Where’s the leak? That’s why we were hired, to find a pesky leak that has evaded detection of its source for several years.
William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC has been retained to provide leak investigation services by a large builder of medical buildings in California. The pesky leak has caused several offices in the building to be vacated during the rainy season due to concerns over potential mold hazards, never a good thing for patients visiting the building.
We will be using a spray rack to water test the facade of the building in San Luis Obispo county this week. The facade features store front windows and a stone finish on the 4 year old building. Leaks can often hide in such situations and the building’s owners and its construction team that built the building hired us to assist in the leak investigation due to our history of expertise in leak investigations and building enclosure experience.
If your building is experiencing leaks, reach out to us to have a discussion on how we may be able to assist in determining the source and make recommendations for repairs. Our leak investigation experts are ready to assist! Call today 805-801-2380
While we were inspecting the roof, we found the roof drain sump pit clogged up with debris. We also found that the TPO roof has reverse laps that buck water flowing towards the drain.
We spoke with reporter Kevin Nguyen at the SF Standard regarding this property after he reached out to us asking about this property. We were the source that alerted Kevin to the fact that the picture below by Anna Nevskaya showed failed post tension cables poking out from the building.
Turns out that post tension cables that support the podium deck slab have failed. I saw a review on Google by an owner at the property and knew instantly this building is F’d.
I’ll now predict that the slab can’t be fixed and the building will have to be demolished. What engineer in their right mind would believe that the other cables that aren’t broken are ok and just recommend repairs to the failed cables? No one in their right mind would in my opinion.
Post tension cables have broken in numerous places in one area as seen in this photo taken by Anna Nevskaya (and republished here for public knowledge.) The cause is unknown but is likely related to either damage caused by a massive fire that occurred during the construction, water damage or both.
Details are still light, however residents of a condo building in Santa Clara have been ordered to leave the building until temporary shoring has been installed to support portions of the building that engineers are concerned about.
NBC 10 is reporting that concrete has come loose from the building and city engineers determined that the building needs to be repaired.
Judging from reviews that I found on Google, Villa Bella Condominiums, located at 1850 El Camino Real has had persistent leak issues since it was built. Robert S said in part on his review “One of the most concerning problems is the persistent water leaks in the parking structure. The developer insists that repairs can only be made when it’s dry, yet even after supposed fixes, the leaks return with every rain. This raises serious concerns about the quality of construction and whether these issues are actually being resolved or just patched up temporarily.”
Screen shot from an NBC 10 News story
This is just speculation but I would think that structural issues are a result of water intrusion into the below grade garage and has likely eroded support for columns and walls. That’s typically what I see when I do inspections with my engineers.
All in all, this is another reason why quality assurance inspections should be required on all buildings while they are being built to ensure that they meet all requirements by manufacturers of waterproofing products as well as structural inspections being done especially when footings, columns and walls are being poured or erected.
If you are a developer, architect or contractor who would like more information on quality assurance, inspections of your waterproofing systems being installed, reach out to us for a conversation about how we bring great value to your project.
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.
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.
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 OpenNumerous Low Spots From Improper Slope on RoofImproper Termination of Membrane at Roof To WallImproper Termination of Membrane Into Roof DrainVent 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SB 326 Deck Inspection Specialists * Building Waterproofing Consultants * Construction Defect Investigations By Bill Leys The Deck Expert 