Full Frame Window Replacement from Interior Only?

[ChrisPowers]

Living room wall openings (below window):

Living Room Wall Opening Below Window 01 (with Markup).jpg

Hadn't opened the second panel yet at the time of taking this picture

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Living Room Wall Opening Below Window Close-Up 01.jpg

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Living Room Wall Opening Below Window 02 (Close-Up).jpg

(not visible in wide shot)

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The location of that second panel (the last photo above) is where I measured the first large crack in the expansion joint caulking on the exterior wall to be. I wanted to see if it was letting water in or not (certainly appears to be to me).

[ChrisPowers]

Bedroom window (upstairs):

Bedroom Wall Opening Alongside Window 01.jpg

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Bedroom Wall Opening Alongside Window Close-Up 01.jpg

This is the bottom-right most panel in the photo above

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[ChrisPowers]

Faulty caulking on expansion joints in exterior of living room (floor level):

Cracks in Expansion Joint Caulk Outside 3rd Floor Window (with Markup).jpg

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Cracks in Expansion Joint Caulk Outside 3rd Floor Window (Zoomed).jpg

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[ChrisPowers]

Some shots of the exterior looking up from the living room window (expansion joint would be at bedroom floor level):

Holes in Expansion Joint Caulk Directly Above Living Room Window, Bent Roof Flashing 01.jpg

All roofers and contractors who've looked have declared the bent roof flashing here to not be a problem. Hey, whatever.

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Holes in Expansion Joint Caulk Directly Above Living Room Window Close-Up 01.jpg

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[ChrisPowers]

Last set. Small holes in caulking directly below the living room or bedroom window (can't remember which):

Holes in Expansion Joint Caulk Directly Below Window 01.jpg

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Holes in Expansion Joint Caulk Directly Below Window 02.jpg

When pressed, these holes ejected water on this rainy day.

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[Windows on Washington]

I have yanked out Andersen casements for years.

Nothing about the location of the water staining, the water on the back of the exterior sheathing, or the lack of any visible rot in the sill (although not pictured) tells me this is a window issue.

That said, the windows are probably due for replacement based on some of the age I see in them, but this is definitely not a window issue alone and do not expect this situation to resolve itself with a window change alone.

[Windows on Washington]

Any pictures of the sills? If the sills were rotted, one could make a possible argument that the water could infiltrate via that area, but everything I see here says STUCCO is the culprit. Especially this kind of fake stucco system without proper z-bar flashings.

[ChrisPowers]

Hey man,

Thanks for responding. I did not take any photos over the weekend, but I found a few more that might be useful. When you say sill, you mean the interior wooden window sill? There should be at least a couple where that is visible in the photos I uploaded. I managed to find a few more that show the bottom of the window frame, but not necessarily the full sill. I also attached a photo of water coming in from the top of the kitchen window, literally just leaking through the old weatherstripping, I suspect. If you'd like some wider shots of the sills, let me know and I'll take them tonight.

Kitchen Window Bottom Frame Water Infiltration 01.jpg

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Kitchen Window Bottom Frame Water Infiltration 02.jpg

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Kitchen Window Upper Frame Water Infiltration 01.jpg

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[ChrisPowers]

One of the things complicating this is the fact that the windows downstairs, where the damage is worst, are directly below the upstairs windows, making it easy for them to claim the upstairs windows are letting water in and it's traveling down between the walls and destroying the windows downstairs. This is how they've managed to avoid taking responsibility for fixing even just the undeniably shoddy caulking job on the joints that is very clearly and visibly splitting open. "Fixing that can wait until the spring," according to the only contractor out of almost ten who's ever looked at the situation and blamed exclusively the windows--and who just happens to be the only contractor they've ever bothered to bring in to look at the problem.

In the meantime, I'm staring at the prospect of going all winter and into the spring with windows that leak like a sieve because they refuse to fix the caulking first, which is what I'd been waiting on before moving ahead with windows (and then checking for mold, and remediating the water damage, and painting the walls, and installing new floors, and, you know, furnishing and moving in to the apartment we now purchased seven months ago).

[HomeSealed]

but everything I see here says STUCCO is the culprit. Especially this kind of fake stucco system without proper z-bar flashings.

Agreed. Real hornet's nest here between the height, stucco, active leaking, etc. Please don't be offended by this, but most good contractors that aren't desperate for work (which is all of them) probably won't want to touch this. Just too many difficulties and future potential liability as this HOA is already trying to blame the windows... You are in a pretty tricky spot here.

[masterext]

Well said Homesealed. I would rather attack hell with a bucket of ice water.

[ChrisPowers]

This is all so encouraging.

I took a few shots of the downstairs window sills, as promised.

Kitchen first:

Kitchen Window Sill Wide Shot 01.jpg

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Kitchen Window Sill Close-Up 01.jpg

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Kitchen Window Sill Close-Up 02.jpg

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[ChrisPowers]

Living room window sill:

Living Room Window Sill Wide Shot 01.jpg

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Living Room Window Sill Close-Up 01.jpg

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Living Room Window Sill Close-Up 02.jpg

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[seiner96]

I can't offer much advice, but I agree with the previous posts. 99% of contractors don't want to touch this, even if they charge an absurd amount of money. It is a lot of headache, responsibility and you would need a real professional for the actual installation.

[HomeSealed]

Chris, I rarely ever recommend anything like this as it is really a last resort, but you may consider getting your homeowner's insurance involved. Then your insurance and that of the Condo assoc can hash things out in terms of who/what is really to blame, which will likely require some in depth and costly inspections.... For the fact that you have water damage inside your home (your responsibility) but the likely cause is the exterior cladding (COA responsibility), it could/should set up a showdown. Ultimately it would likely go that route anyway if you or someone you pay were to conclude the cause to be anything but the windows... Just a thought.