paint turning pink in garage

15 years ago

I am having a problem in my garage and I hope someone can help me. My garage is below a master bedroom that is about three feet shorter than the garage so there is a bit of roof right over the front of the garage and also on the sides of the garage.

A year ago the garage's ceiling paint bubbled and we started getting some water dripping in. I had a repair guy come out and he went on the roof with a hose (which is relatively new- roof was replaced in 2005) and he found that water was getting in between the vertical cedar siding and the horizontal trim. He caulked all the areas (I think) and water no longer came in. I had the ceiling repaired a few months later.

As soon as the ceiling was repaired I started getting water marks at the junction of the wall and the ceiling and down the corners of the garage. I called the guy back out and he came out and checked his work. He said the repair was fine and he didn't know what was going on. He then painted four walls of the garage at the junction of the ceiling and wall and said to monitor.

As soon as he did this I noticed that on days when it's very cold the paint turns PINK. As it gets somewhat warmer the pink goes away but there's a yellow tint to the paint and you can see all the brushstrokes. It's hard to tell if the areas are WET when they are pink b/c it's so cold out and the garage is not insulated.

I trust this guy since he has done all my other home repairs and he's even the one who did the roof and I have never had any problems. He just doesn't seem to know what is going on and I need help!

Any idea what is going on here?

Featured Answer

manhattan42

15 years ago

If I am reading the original poster's description correctly, the handyman did not install the original roof and was only called in to correct problems with it.

My experience also tells me the original roof installer did not properly flash the seam between the siding and the garage roof.....but caulking would never resolve poor flashing detail.

That said, Ron 6519 incorrectly states: "Insulation sealed in a wall cavity does not dry out, it stays wet and promotes mold growth."

This is not at all true.

Coventionally framed walls with drywall, paint, and insulation are indeed porous and readily allow drying through these materials.

What I suspect is happening is that the 'handyman' did not correct the leakage problems caused by the original roofer's poor flashing installation and that water is still entering the walls.

Some newer paints go on 'pink' or 'purple' when wet and dry to 'white'.

My guess is that such paints were used and when getting re-wetted are changing color.

The bottom line is that you likley need to have your roof and siding redone with proper flashing techniques installed.

Comments (7)

maryland_irisman
15 years ago
Without actually checking it out, I can only give you my best guess....it sounds to me there is water under the paint. The wall where water seeped in isn't dry. Giving the guy credit that did the repair, I think the water is probably left over from the original leak. I suspect the insulation is wet and gravity is pulling the water down out of the isulation and building material. The sheathing and framing is probably doing the same thing. Once it all dries out now that the leak has been repaired, it should go away. I think if the water freezes in there, you won't see any wetness and then it will reappear again on days when the ice thaws. I personally would open that area up (remove some ceiling) to give it an opportunity to dry faster. I wouldn't let a vehicle run in there since fumes may infiltrate into the room above. The quicker it dries, the less opportunity for mold growth.
ron6519
15 years ago
I disagree with maryland irisman. This guy sounds like a a handyman who did the roof incorrectly. Probably the flashing detail where the wall hits the roof line, but I don't know without opening some areas. How far over the roofing does the flashing cover where the wall hits the roof line? Are there any nails through the flashing?
Insulation sealed in a wall cavity does not dry out, it stays wet and promotes mold growth.
Two ways to diagnose the issue. Open the garage ceiling in the area of the leak to see where the water is coming from. Remove all the wet insulation you find and replace it when the leak is fixed. I would also remove the sheetrock in the master bedroom to make sure the wall cavity wasn't wet. If you remove the baseboard, you can cut a small hole behind it to see if it's wet. If it is, continue to open the wall until you get to a stud bay that's dry. Let it dry out before you close it up.
Was this siding original to the house? If so the flashing detail and what's underneath should have prevented water froom getting into the garage. If it was done correctly.
Ron
maryland_irisman
15 years ago
Ron,

I guess I gave the guy credit because I assumed from the post, he didn't do the roof, he was just looking for the leak. I agree, there's several reasons there would be water coming in and it could be any (or a combination) of them. I figure since the guy made a methodical approach to finding the source of the leak he was able to determine the leaky window frame was the culprit. I'm glad we both agree on why the paint is changing color and how mokster should go about finding the cause of the existing problem. I'm hoping it's as simple as I think it is. At least that is a good starting point.
maryland_irisman
15 years ago
oops, I just re-read the post....he did do the roof!!!! hmmmmmmmmm
ron6519
15 years ago
Op said:
"...and he's even the one who did the roof..."
Long before the wall cavity will dry out, mold will take hold. And since this is an ongoing problem, the wall cavity will not dry out until it's fixed because water is still getting in the house.
Ron
mightyanvil
15 years ago
I believe the OP said the garage is not insulated which is odd since the bedroom is above it.

If the repair guy tested the roof/wall intersection with a hose and found that there was water penetrating at the horizontal trim, I suspect that is still the problem. There should be flashing or an overlap of some kind where the siding is interrupted by horizontal trim and no amount of caulking will fix that for long.

Suggest to the guy that he remove the horizontal trim and reinstall it correctly. No sealant should be necessary. I would be suspicious of the weather/air barrier installation as well since it should have acted as a backup.

Then start looking for the extent of water damage as others have described. The mold will accelerate in warm weather so get it resolved before then.