Brick Porch Water Intrusion - Sealer?

[Chocaholic]

House has an elevated brick porch with little/no overhang. We’re getting water seepage into the crawl space immediately below the front door and porch. I’ve had the mortar professionally tuck-pointed to no avail. Following a recent rainstorm I went into the crawl space and could see water dripping. So, it’s getting through the brick/mortar.

I’m wondering if there is a durable exterior sealant that I can use to seal the porch. Appreciate any ideas.

[masraum]

I'm no expert, but thinking out-loud.

Are there any cracks anywhere?

Where is it dripping, near the junction of the house and porch? (I think that's what you're describing)

How about issues around the front door, maybe at the sill/threshold?

Is it possible that it's getting inside the wall and running down?

[Chocaholic]

The sill was my initial thought too as water can hit the front door and run down. So I thoroughly caulked around the sill with mortar caulk and then covered that with silicone. Did that several weeks ago to no avail. The roof and gutters are relatively new. Because it’s an older house, my next thought was to seal the brick-mortar work in the area.

[look 171]

Pic?

I bet its coming from under the foundation. Lot of times, it may just need to slop the soil to take care of most of the water issues.

[A930Rocket]

We had something similar happened to a house we built. We ended up taking the brick off the stoop and re-flashing it with vinyl, between the stoop and the house. Also, make sure that we had a good fall on the stoop.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

I went into the crawl space and could see water dripping.

From above, the chimney flashing->roof->walls->floor->crawlspace are all possibly suspect.
Don't leave anything out.

Gutters need to point downhill past the foundation. Then you are all good and can rule them out.

Or ground level, grading must be done if there is a hill above.
There must be a way to divert uphill water flow.
That might include natural springs.
Put in diversion walls and/or channels around the house.
Ditches and pipes and barriers.

"Dripping" should not happen.

[Chocaholic]

Apologies for not being clear. The porch is probably 5 feet above ground level. Inside the crawl space, I must look up to see the water ingress.

From outside:



From in crawl space, directly below front door:



Note…pics were taken prior to tuck-pointing to repair all mortar gaps.

[Chocaholic]

[john70t]

Spray that down with 10%+ bleach to kill mold. More than once. How about a few years.

The interior mortar job looks like ****. Same as the porch sides.
The exterior might be the same.
But the intrusion is at the sill plate...

I'm guessing the entire front entrance area needs positive surface grading.
A lot of plants and dirt need to be moved.
Sorry. That's what it looks like. My mom's old house looked almost the same.

To be sure...the sill/foundation must be 12-14" above ground level to prevent termites/carpenter ants from accessing any available wood.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Apologies for not being clear. The porch is probably 5 feet above ground level. Inside the crawl space, I must look up to see the water ingress.

From outside:



From in crawl space, directly below front door:



Note…pics were taken prior to tuck-pointing to repair all mortar gaps.

I cured a similar problem by putting a roof over the porch...seriously.

[Chocaholic]

Funny you mention that Flatty. That's in the plans but I have this nightmare that we'll do that only to still have water entering. We're in a pseudo-historic district so everything has to be approved. We've submitted a plan to build a front porch, but actually doing so is probably going to be a winter project soonest.

[Zeke]

Every door opening I have encountered over an open space below has leaked eventually. The fix is to remove the exterior floor, be that brick or asphalt and redo the membrane up and over the threshold/sill to the inside of the door. And create a pan at that. Or use a pan over the membrane.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Every door opening I have encountered over an open space below has leaked eventually. The fix is to remove the exterior floor, be that brick or asphalt and redo the membrane up and over the threshold/sill to the inside of the door. And create a pan at that. Or use a pan over the membrane.

That makes good sense. Who does that kind of work? A brick mason?

[A930Rocket]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

That makes good sense. Who does that kind of work? A brick mason?

That’s who we used, in addition to ourselves replacing rotted wood.

I don’t think in the long run, a sealer will fix the problem.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

That makes good sense. Who does that kind of work? A brick mason?

Waterproofing contractor and then a mason.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Every door opening I have encountered over an open space below has leaked eventually. The fix is to remove the exterior floor, be that brick or asphalt and redo the membrane up and over the threshold/sill to the inside of the door. And create a pan at that. Or use a pan over the membrane.

That will fix it for sure but it will cost a bit of money.

Looking at the pic, I am wondering if there's slope on the exterior brick floor?