What could be causing this? (The Woodlands: mover, house, mold)

[usulbaggins]

So we bought a house in The Woodlands about a month ago. Couple days ago I noticed a discoloration in the exterior stone veneer which looks - to my layman eyes - to be dampness. This is right by one of the drain pipes. Am I seeing this right or am I missing something? Is there anything I should be doing about this other than to make sure there are no drainage issues? Who should I call? A mason, gutter guy, handyman?

Hopefully the attached picture makes what I am trying to say clear. Remember this is after weeks of no rain.

[ottc777]

does look damp... and there's even black dirt\mold on the side.

may be a stretch but is the gutter clogged?

how high does the dampness go up? all the way up the house?

[DSL_PWR]

more than likely the gutter connection is leaking and causing morning dew to run down the wall. I'd check the gutter connection.

[mikeyyc]

It's been doing it for a while, based on the mildew. Is your downspout clogged? It may be holding water and it's gradually leaking out.

[usulbaggins]

Ok....I am suspecting the gutter as well. Will go clean that up. Its the Woodlands....so with all the pine needles, there's never a clean gutter. Other than making sure the downspout/gutter's fine...what else? How do I clean the mildew? Just a hard scrub with Lysol? Forgive me if I sound like a total clueless moron. When it comes to something like this, I really am.

As for how high it goes....all the way up the wall to the connection of the gutter and the downspout.

[mikeyyc]

You can get a mildew remover. Costco/HD/Lowes should have it. It's a spray on and ignore deal. It works well. Wet & Forget 0.5 gal. Moss Mold Mildew and Algae Stain Remover-800003 - The Home Depot

First fix your problem. It's probably plugged and holding water, which is seeping out the joints/seams.

[marksmu]

Check around your other gutters...its possible that your gutters were installed before your builder had a chance to acid wash the stone there....If that is the case, they would all look the same. Otherwise I agree with the other posters, to check your gutters.

[usulbaggins]

Originally Posted by marksmu

Check around your other gutters...its possible that your gutters were installed before your builder had a chance to acid wash the stone there....If that is the case, they would all look the same. Otherwise I agree with the other posters, to check your gutters.

I am sure the gutters could use cleaning but this is the only place where I have seen this behavior.

mikeyyc, thanks for the mildew remover link.

[usulbaggins]

ok.....quick update. Gutters look fine. No blocks, clutter, standing water or seepage. So it is just water splashing over. Looks like a larger downspout or some gutter re-design is called for.

I am also of the opinion that it is not this stone which is discolored as much as the rest of the wall which needs a powerwash. The water splashing over is keeping this corner clean. If I just powerwash the rest of the walls....the grout would get cleaned and the rest of the walls would look the same color as well. We'll see.

[usulbaggins]

Originally Posted by usulbaggins

ok.....quick update. Gutters look fine. No blocks, clutter, standing water or seepage. So it is just water splashing over. Looks like a larger downspout or some gutter re-design is called for.

I am also of the opinion that it is not this stone which is discolored as much as the rest of the wall which needs a powerwash. The water splashing over is keeping this corner clean. If I just powerwash the rest of the walls....the grout would get cleaned and the rest of the walls would look the same color as well. We'll see.

Ok, I wanted to come back and update this thread. Larger downspout did not help. I want to run another scenario by the people on the forum. In the attached picture you can see there is no flashing on the left side above the porch. Could that be the problem? Should there be flashing there or is that a no no with stone veneer?

There is flashing on the right side (barely visible in the picture) and we have no such problems on that side.