Category Archives: Quality Assurance Observations

Quality Assurance Observations, Roof Inspections and Consulting, Uncategorized

Bill Leys of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Completes Steep Slope Roofing Systems For The WUI Training

President Bill Leys of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC recently attended a webinar presented by SGH on “Steep Slope Roofs in the WUI”.

The one hour AIA approved course discussed the additional requirements for roofs on homes and buildings in California’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) that increase a roofs resistance to ember storms which are one of the biggest causes of wildfires running unchecked through homes in vulnerable areas.

With this new knowledge and increased awareness of the challenges that homes face in the WUI, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is better prepared to assist our clients as their building envelope consultant.

Staying up to date on new requirements, products and technologies in construction is important and we are dedicated to increasing our knowledge so our clients can benefit.

Reach out today for a free discussion on what building envelope issues you may be experiencing and how we may be able to help.

Call today 805-801-2380.

Bill Leys performing quality assurance inspections at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto.
When it comes to waterproofing buildings, clients reach out to William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to bring that dream to life! We do consulting quality assurance inspections and leak investigations.
Quality Assurance Observations, Roof Inspections and Consulting

How A Building Envelope Consultant Can Add Value to Your Residential Building Project

Long term leaks into this building has destroyed the framing behind the siding and because it is so rotted, the siding doesn’t have anything left to be attached.

As building envelope consultants we are often hired to determine where why and how a roof, siding or windows are leaking. After doing destructive testing and finding what caused the problem, it’s often an installer error that created the problem. Yes sometimes it’s defective waterproofing products, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

For architects and their home building clients, one way to ensure that the building envelope is going to perform correctly for it’s expected life span is to hire a waterproofing consultant to review the architects building envelope details, and to perform quality assurance inspections while the building is being dried in. Drying in a building entails roofs, below grade waterproofing, building paper over the plywood covered walls, window and door flashing for example. All of these need to be installed in a sequence to work together for the building to remain leak free.

Whether you are building tract homes, commercial/residential, condos or a spec home, a small add to the project budget to include a waterproofing consultant to assist in keeping your project leak free is a good investment. Consider the costs when a building does leak; there’s investigative costs, loss of use, possible mold claims, expensive repairs and everyone is aggravated.

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is here to help you with making your building project a success. Reach out today for a discussion on how we can help bring value to your project.

Quality Assurance Observations

A Roofing Contractor Messes Up, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Helps Client Get It Fixed

A Low Slope Roof Installation Went Awry When The Contractor Deviated From The Manufacturers Installation Instructions

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Steps in to Assist The Building Owner Get the Work Corrected

A recent consult job that we had for a client who just had a new low slope roof installed on their building showed the reason that building owners should consider hiring a quality assurance inspector to ensure that the roof is installed right the first time and doesn’t have to be done over.

A client reached out to us who just had a new roof installed on their building. They had concerns about the workmanship and requested our assistance to inspect the job and document the problems with the installation. A low slope roof with a single ply TPO membrane had multiple issues with the installation.

Improper Termination of Membrane at Skylight
Improper Termination of Membrane at Door Threshold
Improper Weld is Open
Numerous Low Spots From Improper Slope on Roof
Improper Termination of Membrane at Roof To Wall
Improper Termination of Membrane Into Roof Drain
Vent Boot Not Caulked or Clamped

As you can see from the photo gallery we found numerous problems with the installation. We wrote a detailed report for the client who then was able to go to the contractor and ask them to make corrections to their work. The city building department refused to sign off on the permit for the roof because of the poor workmanship and the client threatened to complain to the Contractors State License Board if the contractor did not step up and replace and repair his poor work.

All in all a happy ending for the client who had paid quite a bit of money for this roof. We would encourage anybody who is replacing a roof that’s going to cost over six figures to add a little bit more money into their budget and pay for quality assurance observations during the installation which had this client done so would have avoided this issue.

Reach out today for a quote on your quality assurance observations on your next project.

leyswaterproofingconsultants@gmail.com
805-801-2380
Quality Assurance Observations

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC To Perform Quality Assurance Inspections for an HOA in the San Francisco Bay Area

We will be performing quality assurance inspections on this project in the East Bay.

We’re excited to announce that we were awarded the contract to perform quality assurance inspections for a large HOA reconstruction project in the East Bay area of San Francisco. The 100+ units in the HOA are leaking at the decks and resulted in damage to the exterior walls.

We will be performing periodic inspections of the weather resistant barriers (WRB’s) the installation of sliding doors and the waterproofing of the decks to ensure that they are being installed in accordance with the plans and specifications. This helps the Association ensure its money is being spent well on quality work and the materials are installed correctly that will last for their expected life spend and perform as intended.

Observing installation of new WRBs integrated into the existing WRBs.
A sliding door with the screw coming through the threshold.
Building paper installed before weep screed…? It shouldn’t be.

If your HOA is about to undertake a major renovation project, talk to us about how we can help protect your interests by providing quality assurance inspections that will help spot problems before they get away. We report directly to the association and provide a daily report for every visit along with extensive photo documentation. Catching a problem before it’s covered over will save a lot of heartache and finger pointing later on. We find that contractors like having quality assurance inspectors on site because they know that we are there to help the project through to a successful completion.

Reach out today for a conversation on why your association should have a quality assurance inspector on your six-figure + project.

Quality Assurance Observations

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Contracts With Local Non Profit To Provide Waterproofing Plan Peer Review

We are excited to announce that we’ve partnered with a local non profit to assist them with their waterproofing needs on a to be built low income community in Santa Barbara county. This new community will provide housing for seniors with limited incomes that will give them a safe warm place to live in a very expensive area of the country.

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC will review the Waterproofing details on the plans, provide comments and suggestions to improve the weather resistance of the building at an economical cost, as well as specify a low slope roof system for the mechanical/HVAC systems that will provide a long term solution to keep the building dry and free of water intrusion.

We are excited to start this new project and work with one of the top architectural firms on the Central Coast.

Once construction starts, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC will also provide Quality Assurance Observation services to ensure the Waterproofing systems are installed correctly to the manufacturers specifications so that the building will receive the warranty from the manufacturers of the waterproofing products.

Quality Assurance Observations

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Investigates Leaks on New Addition in Avila Beach

We are pleased to announce that we have been retained to investigate leaks on a new addition on an Avila Beach residence by the owners of the property.

The owners of the property had hired a local contractor, who with a team of subcontractors built a dining room with a deck above to expand the living space and take advantage of the views that they have. The contractor completed the project shortly before last winter’s rains started up and the owners quickly realized that there were leak problems in several areas of the new construction.

We have performed visual inspections as well as rudimentary water testing that has found several areas of concern that will need to be further investigated via destructive testing.

Water testing a window in the search for leaks

If you’re building is leaking reach out to us today for assistance in investigating the cause and devising a solution to repair the problem. The longer you wait the worse the damage can become with water intrusion issues into structural elements.

We’re ready to reach, call us at 805-801-2380.

Deck Inspections, Quality Assurance Observations

Shell Beach Home Destroyed By Water Intrusion, What Happened?

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  • No evidence of what lies beneath…
  • Happy fungi living La Vida Loca inside the wall next to the drain.
  • After stucco and WRB is removed, problems appear….
  • It gets worse! After stucco is removed, we see severe degradation of the home’s exterior sheathing and framing.
  • Peel n stick membrane with a hole in it destroys the notion that the membrane is “self-healing”. This was under a tile and mortar cap on top of the parapet wall.
  • Balloon framing on ocean facing wall.

Although this posts origins come from a job I did as a waterproofing contractor in 2013, it serves as an important lesson and example of why construction monitoring of the WRB and waterproofing is critical to ensure your building is waterproofed right.

This job started as a basic repair job; a new owner had purchased this Shell Beach home after having a home inspection. There was no specialized inspections done of the roof deck and roofing, which serves as an example of why you should have an inspection done by a specialist.

I was called because the home inspector did call out a problem with a roof deck drain. The area around the drain had soft spots in the plywood. My firm contracted with the new owner to replace the damaged plywood at the drain area only, install a new drain and waterproof it back. The owner liked the price and our plan because it was less than the credit back he got from the seller for doing the work. Note to buyers-have all repairs done before closing! The seller would have had to pay for what is coming next in this story.

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