My garage is an add on to what was a driveway.enclosed and vinyl siding. The outside wall is against a dirt bank and keeps getting water from outside when it rains. The bank has been filled in and the dirt is against the siding about 3 foot high. When it rains, I still get water down that one wall. I thought of putting a plastic or metal flange under the vinyl closest to the ground to guide the water from running down the siding and out to the ground area but I don't know if I'm on the right page with this problem. Any suggestions..... anyone?
leaky garage wall
- Thread starter lneedhelp
- Start date
atotalnincompoop
Well-known member
vinyl siding isn't a waterproof barrier. can you dig the dirt out and relandscape that area to drain the water away?
KELLHAMMER
Well-known member
The surrounding soil should be 6 to 8 inch below the wood frame portion the siding is attached to. And needs to slope away from the building on all sides. A picture of soil condition your speaking about would be helpful. There is no time soil should rise above the top of the concrete foundation in a standard framing condition an rest against vinyl siding. There are ways to have wood below below the top of soil, but they are tricky and expensive details
borgdog
Well-known member
When I bought my house the 20x40 detached garage had 2 walls that were built into the dirt bank, 4' high. Pole barn construction with t&g pt 2x6 as the retaining wall. might have worked fine for a while, but was 20 years old when i got it and rotted and leaking like a sieve. Had excavation done back 3' around those two sides and a block retaining wall installed, then tore off all the old yucky wood and put new framing and metal siding to match the rest. much better now. why someone thought they could get away with what they did is beyond me, but having lived here for a couple years and seeing what the prior/original owner did to the house I'm not surprised. cheap *******.
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
The only way to fix it, is to fix it properly. If you have a wood wall, covered in vinyl siding, and dirt up against it, you will have water, you may get termites, you may get carpenter ants, and you will surely get rot and mold from being damp. It should be dug out, a footer poured and either a block wall or solid concrete wall brought up above ground level, sealed, tiled, and backfilled with stone and landscaping fabric.