Far North Dallas patio homes of 90s vintage. Neighbor claims sprinkler in flower bed is soaking through to his sheet rock.

It very well may be. I went into his house as contractor was there replacing it and it was definitely colder in one area as if it was damp.

Then went and checked sprinkler heads and one in the area of the leaking was definitely aimed incorrectly so I adjusted the 180 deg fan towards the flower bed and away from his exterior wall. Previously one edge of the fan was hitting the brick. Flower bed level is 3-4 inches below his foundation and weep holes.

So what else can be done? I mean sprinklers go off and the brick wall is 6 inches away and it tends to get wet even if there's no direct stream aimed at the wall. Should his brick wall be waterproof? Could I paint his wall with elastomeric paint to seal it or...?

I'd like to bury the sprinkler system but that's not free. I guess I could lean a gypsum panel against his house- no one can see it but me?

Is he correct that it's my responsibility? Any ideas? Thanks

Good fences. Make great neighbors

Cap that particular sprinkler off if you don't mind hand watering the flower bed or convert that sprinkler head to a drip line. You can get conversion kits for $15-25.

Can you post a pic of the flower bed?


Is it above the weep holes in the brick ?

What is the grading like on the bed?

A lawyer can answer those sort questions better than others but then the solution might sloooooow down.

Best guess is that builder did not properly seal "forever" the outer stud wall layer (think raincoat); the next outer layer would be air space, then back of brick (fired but not waterproofed = SOP).
Therefore, when moisture penetrates and ruins gyp.bd layer interior (not to mention insulation to be replaced ASAP) ... the water is tested to see if it's rainwater or City water to cast blame. You confess partly - if not - wholly to blame as to water source.

Suggest any solution be with your neighbor's participation, so only the builder remains with any future finger pointing.

• Sealing would mean the whole wall so that even Nature causes are mitigated + Owner participation
• Check for gutter leaks nearby (if any) as some patio homes have tiny overhangs; needs a gutter, perhaps
• Get a more narrow direction spray head & yes, put a waterproof backstop on it that even a blowing rain can't force YOUR water into his wall
• Redesign that area: could be arid/desert plants & rocks, perhaps sprinkler head abandoned or fitted to an area drip feed; use metal edge borders = less to mow
• Check YOUR zero wall side for similar potential problems and discuss with that other neighbor why your wall escaped this same fate = learning to share

More to read: CadetJay coverted sprinkler head to bubblers/drip?
https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/3291200

There shouldn't be any moisture transfer from the brick unless their house has no moisture barrier. Thats on them to fix. Rain will do the same thing as a sprinker in getting exterior brick wet.

so, i'm no expert here, but I would think if there is that level of water damage to his interior sheetrock, unless your sprinkler is spraying directly through a weep hole and hitting/damaging the house wrap due to direct water spray, I wouldn't think the level of water put out to water flower beds should give a functional wall assembly any problems.

The way his wall should be built is he has the brick, then a 1" air gap, then some form of vapor barrier (either tar paper or a tyvek type product), then either a sheathing, or it could be directly on the studs, followed by insulated framing, finally his sheetrock. Brick is naturally porous & permeable so it is expected that water will be soaked up by a brick wall and the evaporate from both the inside and outside face of it. This is why the air gap is important because liquid water that makes it through should drip to the bottom and exit the weep holes at the bottom, and water vapor should rise and exit the top through some form of ventilation space. So unless your sprinkler is running an insane amount of water, or is unluckily lined up to perfectly shoot a stream through a weep hole, hitting and damaging the house wrap layer, his wall in functional shape should have no problem handling the water from your sprinkler. and i'm no lawyer but his wall taking water damage from your sprinkler because his wall is in non-functional condition doesn't seem like your problem.

as far as solutions, water proofing the brick in one place would likely make the problem worse because it would force that section of brick to dry inwards when the brick gets wet. brick walls are designed to get wet and handle large amounts of moisture

not to be a jerk neighbor, but if he is getting that level of moisture into his wall cavity, he should investigate further because he likely has a major problem somewhere, and its not your sprinkler.

Wait, he wants to sue you as the contractor because his house isn't built right?

Am I understanding the Op?

i read that sentence as when the neighbor had a contractor there replacing the water damaged sheetrock OP went over and saw the damage himself. and now the neighbor is saying that the damage is OP's responsibility since it was his sprinkler that caused the damage

BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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i read that sentence as when the neighbor had a contractor there replacing the water damaged sheetrock OP went over and saw the damage himself. and now the neighbor is saying that the damage is OP's responsibility since it was his sprinkler that caused the damage

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Oof. Ok. That makes a bit more sense. Either way, it should not leak from that. There is a vapor barrier, as stated in the thread already. If it were me, I'd do no more than what you had and also I'd suggest he start checking his house and roof for leaks. If his house was built right (and he can tear that apart at his expense) then it's not leaking there.

I'd bet he's got a pinhole leak in a line in the wall somewhere. Did he moisture test it? Moisture meters are cheap and available at Home Depot. If the moisture dries up between watering, maybe he has a case but I don't think so.

Y'all are awesome. Thanks for all the info.

I fealt all along that he should have a wall that doesn't let water in and I believe everyone pretty much confirmed that.

Where I do feel responsible is that some spray is getting on his brick. Crossing the property line so to speak.

I think the easiest thing to do is prob convert the spray heads on the posts to drip lines. There's monkey grass and some shrubs and a tree in that bed so the lines will be mostly hidden. As to whether or not they provide enough water I guess we shall see.

Thanks again for all the input.

80sGeorge said:

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Y'all are awesome. Thanks for all the info.

I fealt all along that he should have a wall that doesn't let water in and I believe everyone pretty much confirmed that.

Where I do feel responsible is that some spray is getting on his brick. Crossing the property line so to speak.

I think the easiest thing to do is prob convert the spray heads on the posts to drip lines. There's monkey grass and some shrubs and a tree in that bed so the lines will be mostly hidden. As to whether or not they provide enough water I guess we shall see.

Thanks again for all the input.

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The heads are cheap and easy to replace. Get one that lets you control the spray in a 0-360 angle. Crank the top screw down to control distance and your set. Bubblers/drips dont work great for any type of area watering.

Toro 570 10 ft. Adjustable 0-360 Nozzle (2-Pack)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Toro-570-10-ft-Adjustable-0-360-Nozzle-2-Pack-53735/100340927
SKU# 100340927

80sGeorge said:

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Y'all are awesome. Thanks for all the info.

I fealt all along that he should have a wall that doesn't let water in and I believe everyone pretty much confirmed that.

Where I do feel responsible is that some spray is getting on his brick. Crossing the property line so to speak.

I think the easiest thing to do is prob convert the spray heads on the posts to drip lines. There's monkey grass and some shrubs and a tree in that bed so the lines will be mostly hidden. As to whether or not they provide enough water I guess we shall see.

Thanks again for all the input.

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Drippers are far more efficient and they come in many follow rates. If you damaged his brick, like hard water stains, I'd possible offer to clean that, but then again, and neighbor that approached me out of the gate with a lawsuit is probably isn't even going to warrant a middle finger from me in terms of action outside of adjusting my sprinkler.

There's a little bit of moldy green tint where the one head was improperly aimed. None of the other 4 sprayers have the same results- brick looks fine down low and matches up above.

The brick is a lighter tan so mineral deposits, if any, don't really stand out. I'm sure after decades there are some but it blends in.

I may spray some Oxy on the moldy tinted areas to try and clean it up.

There's a larger unrelated issue that these guys had and I kinda feel for them. Basically a caretaker flooded part of the house and they had to move out and replace brand new wood floors that were just put in when they moved in and renovated last year.

I don't really like that their GC stopped me and my kids on our way to church yesterday morning to tell me that if any water hits their wall they are going to sue. Just get back in your Lexus lady and let us go and I'll address it.

Sure sounds like they're just mad and complaining, and the GC just passed along the story.

I'd defer to an attorney, but people can file a lawsuit for just about any reason, but doesn't mean it's a good idea. It would cost them some money, time, and effort. Between talking to their attorney and given some time to cool off, they may realize it's not in their interest to sue. I'd just let it lie before I said or did anything.

ETA - quite interesting that they've already had a water event here. Calls much into question.

It was in a diff part of the house. Caretaker got distracted and didn't notice a utility room sink backing up and overflowing until it soaked the floors and you can't just replace some wood of course.

So many times lies are used to coverup the liar's own mistakes and trespasses ... else used to compete unfairly & with no sweat invested.

So I am reading the GC was forced to repair free (or at cost), casting blame on others (you & yours).
Those that worship money so greatly cut corners and "lose it" on the others they blame/bully to mitigate losses past & future.

Glad you elected to stay even further .... empirically innocent
with a new garden & watering plan.

In time, there will be subtle opportunities for your neighbor to be educated in show & tell proper construction methods. If others have this same problem, please share with all ... esp. if this GC was involved.

80sGeorge said:

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There's a little bit of moldy green tint where the one head was improperly aimed. None of the other 4 sprayers have the same results- brick looks fine down low and matches up above.

The brick is a lighter tan so mineral deposits, if any, don't really stand out. I'm sure after decades there are some but it blends in.

I may spray some Oxy on the moldy tinted areas to try and clean it up.

There's a larger unrelated issue that these guys had and I kinda feel for them. Basically a caretaker flooded part of the house and they had to move out and replace brand new wood floors that were just put in when they moved in and renovated last year.

I don't really like that their GC stopped me and my kids on our way to church yesterday morning to tell me that if any water hits their wall they are going to sue. Just get back in your Lexus lady and let us go and I'll address it.

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not a lawyer, but if they are already threatening a lawsuit, i would think I would not do anything at all to remedy a problem on their property until the whole complaint is resolved. basically nothing the could be construed as you conceding that you caused any harm to their property. i'ts a bit of a jerk move, but if they are already talking lawsuit it may be the only way. Basically, i wouldn't do anything (other than adjust sprinklers on my property) until there is something in writing saying if you do x, they release any further claim against you related to y. just my 2 cents

I think there was a GC involved in the flood repair because it was the same one that did their renovations a year ago and I bet this was covered by insurance- either the caretakers or their own home owners. Don't really care. Just don't stop me as I'm driving away with kids at 10am on a Sunday obviously on our way to services and want to talk about lawsuits and water on exterior brick walls.

I have no idea what the case law is in this situation but I would common sense think it'll boil down to your spray is crossing our property line whether or not the wall is in good shape or not.

Good point on the indemnification. I do want to do something to show I'm making a good faith effort to address this one area. The house has perfectly good gutters and what looks like a metal type roof in good shape. I'm told the previous owner had issues with leaks in this area but never blamed our sprinklers- basically realized it was their responsibility.

What if it was the sprinklers all along?? Who knows. I'll put in drips and tell them any more leaks are on them.

80sGeorge said:

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I think there was a GC involved in the flood repair because it was the same one that did their renovations a year ago and I bet this was covered by insurance- either the caretakers or their own home owners. Don't really care. Just don't stop me as I'm driving away with kids at 10am on a Sunday obviously on our way to services and want to talk about lawsuits and water on exterior brick walls.

I have no idea what the case law is in this situation but I would common sense think it'll boil down to your spray is crossing our property line whether or not the wall is in good shape or not.

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i don't think that is necessarily the case. because if their wall was in functioning shape, there is not reasonable expectation that a bit of water from your sprinkler would to damage their property. and if the wall is no in functional shape, how do they know it was from your sprinkler specifically and not from general rainwater intrusion? basically, to be held truly liable, i imagine they would have to show not just that your sprinkler water hit their house, but that it specifically was the cause of the damage (tort law so i believe preponderance of evidence is the standard). I think what is being said here is that if their wall is not damaged, there is no physical way your sprinkler should be able to do that much damage, and if their wall is damaged, its going to be tough to prove it was your sprinkler specifically that did it and not just general exposure to the elements.

I'd have been full stop when the word "lawsuit" came out of his mouth.

I wouldn't do a single thing. You offer to clean his brick, you change your sprinkler design, he'll see that as a defacto admission of guilt. Do nothing.

If you do change that one sprinkler head, do not convert it to drip line when the rest of the zone is still on spray heads. You can adjust the spray radius if the spray head you currently have or replace it with another similar one that has a smaller radius. Sprinkler heads vs drip line have different pressure requirements and application rates, so mixing the two in the same zone won't work well.

BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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so, i'm no expert here, but I would think if there is that level of water damage to his interior sheetrock, unless your sprinkler is spraying directly through a weep hole and hitting/damaging the house wrap due to direct water spray, I wouldn't think the level of water put out to water flower beds should give a functional wall assembly any problems.

The way his wall should be built is he has the brick, then a 1" air gap, then some form of vapor barrier (either tar paper or a tyvek type product), then either a sheathing, or it could be directly on the studs, followed by insulated framing, finally his sheetrock. Brick is naturally porous & permeable so it is expected that water will be soaked up by a brick wall and the evaporate from both the inside and outside face of it. This is why the air gap is important because liquid water that makes it through should drip to the bottom and exit the weep holes at the bottom, and water vapor should rise and exit the top through some form of ventilation space. So unless your sprinkler is running an insane amount of water, or is unluckily lined up to perfectly shoot a stream through a weep hole, hitting and damaging the house wrap layer, his wall in functional shape should have no problem handling the water from your sprinkler. and i'm no lawyer but his wall taking water damage from your sprinkler because his wall is in non-functional condition doesn't seem like your problem.

as far as solutions, water proofing the brick in one place would likely make the problem worse because it would force that section of brick to dry inwards when the brick gets wet. brick walls are designed to get wet and handle large amounts of moisture

not to be a jerk neighbor, but if he is getting that level of moisture into his wall cavity, he should investigate further because he likely has a major problem somewhere, and its not your sprinkler.

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Who knows. I fixed a house where the wall, base and wood floor were all ruined by sprinklers and rain.

The cause was the house was built before mortar nets were really a thing and the mortar was falling behind the brick and actually piled up above the weep holes. So, every time it rained or the sprinklers came on, water would go down the sheathing/waterproofing and some would go in.

Sprinklers are a pretty common cause of water intrusion, especially on the homes like the op is describing.

Agthatbuilds said:

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BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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so, i'm no expert here, but I would think if there is that level of water damage to his interior sheetrock, unless your sprinkler is spraying directly through a weep hole and hitting/damaging the house wrap due to direct water spray, I wouldn't think the level of water put out to water flower beds should give a functional wall assembly any problems.

The way his wall should be built is he has the brick, then a 1" air gap, then some form of vapor barrier (either tar paper or a tyvek type product), then either a sheathing, or it could be directly on the studs, followed by insulated framing, finally his sheetrock. Brick is naturally porous & permeable so it is expected that water will be soaked up by a brick wall and the evaporate from both the inside and outside face of it. This is why the air gap is important because liquid water that makes it through should drip to the bottom and exit the weep holes at the bottom, and water vapor should rise and exit the top through some form of ventilation space. So unless your sprinkler is running an insane amount of water, or is unluckily lined up to perfectly shoot a stream through a weep hole, hitting and damaging the house wrap layer, his wall in functional shape should have no problem handling the water from your sprinkler. and i'm no lawyer but his wall taking water damage from your sprinkler because his wall is in non-functional condition doesn't seem like your problem.

as far as solutions, water proofing the brick in one place would likely make the problem worse because it would force that section of brick to dry inwards when the brick gets wet. brick walls are designed to get wet and handle large amounts of moisture

not to be a jerk neighbor, but if he is getting that level of moisture into his wall cavity, he should investigate further because he likely has a major problem somewhere, and its not your sprinkler.

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Who knows. I fixed a house where the wall, base and wood floor were all ruined by sprinklers and rain.

The cause was the house was built before mortar nets were really a thing and the mortar was falling behind the brick and actually piled up above the weep holes. So, every time it rained or the sprinklers came on, water would go down the sheathing/waterproofing and some would go in.

Sprinklers are a pretty common cause of water intrusion, especially on the homes like the op is describing.

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that house wasn't ruined by sprinklers and rain. it was ruined by bad building practices improperly constructing the water control portion of the wall assembly. That would would be like leaving your windows wide open during a storm and then blaming the storm for your water damaged wood floors. if you don't build a proper water control layer then you shouldn't have an expectation that you avoid water damage

BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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Agthatbuilds said:

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BlackGoldAg2011 said:

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so, i'm no expert here, but I would think if there is that level of water damage to his interior sheetrock, unless your sprinkler is spraying directly through a weep hole and hitting/damaging the house wrap due to direct water spray, I wouldn't think the level of water put out to water flower beds should give a functional wall assembly any problems.

The way his wall should be built is he has the brick, then a 1" air gap, then some form of vapor barrier (either tar paper or a tyvek type product), then either a sheathing, or it could be directly on the studs, followed by insulated framing, finally his sheetrock. Brick is naturally porous & permeable so it is expected that water will be soaked up by a brick wall and the evaporate from both the inside and outside face of it. This is why the air gap is important because liquid water that makes it through should drip to the bottom and exit the weep holes at the bottom, and water vapor should rise and exit the top through some form of ventilation space. So unless your sprinkler is running an insane amount of water, or is unluckily lined up to perfectly shoot a stream through a weep hole, hitting and damaging the house wrap layer, his wall in functional shape should have no problem handling the water from your sprinkler. and i'm no lawyer but his wall taking water damage from your sprinkler because his wall is in non-functional condition doesn't seem like your problem.

as far as solutions, water proofing the brick in one place would likely make the problem worse because it would force that section of brick to dry inwards when the brick gets wet. brick walls are designed to get wet and handle large amounts of moisture

not to be a jerk neighbor, but if he is getting that level of moisture into his wall cavity, he should investigate further because he likely has a major problem somewhere, and its not your sprinkler.

---

Who knows. I fixed a house where the wall, base and wood floor were all ruined by sprinklers and rain.

The cause was the house was built before mortar nets were really a thing and the mortar was falling behind the brick and actually piled up above the weep holes. So, every time it rained or the sprinklers came on, water would go down the sheathing/waterproofing and some would go in.

Sprinklers are a pretty common cause of water intrusion, especially on the homes like the op is describing.

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that house wasn't ruined by sprinklers and rain. it was ruined by bad building practices improperly constructing the water control portion of the wall assembly. That would would be like leaving your windows wide open during a storm and then blaming the storm for your water damaged wood floors. if you don't build a proper water control layer then you shouldn't have an expectation that you avoid water damage

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With all due respect, it was both. The water from the sprinkler would have eventually caused the same damage because of how it was spraying the wall. Further, the building products used for water proofing purposes at the time the home was built had all disintegrated and were no longer providing any protection.

Essentially, remove the sprinkler spray, you probably wouldn't have a problem. On the flip side, if there's no mortar build up, you probably also wouldn't have had much of an issue.

Obviously, not controlling for water and vapor is a big issue. When I see these production homes being built with sub optimal water and vapor control, I have a mini heart attack.


Any homeowner should take great care to avoid having sprinklers spray their house as much as they can. I commonly come across interior water damage caused by overspray from sprinklers.

I also add, if you're building a house now with a masonry cladding, make sure you builder uses a mortar net to avoid issue like the house I described.