Window, Door, Siding and Exterior Problems
The exterior envelope fails at joints: window and door perimeters, siding penetrations, kick-out flashing and mortar joints. Failures show up first as drafts, stains and paint problems, and later as rot inside the wall assembly. Fixing the water path always precedes cosmetic repair. A drafty window is usually a failed perimeter seal or worn weatherstripping rather than bad glass, and fog trapped between panes means the insulated glass unit has lost its seal — the sash can often be reglazed instead of replacing the whole window. On the cladding side, warped or loose siding, cracked stucco and crumbling mortar joints all let bulk water behind the surface, where it soaks sheathing and framing long before anything shows indoors. Work from the top down when you inspect: roof edge and kick-out flashing first, then head flashing over openings, then the wall surface, then the ground plane and grade. Because most of these repairs are weather-dependent and involve working at height, they are seasonal jobs worth scheduling before winter rather than after the first leak.
Windows
Drafts, fogging, condensation and leaks.
Windows, Doors & Exterior questions homeowners ask
Why is there fog inside my double-pane window?
The insulating glass unit's perimeter seal has failed and the inert gas fill has escaped. Only glass-unit replacement fixes it; defogging services do not restore the seal or the R-value.
Is white powder on my brick a problem?
Efflorescence is a salt deposit left when water moves through masonry and evaporates. The powder is harmless, but the water path that produced it is not.