SB 326 Balcony Inspections

Instagram Featured Video Stair Rebuild by One Structural/Balcony 1 Shows Multiple Construction Defects Being Installed in Real Time!

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle…”

A recent Insta video posted by One Structural/Balcony 1 reminded me of the lyrics from a 1972 song by Stealers Wheel… And after watching the video several times I wondered why I wasn’t having a stroke over the numerous defects in their work. The video purports to show their expertise in rebuilding a set of stairs and waterproofing them. (The video appears to have been removed from their profile located here https://www.instagram.com/onestructural?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)

In the video it showed a timeline of rebuilding a set of stairs. As I watched it play out I screenshot a few pics, see below.

Starting with the framing rebuild, we can see water/fungus damaged stair stringers that weren’t replaced, damaged sheathing on the wall that wasn’t replaced and new wood that looks like my 3 year old nephew installed.
Next set of defects we see is that although One Structural installed weep screed to the wall, they didn’t install weep screed down the stairs. Weep screed is required for ALL stucco terminations! The stucco is installed down to the deck to wall termination over the flashing. Stucco should terminate 2″ above the transition using weep screed.
Next set of defects we see are that One Structural has installed is that they are using FortiFlash Butyl on the stair treads. According to FortiFlash Butyl Instructions, any application to a horizontal surface  should not have any mechanical fasteners attached through it! Secondly we’re not aware of any manufacturer of deck waterproofing that specifies using FortiFlash under their system!
FortiFlash Butyl Instructions
With all the defects covered, these stairs await their eventual failure from improper construction. It may take a decade or more, but eventually defects always show up in our experience.

All in all, this video simply highlights the incompetence of the contractor to correctly rebuild and waterproof these stairs. The video also highlights why hiring William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC as your quality assurance inspector would have protected this poor association from incompetence and wasting their money.

1.) At the framing stage we would have brought the damaged framing and sheathing left in to the Associations attention.

2.) At the stucco installation stage we would have brought the lack of weep screed and improper termination to the Associations attention.

3.) At the stair waterproofing stage we would have brought the incorrect installation of the FortiFlash Butyl to the Associations attention.

Simply put, with a quality assurance inspector on your job, none of these defects would have slipped by. The work would be halted at the framing stage, the association would be able to demand corrections and at each step of the installation of the waterproofing the save thing would happen. Work would be halted, the association could demand corrections and with us as their advocate, they would have gotten the work done correctly.

We don’t like picking on others’ work, but when their work is just one defect after another, our duty to point this out overrules.

The lesson associations should take from this is quality assurance inspections can save headaches, heartaches and stop the built-in defects from continuing. Hiring the right contractor is paramount!

The best contractors aren’t afraid of having quality assurance inspections being done on their jobs, but the worst contractors are.

Give us a call (805-801-2380) or email us (LeysWaterproofingConsultants@gmail.com) to talk to us about quality assurance inspections for your HOA EEE repairs today!

Put William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC on your team today!