Rain crossed joints in the outer cladding
The exterior finish was not expected to stop every drop.
↓House Autopsy · exterior-walls
The wall blister fed by missing drainage
Water behind cladding reached an interior finish because the wall lacked a continuous drainage path.
Trigger conditionrepeated wind-driven rain
Four layers, one connected story.
No continuous layer redirected the water
Openings and discontinuities allowed inward transport.
↓Sheathing and finish layers stayed wet
Low drying potential increased the duration of exposure.
↓Selective opening revealed the missing path
Surface repainting had repeatedly failed because the controlling layer was behind it.
Canonical connection
The symptom and cause are separate objects.
The autopsy preserves how evidence connected them without collapsing uncertainty into one magic answer.
Water behind cladding reached an interior finish because the wall lacked a continuous drainage path.
The visible symptom was the final chapter
The investigation followed the source, transport path, affected material and verification step separately.
What changed the direction
Timing and location evidence ruled out attractive but weaker explanations before repair work began.
The durable lesson
Repair the controlling source and then verify the outcome under the conditions that previously triggered the symptom.
Source→Path→Damage→Verify
