• Visual Inspections- basing the analysis off of visual factors, such as- the architecture of the home, information the home owners gives, and the year the home was built.
• Thermal Imaging- using thermal images to locate wet areas in the stucco wall
• Moisture Meters- makes two pin holes in the stucco to check the moisture content
• Water Tests- using a Minneapolis Blower door to depressurize a home to simulate the pressure a home is under during a storm
• Forensic or Invasive Inspections- the most accurate way to analyze a leak

An accurate analysis of the problem is the key to fixing a leak the cheapest.  It may cost a little more for the diagnoses and the repair work, but if you don’t address the problem your wasting your money.  All Exteriors does several types of water tests, forensic and intrusive inspections, thermal imaging, infrared scans of concerned areas, checks the moisture content of walls with a moisture meter, to provide analysis and a recommendation for repairs.

Visual inspections are done by looking for isolated staining and cracking, observing the architecture of the home, noting the information the homeowner provides, applying a knowledge of how exteriors were installed in Utah during the late 80’s, 90’s, 00’s and today, and using a vast experience specializing in repairing leaking exteriors since the mid 90’s.  All Exteriors does an accurate assessment of the the homes exteriors conditions prior to making a recommendation for repairs.  Using the tools like a thermal imaging camera, a moisture meter, water testing, and removing some of the exterior, is sometimes necessary in order to do a make a complete assessment.  Many times leaks come from multiple sources, these other inspection “tools” can help assess this prior to making repairs.  Contractors with a lack of experience in leak repairs base there assessment off of the most obvious problem or symptom, without addressing all of the issues.  The most common mistake I see is just adding a roof’s diverter flashing (sometimes called a kickout or turnout flashing), a relatively in expensive procedure, then recoating the stucco walls to conceal the damages below diverter flashing, this is where the majority of the costs are.  An incomplete repair is going to fail, ruining the work done to cover up the staining and cracking, and adding another layer of water resistant stucco finish that is going to trap water behind the stucco and in the wood framing.   All because of a lack of experience and analysis was used to diagnose the problem.

All Exteriors uses a Fluke TI R32 to do their thermal imaging work.  The biggest advantage to the thermal imaging camera is that it can detect moisture in a wall without doing any damage to the home. Thermal imaging is used to detect different temperature within the walls.  The temperature variances are shown by colors.  Wet walls conduct energy out of the home.  The wet areas can show up as colder or sometimes hotter, depending on temperature differentials from the inside of the home to the outside of the home.  This temperature differential has to be carefully analyzed since the camera doesn’t tell you if the wall is wet or if its just an area missing insulation, it just shows the temperature difference.  The camera is helpful but it doesn’t tell the compete story. Sometimes the findings need to be confirmed with a water test, by checking the area with moisture meter, or by removing some of the homes exterior.

All Exteriors uses a Delmhorst BD-2100 moisture meter that is used to check the moisture content of the wood framing behind hard coat and foam based stucco system.  This is another tool that we use to help track down leaks.  Using the moisture meter just leaves to small holes in the stucco system, so its intrusive inspection but doesn’t cause much damage.   The pins that go through the stucco are insulated so that the don’t detect the moisture content of the stucco system, hard coat stucco systems are designed to have water in them, the goal with a moisture meter is to find moisture in the wood, thats a problem.  Since the meter uses electricity to measure the moisture, parts of the home can short out the moisture readings and give false moisture content.  Again, like the thermal imaging camera, the tool is only as good as the experience of the person using it.

Water test are another way to help trouble shoot a leak.  All Exteriors has done hundreds of hours worth of water tests.  We use a spray rack and carefully work our way up the wall from the lowest possible source of the leak.  Using this method takes patience, some leaks don’t occur until the stucco, brick or stone is saturated and water has gotten through the moisture barrier behind the stucco, brick or stone.  If you work you way up the wall before the cladding becomes saturated your going to determine the leak is coming in higher than it actually is.  Water test also only determine one source of the leak at a time.  Like was mentioned earlier there is usually multiple sources of leaks.  A water test determines the lowest source, then you have to fix this before you can take the water test higher.  That usually not possible but again experience is necessary to determine how conclusive a water test is.  Most of the cost to fix a leak is is associated with the removal and replacement of the homes exterior to access the work area, not the actual source of the leak.  A diagnoses that only determines part of the problem, if the work is done, and then covered back up, and then the leak occurs again, to access the other leak areas will incur most of the same cost, again.

Water test with spray rack

Nothing works like removing some of the homes exterior to determine the source of a leak. The biggest problem with this is it causes damage to the exterior of the home.  One of the common misconceptions that homeowners have is that when the exterior is removed that there will be a water trail from the sour of the leak to where the leak comes inside the home.  Sometimes there is but usually OSB sheathing that is used on almost every home absorbs water like a sponge, so the whole wall areas is dark from water saturation.  It doesn’t pinpoint the leak area.  What removing the stucco can do is tell wether the window is flashed correctly, if the moisture barrier has been compromised, if the window frame is broken, etc… This can be done at specific areas without tearing off the homes entire exterior but doing this type of work usually leaves you with patch look at the areas where the exterior cladding was removed.

Intrusive Inspection photo shows the water is coming from where the stucco system was installed tightly to the concrete, not from above

Stucco was removed to determine the extent of the damage from the leak caused by the stucco to deck connection

Stucco was removed to determine if roof was letting water behind the stucco system.

Dryrot that was found from intrusive inspection