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.
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 compete against Dr Balcony around central and southern California. They are members of multiple CAI Chapters. Despte their low price offer, I know of at least 2x we won a job against them even though my company submitted a bid that was more than theirs.
Why? When I was able to give a presentation to a board of directors and explain how we operated, that we had a licensed structural engineer performing the inspections, that I did a supplemental waterproofing report that was attended to the engineers stamped and sealed report, that we inspected 100% of all the EEEs to ensure that nothing was overlooked, we were awarded the job. They saw my years of experience as a waterproofing contractor, that an engineer was personally on site doing the inspection, that our no conflicts of interest guarantee that we don’t bid on repairs, that we get competitive bids without obstructing the free market, that the 20% discount is a fraudulent attempt to subvert the market, where competitive bidding and a companies experience matter.
I have it on good authority from a client who had this company on site & when they saw who was inspecting the deck complained to their HOA, lo and behold an architect appeared and inspected their deck at that time. They did not know if the architect continued to inspect other decks or just theirs.
I am making inquiries to the Architectural Board & the Board of Engineers as to whether the engineer or architect has to actually be on site & perform the inspections or if they can allow an individual without any engineering or architectural qualifications to perform the inspection basically write the report & then they will put a cover letter on that says the report is accurate.
This offer of taking 20% off the lowest bid that the association received is just a bad sales tactic because they want to do the repairs, & that 20% off will be easily added back into the cost of the repairs because who is keeping them honest once they get the work?
Let’s math. Let’s say my company bid your inspection, with a guaranteed structural engineer, with a no conflicts of interest guarantee in writing as well, at 20k. For sake of a comparison, let’s say Dr Balcony had bid 21k.
So they daty hey, we will beat their price by 20% so their new price is now 16k. So what they just admitted to is that the value of their work is actually only sixteen thousand instead of the twenty one thousand they originally quoted you.
The question that comes to my mind is are they saying that they could have bid lower but they bid higher with hopes of overcharging you? Now that they know they overbid, suddenly they want to make it up to you? You weren’t born yesterday… And you realize that Dr Balcony has inherent conflicts of interest, and is attempting to limit your choices of contractors, you should realize that some companies are actively trying to scam you.
If a company says they can do it all in house without needing to go to outside contractors to get three bids then they are limiting your ability to receive the best bid for repairs, they are stifling market competition, and your HOA is likely to be greatly overcharged.
Let us explain to your HOA why an independent firm without conflicts of interest is your best choice when it comes to balcony inspections.
We will explain what non emergency repairs and emergency repairs are, and why some companies push non emergency repairs over to emergency status, to pressure you into signing with them immediately before you get a chance to look around and shop your options.
Reach out to me, Bill Leys directly at 805-801-2380 for a consultation on how we can help you.
We are pleased to announce that we have been selected by a large HOA in Santa Ana to perform their balcony inspections under SB326 requirements.
With over 100 EEEs to inspect the visual instruction will take apx 3 days of time to do, with 50+ 2nd & 3rd floor decks, numerous walkways and stair cases, the association knew it needed to select an independent unbiased inspector with the qualifications they required- no contractors allowed to bid, years of experience and a guaranteed structural engineer who actually is on site doing the structural inspections.
Numerous 2nd & 3rd floor decks will be accessed by ladder, minimizing disruption to the residents. Numerous stairs with wood stringers are required to be inspected under SB326.
We are transparent and open to being questioned about our means and methods, our experience performing inspections and our ethics. We don’t bid on repairs that an HOA needs, we assist HOAs in getting specifications written and three bids from independent contractors who don’t do balcony inspections.
Contact us today for your free EEE evaluation and proposal for balcony inspections. Call 805-801-2380 ask for Bill.
A client we are working with on a balcony inspection proposal walked us through their underground garage to get to the other side of the building so we could count the decks. As we walked through the garage I mentioned that that were a lot of leak areas and I saw that there was some crumbling concrete as well.
They said oh we are getting the leaks fixed, we have two bids and we are going to hire X company to do the waterproofing on the podium deck above. I said that’s good because you have some problems here… What are they doing? It was then they showed me the two scopes of work that the contractors had proposed to do.
This scope of work mentions nothing about using any particular brand or specific material. It is poorly written and leaves out many important steps that this job requires. Poorly written as well, this scope of work is ambiguous and like the first scope, has no mention of any brand names or warranty.
We initiated a conversation with the client and discussed these proposals and corresponding scopes of work. The client believed that the work they were ready to award to a contractor was going to fix their problems. Several issues they had were a failing coating on the podium deck, leaks into the building and severe degradation of the structural concrete deck.
Under the podium deck is significant deterioration. If you see these symptoms in your concrete, you have 99 problems but a waterproof deck ain’t one. Hidden behind a pan on the ceiling to catch water, hidden structural damage.Up above on the deck, failing coatings are dangerous to bare feet and they leak into the deck below.Failing coating at the pool deck coping. A very clogged up downspout is causing water to back up and causing leaking into the building.
We gave the Association a proposal to consult and perform non destructive percussion testing of their concrete deck and the coating on top. The engineer we partner with and I inspected the deck and as seen above, found some serious damage to the concrete and rebar inside. We found that nearly all of the coating on the top of the deck was delaminated and failing. We found that there was stress on the walls that the pool was set into.
This all added up to the conclusion that simply recoating the deck was not the answer. This Association needs structural concrete repair work done, removal of the coating on the deck, all new flashings around the perimeter, shot-blasting to provide a profiled surface for new coatings to bond to the existing, sloping to drains, cleaning out the drain pipes and a new non slip waterproof coating applied after all prep work was completed.
The job will cost them more than 181k. However, they will receive in return a lot more for their money. They have a consultant on their side that will get responsible contractors to bid on repairs, with quality assurance monitoring to watch over the contractors work and a written warranty from a quality manufacturer.
The Association now knows that they were going to lose 181k of their money and get little in return for it. The two bids were from supposed quality contractors, but we won’t be asking these two companies to bid this project. They should know better than to throw these bids out to their client, but IMO they don’t care about the client and that’s why we won’t ever use them to bid our jobs that we are consulting on.
Reach out today to discuss how we can help your association with your Waterproofing project. Call me, Bill Leys at 805-801-2380 direct or use the contact us box to send us an email. We can get you on the path to completing a successful project that will bring value to your property.
We are pleased to announce that we have been selected to perform the balcony inspections required under SB 326 by the Board of Directors of an HOA in San Luis Obispo.
Tumbling Waters HOA San Luis Obispo
The condominium association has 68 decks requiring Stage 1 inspections. Bill Leys, President of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants said he is extremely excited to see the number of Associations who are contracting with the firm for these important inspections. “We have a lot of deck inspections scheduled for most of the summer and are scheduling some jobs into October already, the demand is really ramping up.” said Leys.
Leys recommends that Associations start getting bids now and getting inspections scheduled ASAP. “There’s a point where we will reach full capacity and I anticipate we will be pretty booked for inspections through the end of the year and into 2024 within the next 4 months. There are not many inspectors and structural engineers who are doing balcony inspections and those that are, are telling me they’re booking up rapidly as well.”
Reach out to us today, drop us an email using the contact form on the left side of your screen, or call Bill Leys directly at 805-801-2380.
We are pleased to announce that we’ve signed a contract with Carhill Condominiums in San Luis Obispo to perform Stage 2 inspections of the Associations EEEs.
Stage 2 inspections include destructive testing and borescope camera inspections after our Structural Engineer determined after a Stage 1 inspection that water was getting past the building envelope into structural members of the EEEs.
Bill Leys, president of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC said ” We are fast becoming the choice of HOA managers and Associations to perform SB 326 inspections because of our commitment to being free of conflicts of interest by guaranteeing in writing that we do not own any contacting firm, bid on any work or have any interest in any products we may specify for repairs and restoration of an Associations EEEs. Managers recognize that low ball bids for balcony inspections come from firms that own waterproofing companies that want to do the repair work. These companies know they can pad the cost of inspections into the cost of repairs and the Association is hoodwinked into thinking they got a deal. William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC always seeks 3 bids for Stage 2 inspections and 3 bids for repairs to structural elements.”
Stage 2 Inspiring results- This deck has severe water intrusion issues after a Stage 1 inspection determined that water likely leaked into structural members.
The experts at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC invite your Association to come experience our professionalism, expertise and no conflicts of interest guarantee and see why we are becoming the choice of HOA professionals to perform EEE inspections.
We are excited to announce that we were selected to perform the balcony inspections at Varsity Park HOA in Moorpark by the Board of Directors of the HOA under SB 326.
Balconies await inspection by Bill Leys, the Deck Inspector.
The property is managed by A Diamond Management located in Thousand Oaks.
Bill Leys, President of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC said the award of the contract to the firm is another sign that the managers of associations recognize the experience of the company and that the firm’s competitive pricing allows HOAs to be able to afford the best deck inspectors in the industry. “A lot of other companies don’t have deck inspectors who have actually installed deck waterproofing systems like I have. Years of experience installing deck systems and tearing apart failed deck systems teaches one a lot more than what ” book learning”: ever can. Real experience makes a difference.”
Please contact us for your free no obligation EEE evaluation and proposal for an SB 326 inspection. We visit every job personally so we know your property, and what it will take to inspect it effectively. We don’t ask you to send us pictures and tell us how many decks you have… That’s not your job to do the deck inspectors job.
See why Bill Leys is The Deck Inspector. Call or email us now.
We are proud to announce that we’ve recently signed agreements with Bella Villeta HOA in Santa Barbara and Hueneme Shores HOA in Port Hueneme for SB 326 balcony inspections.
Bella Villeta HOA is managed by The Management Trust Santa Barbara division and Hueneme Shores HOA is managed by Community Property Management of Camarillo.
Bill Leys, president and owner of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC said ” Managers are reporting to us that our bids are very competitive, our proposals are detailed and very informative and that, along with our guarantee of no conflicts of interest, has led the way in Boards of Directors having an increased trust that they are hiring a reliable firm with years of experience in inspecting decks.”.
Leys has been advocating for deck inspections and inspecting decks since 2007… Long before Berkeley happened and has been a front runner in developing inspection standards, testifying at California State Senate hearings on the balcony bills in 2017.
HOAs and managers needing SB 326 inspections should contact us to get their free EEE evaluation and proposal for the required inspections.
SB 326 Deck Inspections & Building Envelope & Waterproofing Experts
SB 326 Deck Inspections * Waterproofing Consultants * Construction Defect Investigations By Bill Leys The Deck Expert 