We’re pleased to announce that we have been retained to perform an investigation on a leaking tiled deck on an estate property in Santa Barbara CA.
A deck at the home has had a history of leaks, leading to damage to ceiling finishes and walls below.
An estate home in Santa Barbara is the subject of our next leak investigation.
The property owner found us after doing a search for a deck waterproofing expert online. We’ll be investigating the leak with visual observations, borescope camera and moisture meters to determine the path of the leak back to its source(s) and write a report after examining the plans, specifications and drawings and comparing the as-built deck to the design intent.
With a history of being able to solve problems and determine responsibility as to what trade may be responsible, our latest client is confident in our abilities to help him recover damages from the appropriate trades that created the defect.
If your building is leaking, call William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, the leak investigation experts in California at 805-801-2380. Let’s discuss your situation and see how we can help you!
We diagnose the problem and then write a “prescription” to help make your leak problem go away!
Last week an unattended grill on a first floor patio somehow ignited the building and the resulting fire burned the entire building down, displacing over 150 residents and destroying over 50 condos.
Screen shot from TikTok shows an aerial ladder attempting to suppress the flames coming through the roof.
The building did not have sprinklers as it was an older building that was exempt from retrofitting from our understanding. The resident of the unit that started the fire was arrested on multiple charges including a charge related to 4 firefighters being injured.
Lapping New Building Paper Correctly Under Existing Building Paper is Critical To Keeping The Building Dry
Hiring an Independent Quality Assurance Inspector Protects Everyone
William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC Offers Affordable Quality Assurance Inspections
Our last blog post talked about an owner who hired us to perform an inspection on their condo unit at a well known West Hollywood property. The condo had experienced water intrusion while the owner was away and they came home to find water on their bedroom floor.
Water Intrusion Can Cause Considerable Hidden Damages if Left To its Own Devices
It started with a leak into the condominium owners unit, and after 4 months, the cause of the leak still remains unknown. With their home upended by drywall being removed, dehumidifiers running constantly, and continued water intrusion occurring, the home owner has hired William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC to represent them as their advocate and expert in determining where why and how water Intrusion continues to occur.
We will be attending and documenting the investigation by the HOAs experts and examine their findings after another in-depth intrusive moisture inspection. With potential legal liability on the line, the owner needs expertise working for their best interest. Our history of performing water intrusion investigations and expertise in documenting provides our client with comfort and security in having us on their side.
With some HOAs it’s up to the owner to prove that the HOA is negligent in protecting the building, and unfortunately this HOA is proving to be difficult to work with and get them to accept responsibility. Our task is to provide the expertise and the proof that the responsibility lies with the HOA, or show the client why it’s not the HOAs responsibility.
When your HOA is not doing its job and remediating water intrusion and you believe it’s their responsibility, by hiring the experts at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC may help sway their opinions to be favorable to your claims.
Reach out today for a free conversation about how we can help you! 805-801-2380.
We’re pleased to announce that we’ve been retained to perform quality assurance inspections for a medical facility that will be waterproofed with crystalline waterproofing on a building that has suffered from water intrusion.
The facility is an ob/gyn office that needs to be kept sterile and moisture and mold free. Angelus Waterproofing of Huntington Beach will be applying Koster Systems crystalline waterproofing to the interior of the block walls as the exterior has a stucco system that would be costly to remove. With our assistance the owners of the building selected crystalline waterproofing as the best choice given the conditions and restrictions.
With our years of experience conducting quality assurance inspections and having a highly qualified waterproofing contractor perform the work, the building will be protected from water intrusion for many years as crystalline waterproofing is a permanent system that is impervious to degradation unlike many typical liquid or membrane applied systems.
If you are in need of ensuring your building is being waterproofed properly, please contact us to discuss our quality assurance inspections and how they benefit you, ensure that the waterproofing is being installed correctly and meets all requirements for the manufacturers warranty.
Bill Leys performing quality assurance inspections at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto on waterproofing over the surgical ward.
Does your inspection company have 1099 contractors using Pogo sticks to perform your balcony inspection? This might be a little exaggerated, but the point is, a cheap inspection is a cheap inspection. Hiring the wrong inspectors could cost your HOA dearly. Read on…
Not actual footage of a deck inspection company doing SB326 inspections, but it seems that this method is used in many cases. Blurry photographs, unclear reports, inspections done by 1099 contractors, that low fee for a Stage 1 SB 326 inspection is a loss leader that turns into sky-high engineering and repair fees.
There are still quite a few HOAs out there that haven’t had a balcony inspection done yet. Many are smaller, self managed HOAs that haven’t heard of SB326. These smaller associations are easy prey for unsavory unethical inspection companies that need to feed their never ending high overhead.
By offering ridiculously low initial inspection fees, they Hoover up the unsuspecting HOAs into their pipeline. Once the HOA is in their grasp, they ratchet up the pressure on them; saying you have deck problems and the City is going to fine you $500 a day if you don’t immediately comply… And then they tell you that you need their engineering services, which might be true, although often times it’s not.
This is where the cheap bid the company gave you turns into a high cost engineering job, often costing thousands more than what ethical firms charge. Don’t fall for low fees; all it means is there won’t be an engineer present doing the inspection. That low fee, that’s hundreds or thousands less than legitimate engineers and waterproofing experts fees means there’s going to be a guy on a Pogo stick getting paid $280 a day (we have the help-wanted ads to prove it!) to bounce around your HOA going as fast as he can. He’s probably received very little training, has zero experience in actually building, waterproofing or inspecting decks, yet some people believe that the inspection is just as good as the experts inspections are.
At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we coordinate the independent engineering company to perform are dedicated to providing the very best inspection possible. We know that inspections save lives, protect property and more importantly, reduce liability for the HOA, the HOAs insurance company and the management company.
Bill Leys has performed hundreds of SB 326 waterproofing observations since 2020, and with our independent structural engineer, provides peace of mind to our clients.
Call us today for a free conversation about how we inspect, why we’re better and why your HOA is in good hands with us! Call 805-801-2380 today!
Bill Leys, President of William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC recently completed the Santa Barbara County Fire Safe Council’s “Design for Fire Resilience” Structure Hardening Course for Architects and Building Designers at the Council’s headquarters on State Street in Santa Barbara. The day long course, led by nationally recognized wildfire expert Dave Shew taught participants about techniques and best practices to harden homes in the WUI. As recognized home hardening building designers, we can now help SLO and Santa Barbara County homeowners with strategies to reduce their homes exposure to wildfire and survive.
We are now offering home hardening assessments for home owners to help you increase your homes ability to survive fires via a variety of preventative methods, including your landscaping, installing ember resistant vents, ensuring that your roof is ember resistant as well as any decks, windows, siding and doors.
Reach out today to learn more about our latest service we offer to help our community survive and resist wildfire!
Call Bill Leys today at 805-801-2380!
Reach out today for a home evaluation! 805-801-2380
Download the Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council/Cal Fire’s free GUIDE FOR HOME HARDENING here at this link below. We bring this guide to you as a public service to increase community safety. No infringement of any copy rights owned by any entity is intended.
Attention HOAs, SB 410 took effect on January 1st and imposes certain requirements on HOAs and on balcony inspection companies.
For HOA Boards of Directors, you are affected in several ways; the first being that SB326 reports are now considered to be HOA records, which means an owner can request and review them at any time. Secondly, reports cannot be withheld or redacted and third sellers of a common interest development property now must provide buyers with the most recent SB326 inspection report.
In regards to inspection companies, their reports must include as of January 1st, the date of the inspection, the total number of units in the community. How many exterior elevated elements there are? And I think it would be a good idea to break down how many of each type there are IE stairs versus balcones versus walkways. How many units have exterior elevated elements? How many exterior elevated elements were inspected and whether any safety concerns were identified.
The independent engineer we work with is already in compliance with these requirements and so we are ready to forge ahead and set the bar with our superior inspections and inspection reports.
Lastly But probably the most important part of sb410 is the requirement for HOAs to have an engineer issue a final report after repairs are made to life safety issues. This final report is needed to be able to enable buyers of property obtain mortgages and sellers of properties to be able to sell without undue delay. Personally, I expect that we will see legal claims brought against HOAs that fail to obtain final inspection reports and unnecessarily delay there homeowners to be able to close a sale.
As always, this is not legal advice. Please obtain the advice of your HOA attorney related to SB 410 sb326 and any other bills that may affect common interest developments related to balcony inspections.
If your HOA is having problems with condos being sold because of the lack of a final report, call us today, we can do a final inspection report regardless of whether we inspected the EEEs originally or another company did. Call 805-801-2380 today!
As deck inspection experts who concentrate on SB 326 waterproofing observations for condos, we see a lot of defects in our line of work.
This week was no different, at an inspection we performed with our independent engineer the engineer found numerous railings that were structurally compromised. The wood railings on 16 decks were assembled using nails to fasten the stiles to the railing frame.
Engineers don’t like nails for fastening structural railings meant to prevent falls from the deck. In the past, nails were the method most often used, whereas today structural screws are required. At this property the engineer checks the railings by pushing on them and with a light kick at the bottom. To our horror, the engineer discovered numerous railing stiles were not able to withstand a light kick without pushing out with the nails.
I started up our company vehicle the other day, and on the dash popped up this warning “Maintenance Required”. We have a Toyota Tacoma, a vehicle that’s legendary for going 300,000+ miles or more. However the taco still needs maintenance, repairs and replacement of parts to get to 300,000 miles. Oil changes, flush the transmission, rotate the tires, a new battery. Take care of your Toyota™ and it will take care of you for years and years.
Why don’t buildings have this?
So I checked and sure enough it’s time for the next oil change. So easy, I don’t have to think about when it is time to change the oil, the vehicle tells me it’s time. And I wondered, why can’t buildings have this built into them? Unfortunately no one has figured out a way to have maintenance required warning signs pop up on a building, at least not yet.
However it’s important to remember that buildings do need required maintenance. Maintenance like roof inspections, cleaning out gutters, repainting, cleaning and repainting the decks,… Stuff like that plus more.
That’s why we here at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC are here; to tell you that your building needs maintenance. We offer various services such as roof inspections, deck inspections and building inspections. We do inspections so that you can schedule maintenance when it’s required.
Don’t let your valuable asset deteriorate, keep up on maintenance and inspections and your building will last and last. Call us today at 805-801-2380 for a free conversation about your buildings inspection needs and how we can help your building be the Toyota™ of the construction industry!
Bill Leys on the job inspecting the building for needed maintenance and repairs!
We Will Be Investigating the Source of Water Intrusion on This Medical Center in Santa Maria
William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC is pleased to announce that we’ve been selected to investigate the source of water intrusion into a medical building in Santa Maria CA by a well respected local contractor.
The building has been subject to water intrusion over the last several years and is now ready to undergo repairs and upgrades to the facility. As a local consulting firm, William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC offers competitive pricing, building envelope expertise and 20 years of experience in the construction industry.
We’re pleased to announce that a landmark high rise in Century City (Los Angeles) has retained us to investigate leaks at several units that remodeled their decks into living space with storefront type windows enclosing the deck. The leaks occur during rain events accompanied by high winds.
Previous investigations identified what were thought to be several flaws in the window installation, however the repairs failed to remedy the problems as the leaks returned in the next storm.
Our experience and success in leak investigations helped convince the Board of Directors to retain us to investigate and recommend steps the Association can take make repairs after identifying the cause(s).
If your HOA is experiencing leaks from rain events and you need assistance to identify the cause reach out today for a free conversation about how we can help you! Call Bill Leys, the Deck Expert at 805-801-2380.
We aren’t quite superman as we can’t fly to the top of tall buildings, but our thermal imaging camera can “see” through walls and our moisture meter can detect moisture that ordinary mortals cannot!
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.
The answer in short is no, all inspection companies are not the same. Here is an explanation on why inspection companies are not at all equal in experience, ethics and in following the balcony bill requirements.
The SB 326 balcony inspection bill failed to ban inspectors from owning construction companies and failed to ban inspectors who own waterproofing and construction companies from bidding on jobs they inspected, so unscrupulous individuals are popping up to take advantage of unsuspecting and unknowledgeable consumers.
Without a doubt, during your Google search you are bound to come across deck inspection companies advertising on the world wide web which are run by individuals who opened a deck inspection company to take unfair advantage of HOAs despite their contractors licenses having complaint disclosures listed on their license for such offenses such as failing to complete work for the price quoted in their contract, taking a deposit in excess of $1,000, hiring unlicensed sub contractors and departing from trade standards.
We personally know of one deck inspector/deck inspection company who is under active investigation by the Board of Engineers for practicing engineering without an engineering license. That investigation was opened in July 2025 and remains active today.
