Water on windowsill

BoardsMember

Hi. Hoping someone can help with this. From time to time, we find our inside windowsill soaking wet, lots of standing water on it. What looks to be happening is the water is coming through the outside wall. Attached is a pic of the outside wall from this morning when the windowsill was wet.

I have put a red mark on the photo to show the location of a little pipe, I think this is probably the overflow, the tank is up in the attic of the return so that would seem to make sense. Would it be this that is causing it? What would be the cause of it happening from time to time? There is only about a 3 or 4 inch bit of pipe sticking out so my guess is, depending on wind direction or whatever causes the water to come out, the water is just dribbling down the wall, as the picture would seem to make quite clear.

The other possible cause/factor is that the gutter is pretty bad, it doesn't drain well, needs to be fixed/replaced.

Anyone sure about what is causing this, and more importantly, how do I fix it!

Thank,

BM.

murphaph

If the guttering is leaking you know the fix...replace or repair the guttering.

If the overflow is doing it then the tank is overfilling. The tank is filled by a ballcock. If the mechanism is seized or the float is punctured and full of water it won't close the valve and water will keep entering the tank and be spat straight out of the overflow.

It should be easy to get up into the attic and just listen/look at the ballcock to identify if it's constantly letting water into the tank. If so, replace/repair ballcock.

BoardsMember

murphaph wrote: »

If the guttering is leaking you know the fix...replace or repair the guttering.

If the overflow is doing it then the tank is overfilling. The tank is filled by a ballcock. If the mechanism is seized or the float is punctured and full of water it won't close the valve and water will keep entering the tank and be spat straight out of the overflow.

It should be easy to get up into the attic and just listen/look at the ballcock to identify if it's constantly letting water into the tank. If so, replace/repair ballcock.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think the issue is with the gutter, the picture is pretty damning re the source of the wet stain on the wall. If the ballcock is the issue, shouldn't the overflow be overflowing all the time? Can the heating system be part/linked into the overflow?

murphaph

Don't know. Not an expert. Go up into the attic and see if the valve is closing. It's easy to eliminate.

Wearb

murphaph wrote: »

Don't know. Not an expert. Go up into the attic and see if the valve is closing. It's easy to eliminate.

Make sure you know where to turn off the water if you intend touching the ballcock. Sometimes they can become so fragile that they break easily.