Metal building leaking windows

[tab1234]

Built a 2x6 framed spray insulated earth contact metal garage on slab. We planned to live in it until we built a house, but it has turned out so nice, think we'll just live in our metal barn and build a garage .

When the contractor built the barn they did not wrap the building. They just screwed the metal on the 2x6s and sprayed the open cell spray insulation on the metal. Once we moved in, we had a hard wind driven rain and the windows leaked. I assumed it was running down the metal siding, hitting the J trimming around the windows and running behind the siding to the sill plate and running into the house. Contractor came and chalked around the windows and the J trim, still leaked. He then drilled holes around 1 window and sprayed in more open cell insulation and chalked between the window and the J trim (about a 1/16 inch gap). That window stopped leaking. Contractor came back and chalked all windows between window and J trim. Tested one window and it still leaked. Contractor came out and chalked around J trim and the siding and touched up the chalk between window and J trim. Have not tested this window yet.

My concern is the contractor is going to keep chalking until he stops the leaks and then a few years from now the leaks will start again and it will be my problem for ever.

Any one have experience with this? What is the proper way to fix this permanently?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Rock knocker]

Penetration details on metal buildings are some of the most commonly messed up construction details on earth. Can you post some photographs? And while you're at it, do a thorough google search for details and make sure yours is indeed close to correct.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Does your roof have any overhang? What about gutters? One of these could help solve your problem too. I replaced all of the windows in my log home last year, and there's quite a system to keep water out - construction adhesive, caulk, vinyl-butyl tape and spray foam insulation. But keeping the water from running down the walls would be the most effective step.

 

[/pine]

Windows should be sealed when they are installed...period!
IMO, The windows should be removed...any issues with the openings etc. and overhead flashing should be addressed and the windows reinstalled correctly with a quality sealant...

 

[roadhunter]

Good luck getting a contractor to do that ^^ LOL.

Lets see some pics of the issue to see if the trim is installed incorrectly or maybe something else.

 

[dwitt]

Without osb skin over the 2 x 6s you make life hard on yourself. Very hard to get any water details that are time proven without anything to build it off of.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Windows should be sealed when they are installed...period!
IMO, The windows should be removed...any issues with the openings etc. and overhead flashing should be addressed and the windows reinstalled correctly with a quality sealant...

This 100 %. Gutters, roof overhangs, etc etc can help but they are fixing the symptom not fixing the problem. Caulking is at best a safety backup in case something moves or shifts and then leaks. Proper caulk such as a urethane product is really important. Tapes can work real well, once again it needs to be a quality product. Quality products are hard to find if not impossible at most box store outlets. CLEAN and spotless surfaces will be very important for the products to seal. Bottom line is they were installed incorrectly and once their "caulked and fixed" its going to be much harder to find the problem and fix it WHEN they start leaking again. I cannot say they will leak again for 100% sure, but i would sure bet on it.

 

[Rustyiron]

Have you checked the windows themselves? I've seen the cheaper windows leak, and in what was intended as a garage or shop, they may not be the best. I'd say that without sheathing & Tyvek, the windows…….. J channel is just something for wind & water to go around, it won't keep it out. I imagine that your windows were installed directly on the framing offering no where for the water to go. Caulking is a band aid that you'll need to tend to periodically, and by the way, open cell spray foam is not a water barrier as far as I know and is "hydroscopic" and will absorb water.
Take a hose and start at the bottom of the window (but only wetting the metal wall), go up half the window height and inspect the inside for leaks. This might take hours to show. Repeat this spraying (the next day) all the way to the top & above the window, then repeat only spraying the window, again, the next day, until you locate the problem.

 

[dwitt]

If I were to take a job with no sheathing (I wouldn't) this what I would do...
Silicone set the windows expect the sill. I would flash the sill and design it to expel water if it made it there. More than one way to do it. Pick one.

Flash the head of the window and counter flash with bitchathane. Should be room to do this on the framing header.

Use closed cell insulation.

That's not where you are now though. Now all you do is find it and caulk it. Do not caulk till you find it. That is a mess! You can not pull the window. No one is going to do that unless you pay a new contractor. It involves at least cutting back the siding. Not sure where that would get you though because you have no sheathing to put up trim around the window later. As you pull the siding to get the window all the foam comes with and not without protest. You could cut the nail fins on the window but that makes maters worse trying to seal the new window. I would only go there if it was the window that failed.

 

[EddieWalker]

Your contractor is an idiot. He should have never allowed you to use open cell foam on a metal building. Open cell foam is a sponge and it will hold water until it saturated, and then quickly turn into a mold mess. It voids all metal warranties because it holds moisture.

The window was not installed properly. The proper method for installing windows keeps evolving, but the basics are that it is sealed around the flange with flashing tape, or some other specialty tape. The simple fact that he is trying to fix this with caulking and more open cell foam proves that he is an idiot.

Adding gutters and an overhang, or even a small porch like covering over the window will cut down to some degree of how much water you are getting on the window, but it will not solve the problem that the window was installed incorrectly.

Just about every month, magazines like JLC and Fine Home Building have articles on how to install windows. It's really basic, but for whatever reason, not always done like it should.

It's time to find somebody who knows what he is doing and get rid of the hack that is wasting your time.

 

[radioman]

looks like you are between a rock and a hard place. your original intentions was to convert your pole barn living area into a workshop after house is built, but now you want to stay in it. I am going to assume big on something -- you already built the interior walls for the living space so your have no idea whats really happening inside the walls.

If my assumptions is correct ( i know my bad to assume but ..) I think your best plan of attack now is to remove the one window area whewre exterior metal siding under the window and above. its only screws. I am pretty sure it will tear your foam insulation - but i am pretty sure that you will find your answers there . is the foam eaten up by mice? poorly applied? missed spots? soaked with water? need better rubber membrane tape applied around your windows? is the foam deteriorated along on the bottom where ribs stick out from snow melting absorbed into the foam where its missing a bottom cap and caulked?

This would be my plan of attack as an internet answer .. If I was there in person - it might be a different plan of attack - i dont know since I feel there its easier to determine the issue in person.

 

[Ford850]

With a simple pole barn style window installation, how do you seal them? They have built in j-channel all around, so the water flows off the top and down the side channels. It flows down these sides and under/around the edge of the steel siding. Now it's on the inside of the steel and flows down on the inside of the siding, to the bottom corners of the window, and then below the windows. How do you flash or seal things so water cannot get under the steel on the sides, as it gets to the bottom corner of the window?
I have this problem on my barn built by Cleary, and it sounds like the OP might have the same problem.

 

[EddieWalker]

Prevent Window Leaks with Proper Window Installation | The Family Handyman

 

[LD1]

Eddie beat me to it, but if indeed it is a open cell spray foam......you are gonna have nothing but issues.

SOP around here is to use 1" of closed cell foam (more expensive), because it provides the vapor barrier and doesnt absorb moisture. Then put open cell (because its cheaper) on top of that to get the desired R-value.

I too would like to see some details or pics of just how the windows were installed, sealed, and trimmed. I am by no means an expert, but so far have to agree that the contractor is an idiot. Piling on caulking around the window is not a proper fix at all.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Your contractor is an idiot. He should have never allowed you to use open cell foam on a metal building. Open cell foam is a sponge and it will hold water until it saturated, and then quickly turn into a mold mess. It voids all metal warranties because it holds moisture.

The window was not installed properly. The proper method for installing windows keeps evolving, but the basics are that it is sealed around the flange with flashing tape, or some other specialty tape. The simple fact that he is trying to fix this with caulking and more open cell foam proves that he is an idiot.

Adding gutters and an overhang, or even a small porch like covering over the window will cut down to some degree of how much water you are getting on the window, but it will not solve the problem that the window was installed incorrectly.

Just about every month, magazines like JLC and Fine Home Building have articles on how to install windows. It's really basic, but for whatever reason, not always done like it should.

It's time to find somebody who knows what he is doing and get rid of the hack that is wasting your time.

You nailed it EddieWalker.
But main reason for this post is to say that in roughly 36 years of a wide variety of types of remodel work this is one of the very very few times I have seen Fine Homebuilding and Journal of Light Construction mentioned. Even people i know in the trades do not seem to read up on new info such as provided by these type of publications. Great info in them and easily to see on the internet now a days

 

[tab1234]

Thanks for all the responses. Tried to attach photos, will see if it works. Gutter overhang is not the issue.

 

[tab1234]

Insulation picture.

 

[Billrog]

Toughs windows have no flashing that I can see.

 

[Rock knocker]

You nailed it EddieWalker.
But main reason for this post is to say that in roughly 36 years of a wide variety of types of remodel work this is one of the very very few times I have seen Fine Homebuilding and Journal of Light Construction mentioned. Even people i know in the trades do not seem to read up on new info such as provided by these type of publications. Great info in them and easily to see on the internet now a days

I somehow missed the pole building issue of FHB during the last thirty years of my subscription.

 

[Ford850]

tab1234, Your pictures back up my question above. It's not about the windows as much as the siding. How is metal siding supposed to be installed to avoid this situation? Water can get under the siding (between siding and J channel) and trickle down inside the structure on a pole barn type build. It's not like the sheathed buildings with wrap, that can shed water down. Once it's on the inside of the metal, it is in the building. Or in your case, absorbed in the insulation.
Back to my question above, how do you seal metal siding around j channel windows on a pole barn?