrap, put a piece of flashing over the windows, seal it to the sheathing the same way and then put the siding up.

I don't think you can caulk effectively without removing the window. The flanges will not move without moving the window which is almost like taking it out. You could do that too, and probably should, but I understand about wives input and it sounds like she has been hurt a couple times already.

Ice and water dam is different material than the tape used to flash windows. It is sticky tar type material. It seals nail penetration. So when you put the siding back on, it will seal that penetration of the area. It will seal the flanges to the wall better than what you can do with caulk. If you pull the top release paper, it will seal the siding to the wall too. That will be extra good for water penetration but you better like the siding because taking it off will be very difficult.

[John Lanciani]

All things considered I would use Vycor; https://gcpat.com/construction/en-us/residential-building-materials/Vycor-Plus or an equivalent flexible flashing product to seal over the flanges. I agree with those that suggest that pulling the nails and caulking will not solve the problem. Vycor is designed to do exactly what you want.

[Raymond Fries]

First I have heard of Vycor. I read the installation guides and it looks like a great product. Any comments on if Vycor would be a better choice than DuPont Stratight Flash?