Is the water coming THROUGH the walls, or through cracks in the blocks?

Are the walls insulated? My concern is that moisture is forming on the interior surface due to condensation on the cold interior surface...and is not coming from the exterior.

Has the exterior face of the block never been painted or finished?

I'm not sure if the water is coming through cracks or not. I can't see any cracks, but there might be tiny ones that I can't see.

The house was painted with house paint 4 years ago. There is no insulation in the walls.

There is a light coating of stucco over cinder block with furring strips on the inside, then the drywall. The house was built by a mason.

Where are you located, and is it cold? I'd almost bet my next paycheck that your walls are cold due to uninsulated masonry, and therefore:

When the warm air contacts the cold exterior wall, it MUST AND WILL give up the water in the air....and your walls will drip with the condensation. The fact that a mason built the structure does not change the laws of thermodynamics.

If your live in a climate where winters occur, this will be an ongoing problem. The solution is to build a wall against your exterior walls, with insulation and a vapor barrior.

This home must have huge energy bills, no?

I'm in New Jersey. We do get some minor condensation on interior walls and windows in cold weather.

But the leaking I am talking about is definitely due to rain. It only occurs a few times a year during heavy rain storms and when the wind is coming from a certain direction, hitting the most exposed areas of the house on one side. I can literally see the water coming from certain spots through the porous cinder block. This does not occur on areas that are painted on the interior and it seems to occur in the same spots.

My heating bills are high, but not terrible. We insulated the attic pretty well knowing we didn't have much in the walls.

Block walls can actually be a pretty good insulated part of the house. It's your windows, doors, other protrusions as well as the ceiling that is the most heat loss concern. You can re-point any areas that need it and use dry-lock masonry paint, but it's going to mean keeping that maintained often, more often than even what the mfgr recommends. You might consider a full wall awterproofing membrane followed by furring strips with foam board inbetween, then a siding such as fiber cement. Your window and door openings will need to be trimmed creatively after they are properly flashed. Any other protrusions such as electrical and water spiquets will have to be addressed as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: dry-lock

Amen to what Sierraeast said. Good product

What is fiber cement? And what type of contractors do this type of work?

>You might consider a full wall waterproofing membrane followed by furring strips with foam board inbetween, then a siding such as fiber cement.

I was thinking of dry-lock but I would need to paint the entire house with it.

I also was considering vinyl siding & board insulation. I assume there's some way of adding the siding to the exterior.

When you painted the block a few years ago, you shouldn't have used regular house paint. There is a specific way to paint unfinished concrete block. It starts with a sealer/primer and ends with an elastomeric finish coat. The water could be condensing inside the voids of the block and dripping through to the inside. The cold-side vapor barrier was created by using the wrong paint. It's a coincidence that it happens when it rains, because it also happens to be 100% humidity during that weather event. The vapor barrier needs to be created on the heated side. You could salvage the situation by painting the interior with vapor barrier paint, and caulking/sealing well any other areas where air moves out toward the walls.
Casey

If a leak could be found by chatting on the internet I would be a rich man.

LOL!
I lived in a concrete block house for a few years
when growing up.
the exterior walls got wet during the winter
and mildewed anything that was in contact with
them..and we have fairly mild winters.
best of luck

jb, we have a brick house and had the same problem with one wall. We couldn't figure out why the drywall under the window kept crumbling. Thought it was a window leak, a leak from the attic, etc. I got tired of repairing the drywall every few months, so we hired an inspector. he checked the roof, the attic, the window, etc. and concluded that the brick was porous (house was built in '38). We sprayed on a waterproofing product that was guaranteed to work for ten years (then you have to re-spray it). It's been seven years so far - no leak.

Long story short, I believe you that it is coming through the cinder block. Was this happening before you painted the outside?

Your gonna need a quality Sealer that can work on various terrains, since i don't know if your leak is coming from a concrete or Hardwood Flooring site.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sealers

colorcrazy...that was some
inspector!
he figured out that brick was porus!
what your problem really is ..
is lack of proper flashing or a
failed drainage plane under that brick.

ALL brick is porus as are concrete blocks.

neither are good insulators.(thus the condensation issues)

water proofing will need to be re-applied
in a few years.

and under stucco goes a stucco wrap which
goes over another layer of house wrap as the
stucco bonds to the wrap and the layer
behind it is the bond break.
these are better building practices nationwide.

best of luck

and under stucco goes a stucco wrap which
goes over another layer of house wrap as the
stucco bonds to the wrap and the layer
behind it is the bond break.

That's interesting. By "bond break", do you mean a layer which resists moisture and/or thermal conduction?

Does your description work with concrete block, in a four-seasons climate? That's probably what OP needs in NJ, but in FL the "scratch" coat of stucco goes directly on the rather rough faces of the block, and bonds very well. Despite the high humidity, condensation is not an issue.

I'm wondering if OP in NJ has ever had occasion to drill into his stucco (to attach shutters, handrails, etc.), and would be able to check for thickness, layering, etc... still sounds to me--at this point--that he's got a sub-par stucco job.

(I need to learn more about the Northern methods, as I've inherited a brick house w/ CIP concrete basement/foundation in PA...)

I have a similar issue with my brand new house in central florida (Melbourne). Two weeks after we moved in, there was a big thunder storm. Our house is two story with the first story concrete block and second is wood frame. We had water dampness in the garage concrete block. I called the builder and asked him to find the root cause. They claimed it was because the wrong type of flashing was used between the block and wood. So, they cut the stucco off carefully, removed the flashing, and applied the correct flashing, put peel and stick and then redid the stucco and painted. It was fine until today. We had another wind driven rain storm and I see some small dampness in the same garage wall on the concrete block. Yikes.

Someone please help!!!! The entire side of my house is made of cinder blocks and during rcent rains, I've had much water come inside the entire lenghth of the cinder block wall that includes several rooms as well as water entering the bassemwnt. What can I do? There's a strong smell (mildew/mold). Hurry with answers please.

I live in Florida where it rains more than half of the year. the house is built with cinder blocks. I have water leaking at the bottom where the sliding door and wall connect. When it rains, water filters through at the bottom of the door junction. I just got new drywall placed because of a previous leak from the window down. the house does have screws all around windows and doors to hang shutters. is it possible that the water is leaking through the screw holes? Would it be a roof problem? I need help to find out where is it coming from. Who should I contact and how can it be repaired? Thanks. I am a frustrated home owner