ᐅ Exterior wall of the structural shell damp – is this normal?

Created on: 9 Dec 2019 15:06
A
AnSe2019
Hello everyone,
Quick question. Is it normal for this much moisture to constantly pass through the wall? The roof with roofing felt has been completed for about 4 weeks. The windows have been installed for nearly 2 weeks, but there are no exterior window sills yet. Could it be that the rain is seeping through the brickwork and into the insulation behind it? We are simply unsettled by the amount of moisture. We have already asked a few people, and they said it is normal. The site manager also says it is normal, of course.

What do your garages look like at this time of year during the shell construction phase? I wonder how the plaster is supposed to hold if it is supposedly normal for that much moisture to come through. On the far left, you can see a small dry area for comparison.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.
Regards,
Andi

Unplastered interior with red brick wall, window, and exposed electrical installation.
Dr Hix10 Dec 2019 10:56
I would assume that this is simply condensation. The fogged-up window seems to confirm that, since at least the window should be "waterproof."

Looking at it from another perspective: What could be the cause of the dry spot? Does sunlight reach that area, is the masonry thicker or additionally insulated there, somehow protected, or does some heat come from somewhere?
L
Lumpi_LE
10 Dec 2019 10:57
Hard to imagine, unless a steam bath is being operated inside. There isn’t even a screed layer yet.
Dr Hix10 Dec 2019 11:05
If you experience several days of cold weather and the wall has cooled down accordingly, just one day of sunshine with suitable air temperatures can cause such a result.
Mycraft10 Dec 2019 11:29
A photo of the exterior would be interesting. However, as long as there are no window sills and plaster applied yet, the picture itself is nothing unusual. The masonry is wet because it had already absorbed quite a bit of moisture before the roof was installed, and the moisture cannot really escape since new moisture is coming in from both inside and outside.

Such a photo can mean nothing or everything.
A
AnSe2019
10 Dec 2019 11:59
First of all, thanks for the responses—at least the helpful ones.
The window is not fogged up; I did that because two neighbors were standing right behind it who might not have wanted to be photographed.
The wall in question is the wind and rain side, and the roof slopes toward that side as well. The gutter was only completed last week; before that, all the water ran down the wall, or it was diverted with hoses until the gutters were installed. On the other sides, everything is dry. One side is flush with the house, and the front where the gate is located doesn’t get rain directly (so no wind-driven rain hits there). On the left side, there is no window where water could enter from the outside. On the outside, there is brickwork with a few centimeters (inches) of an air gap in between. Because the window sill has not yet been installed, a lot of rainwater has run into the brickwork, specifically where the door and window are. I wondered if the moisture could have spread that far. The site manager said it really comes from the ceiling and the two openings, since it rained for several weeks and only recently the roofing felt was applied, sealing it. This allowed the concrete ceiling and the masonry above to absorb a lot of moisture. Applying the roofing felt directly wasn’t possible earlier because at least a couple of dry days were needed first.
Dr Hix10 Dec 2019 12:07
AnSe2019 schrieb:

The window is not fogged up; I did this because two neighbors were standing directly behind it who might not have wanted to be shown.