Category Archives: Roof Inspections and Consulting

leak investigation, Quality Assurance Observations, Roof Inspections and Consulting

Pesky Leak to Be Investigated By William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC’s Leak Investigation Sleuths

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.
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.
Roof Inspections and Consulting

A Client Asked About Roof Maxx, A Company/Product Sold as an Alternative to Asphalt Shingle Roof Replacement and What We Thought About The Product

A client reached out to William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to ask about what we know about Roof Maxx after getting a quote from them to treat the 15 roofs the condo association has. The reserve study says that they have to replace the roofs in about 5 years and at the current rate of savings and the amount of money in the reserves, they will not have enough money to pay for a roof replacement. Their thought was that they would have the roofs “roof maxxed” (our term) and extend the life of their roofs so that they can continue to put money into reserves instead of having to pass a special assessment to replace the roofs.

Watch our video on YouTube!

Certainly this is a noble idea and one that is worth considering at the least. The client had met Roof Maxx at an HOA event and the sales person at the luncheon was certainly persuasive selling the supposed virtues of Roof Maxx to my client. 

Continue reading A Client Asked About Roof Maxx, A Company/Product Sold as an Alternative to Asphalt Shingle Roof Replacement and What We Thought About The Product →
Roof Inspections and Consulting

Redondo Beach HOA Retains William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC To Write Scope of Work to Renovate Courtyard Podium Deck

We’re pleased to announce that we were recently hired by a Redondo Beach HOA that desperately needs to replace a failing waterproofing system on their podium deck.

The HOA sought several proposals from building envelope consulting firms and after interviewing and researching, the Board of Directors selected us, citing their previous experience working with us on their SB326 inspections and our detailed proposal and experience as waterproofing consultants.

Failing Waterproofing on a Podium Deck in Redondo Beach Will be Renovated

We will be writing a scope of work to put it to bid with several highly experienced contractors, perform non invasive testing of the deck to determine if there are any issues of concern and when the work begins, we will do quality assurance inspections to ensure the work is being done correctly.

Continue reading Redondo Beach HOA Retains William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC To Write Scope of Work to Renovate Courtyard Podium Deck →
Roof Inspections and Consulting

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Helps Clients Whose Property Has Been Damaged Caused By Construction Defects Recover Financially

Even before William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC was formed, President Bill Leys has been assisting clients throughout California recover financial damages from contractors who caused construction defects that led to water intrusion and property damage. As an expert waterproofing consultant serving San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Kern and Los Angeles counties, we’ve helped clients recoup hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past few years.

Our expertise in building technology and waterproofing methods, investigative skills and ability to document and report on the problems, the causes and suggested repairs needed have allowed our clients to convince the Contractors State License Board, the contractors at fault and their Bond companies to act. We’ve seen great success with the CSLB investigating complaints, contractors agreeing to repair defective work and have bond and insurance carriers pay on claims made by our clients.

Some recent success stories include helping a client in San Bernardino recover 5k+ in damages caused by faulty deck waterproofing work by a contractor from Palm Springs. Our investigation found that the contractors “expert witness” actually had business ventures with his client, leading to the Judge concluding the contractors witness had implicit bias in favor of his client. In other words, his testimony was rejected by the Court. Our client got a court order that the contractor had to remove a lien on their home and could not collect $5,000 they claimed our client owed.

No blocking between the old and new plywood is a defect that will cause any waterproofing to eventually fail.

Another success story found us assisting a client in Avila Beach whose recent kitchen addition was apparently leaking. Our investigation found windows were leaking from faulty installation, deck flashing that leaked from faulty installation and as a result of our testing and report, the client was able to successfully initiate a claim against the contractors general liability insurance and recover funds to repair their damages. The client made a confidential settlement with the insurance company for well over 6 figures.

Continue reading William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Helps Clients Whose Property Has Been Damaged Caused By Construction Defects Recover Financially →
Roof Inspections and Consulting

ASTM Standardized Water Testing Proves That Construction Defects Exist at a Condo in Los Angeles

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC was recently retained by an upscale condominium complex in Los Angeles to investigate leaks from one recently repaired deck and stucco wall on one condo unit that was claimed to be leaking into an adjacent unit, causing damages to the home.

Using ASTM approved water testing methods, we set up a spray rack that sprays up to 2 hours of rain in a twenty minute period to mimic actual weather conditions.

A spray rack set up against the wall imitates rainfall against a building in an industry standard testing method. These racks are calibrated and tested to meet requirements under ASTM testing methods.

Using our methodical testing approach, we were able to prove that the wall shown in the photograph above was in fact leaking. Using litmus paper and visual observations during the methodical cyclic testing as prescribed by ASTM showed conclusively that the newly repaired wall was in fact leaking at four locations.

Continue reading ASTM Standardized Water Testing Proves That Construction Defects Exist at a Condo in Los Angeles →
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.

Roof Inspections and Consulting

William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Performs Roof Inspections of 110,000 SQ Foot Low Slope Roof on a Commercial Building in Los Angeles

We were recently retained to perform an evaluation of a large low slope roof on a manufacturing building in Los Angeles.

The seam is splitting where it overlaps one sheet to another.

The client is interested in installing solar panels on the roof and needed to know what the buildings roof condition was, and whether they should repair or replace the roof.

For a very reasonable fee we performed a visual inspection and wrote a report for the client.

Samples of roofing to examine.

Some of our findings were that the existing roof system was splitting at seams, that multiple unsuccessful repair attempts actually were making leaks worse, and that the numerous sunlights were starting to deteriorate and would need to be replaced in the near future.

Continue reading William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Performs Roof Inspections of 110,000 SQ Foot Low Slope Roof on a Commercial Building in Los Angeles →