New Construction Defect – Nails Through Window Frames

A common question on inspection is, “what are you looking for?”.  Often, I can answer this question based upon the systems being inspected, but there are some cases where you are just looking for something that is not supposed to be there.  Such is the case with nail damage in window frames.  This is not something we find a lot of, but occasionally we do and the consequences can be damaging to the building.  In this photograph you can see a nail through the bottom of a self-bailing vinyl window frame.  The frame is designed to collect water at the bottom of the frame and contain it until it can drain it out to the exterior of the building through drain openings at the lower corners of the frame.  In this case a nail in the bottom of the frame will eventually result in water entry to the wall below.  On inspections of new construction, we open windows we have ready access to inspect for this type of damage.  More often we find that the nails used to secure the trim or window are driven into the window frame from the outside.