Damp and moisture meters
Weep holes above a window have been painted shut. What path for water has that closed, and what has it not proved about the wall ties?
It has closed the outlet from the cavity tray, and it has proved nothing about the wall ties. Weep holes above a window are the path that lets water caught by the tray drain to the outside. Paint across them shuts that path. The survey has recorded the closed weeps. It has not tested the ties, opened the cavity, or decided that the ties are sound or failed. A blocked outlet is a rainwater detail. Tie corrosion is a different mechanism, and paint on a hole does not investigate it.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Above many windows a cavity tray sits in the outer leaf and the weeps are the only intended way out for water that reaches it. When decoration fills those holes, water stays on the tray or finds a joint and shows inside or below the sill. That is the path the paint has closed. The ties, bedded elsewhere in the wall, are not cleaned, measured or cleared by the same tin of paint. The survey can see filled holes.
Ask the surveyor whether any damp inside lined up with these painted weeps. A builder can open the outlets again and confirm the tray still has a way out. Tell the solicitor this is painted weep holes, not a wall-tie report. Do not let a tie contractor treat closed holes as an instruction to replace ties. The home survey did not test them, and the closed path is the thing to put right.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which weep holes above the window were painted shut?
- Did you see a damp mark that follows those closed outlets?
- Have you left the wall ties untested in this note?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the painted weeps as a closed outlet from the tray.
- Do not read them as evidence about the wall ties.
- Have the outlets opened so the tray can drain again.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the paint is only a skin, is the path still open?
Not if the holes are shut. A thin skin that bridges a weep still closes it. The survey recorded them painted shut, which is the closed path, and that record is not a finding about the ties. Keep the painted weep holes inside the facts the surveyor actually recorded on the day.
Does rust beside a painted weep prove a tie behind it?
No. Rust beside a weep can be the hole, a bead or a sill, and the survey did not test a tie there. The proved point remains the painted-shut outlet, not the condition of the ties. Anything further about the painted weep holes would be a different visit, not this note.