Water intrusion is water getting into places in a masonry structure it isn't supposed to reach, such as through cracked mortar, a failed chimney crown, or direct ground contact, where it can freeze, corrode, or damage materials the water was never meant to touch.
Masonry is built with specific paths for water to shed off of it or drain away from it: flashing, weep holes, coping, and properly sloped joints. Water intrusion happens when one of those defenses fails, whether it's a cracked chimney crown letting rain into the flue, a missing weep hole trapping water in a wall cavity, or grading that pitches water toward a foundation instead of away from it.
In the Blue Ridge foothills, water intrusion is the root cause behind most of the calls we get, because once water finds a way in, freeze-thaw cycles turn a small leak into a much bigger structural problem within a season or two. Water can travel a surprising distance from where it enters before it shows up as a stain or soft spot, which is why visible damage is often not directly above or below the actual entry point. Tracking down where the water is actually getting in, not just patching where it's showing up, is most of the job.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
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