For the past couple of days I've noticed a mildewy smell when sitting on my couch in my living room & couldn't determine where it was coming from. I have just now noticed several pieces of rotted wood on the side of my house stretching from my living room to my bedroom (the two rooms are adjacent). I pulled my couch away from the wall and saw nothing unusual. I then pulled a vanity dresser away from the wall in my bedroom & it looks as if water has penetrated it (see attached photo). No mildew odor is present there – I only smell it in the living room.

Since I recently was laid off from my job, that makes me a single, unemployed female – a perfect target for an unscrupulous contractor. I'm not saying by any means that all contractors are unscrupulous, but it so happens that I've had the bad luck to encounter those few bad apples in 3 out of 4 contractors who have done work on my house in the past. I know there are good ones out there, though!

If I can do this job myself, I would definitely prefer to do so. I just took my dryer apart & fixed it myself last week, so I do have some mechanical inclination, but I have no idea what this type of job would entail. If anyone has any suggestions on where I should start or other advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Here are photos of the wall inside the bedroom and also of the wood that is rotted on the outside of the house in reference to the question I just posted -- sorry about that!

Hi lissa and welcome, I would guess the water is enter the wall around the window, probably the sill, anyway chaulk with exterior silicone to stop water. As to repairs on the outside wall just pry the rotten boards off and replace with like boards, checking for and rot on the plate. Inside wall looks like it may be lap and plaster, you may get by scraping off the loose plaster and trowell on new. Hang tight here they'll be some real experts chime in with some better advice. Good luck

Hi Parttime,Thanks for your help! What if there's mildew or mold inside of the wall? Should it be dried out & treated in some way before replacing the wood? Unfortunately, it is going to be raining here for the next couple of days, so if you or anyone else out there has an answer for me, I can wait a couple of days for any suggestions, as I can't do the work while it's raining anyway. Again, thanks for your kind response!

Agree with above. You will need to pull off and replace the outside boards.

I would remove the wet inside wall, pull out and replace any web or molding insulation ( assuming there is some inside wall, many older homes don't have any
Then putting and patching the inside wall

Ok,thanks so much for your help, Fr Chuck!

Ok,thanks so much for your help, Fr Chuck!

I am less optomistic and think the outside siding and the interior all need to go to the heap. If rain penetrated this siding , got through to the interior and then the drywall suface crack I would say it was not built correctly to begin with. I'd open the inside wall by removing an entire sheet of drywal just to get a good look inside. Since it is going to rain I'd tarp the outside for now to stop new water from entering as you inspect. Post pics of inside the wall if you take this route

Good advice so far. It probably is the window causing the problem and some exterior caulk may not cut it. Taking off the drywall and/or siding to get a better idea of where its getting in from is necessary. The window is probably exposed to wind blown rain and needs to have the siding removed around it and properly flashed. The pics look like the sill is at fault but it could easily be the header (top of window) as well.