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.
This is a tragedy of unbelievable proportions, people’s lives are upended, homes lost, untold amounts of damages, all because of a grill.
WE’VE SAID IT BEFORE AND WE’LL KEEP SAYING IT, GRILLS ARE ILLEGAL TO USE ON DECKS AND PATIOS ON MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING! GRILL ON THE GROUND, AT LEAST 10 FEET AWAY FROM COMBUSTIBLE SURFACES SUCH AS FENCES, LANDSCAPING, THE BUILDING, SHEDS ETC. DO NOT LEAVE A GRILL UNATTENDED!
So what happens next? The HOA is going to find out if insurance will pay for losses or not. If the association failed to enforce a no-grill policy or the requirement by the insurance company, if it exists in the policy that no grills be used on patios or decks, they will likely not be covered. That comes from several conversations I’ve had with insurance professionals. Meanwhile, innocent residents are faced with incalculable losses and trying to recover. This could have been easily avoided.
California state law bans grills from patios and decks on multi-family housing as do many other states and municipalities. Does your association perform inspections to make sure that no grills are on any decks or being used on decks? That might even include walking around on a Saturday or Sunday when someone might be grilling on a deck and also include a comprehensive inspection of each and every deck to ensure there are no grills present and to present the resident with a notice that no grills are allowed on the deck and perhaps even go as far as having them sign a document saying they understand.
This photo (is not the Foster City fire) which shows the grill that started the building fire and how the fire has spread rapidly. Patio furniture ignited, fire through the roof, , the entire interior in flames, all within minutes of the grill being against the wall and backfiring.
If you need help to inspect your balconies to ensure that there are no grills on the decks. Please contact us at 805-801-2380 and we can give you a quote on a one-time inspection or an ongoing series of random inspections.
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.
Remediation began with removal of flooring and drywall where mold was found. The only problem before fixing everything was to find out where the water was coming from. One clue was the fact that recent stucco and deck work had been done. Couple that with the fact that several rain storms had occurred and the answer seemed to point to the wall being the culprit.
The view from the interior of the wall shows an odd repair of the stucco and building paper using spray foam.
We started with a visual inspection of the area, and made some odd discoveries. New building envelope paper was integrated into existing paper using spray foam. Flashing was assembled using sheet metal tapping screws where it overlapped the next piece of flashing. We could see several areas where stucco was visible as it had pushed the paper out, creating a path for water to follow into the building.
Stucco Visible Behind Open Building Paper
Returning the following morning we set up an informal water test. Using a lawn sprinkler we sprayed the wall where the drywall was open on the interior. Within 20 minutes we observed water on the interior of the building, indicating defective repairs to the building paper.
Water can be seen running down the interior of the wall in this photo. We found two other leaks during the test as well. A lawn sprinkler imitates rain soaking the building.
So now we can clearly see that the repairs are defective in this one limited area. However our question then becomes if this one limited area has three different areas that are leaking, and the contractor has replaced hundreds of lineal feet of stucco, building paper and flashing, how many other areas might be leaking as well? Given the data we already have, we’d have to guess that there’s more leaks that remain unknown.
Conclusion- despite the optimism that your contractor is making repairs correctly, the realty is somewhere in between. Attention to detail is critical. Even then mistakes can be made. By having a quality assurance inspector observing and checking your contractor’s work, you can expect that the quality of the work will be much higher. That’s because when people know they are being watched and checked they spend more time doing the job right the first time rather than having to redo the work.
Give us a call today to discuss your condo rehab work and we will discuss how QA inspections improve your job by holding the contractor accountable.
Bill Leys has been performing quality assurance inspections all over California for many years and his diligence in inspecting contractors work has helped ensure that hundreds of leak free homes and condos are restored correctly. Call Bill at 805-801-2380 today.
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.
Our engineering partner 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.
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 our 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.
Watch our 30 second video to understand the importance of checking railings for safety.
Hidden railing dangers found by our independent structural engineer.
Our biggest fear is that a child leaning against the railing stiles might fall if the nails fastening the stiles pull out of the wood rail bottom piece. With these decks over the concrete driveway and being 14′ high on the lower deck and 24′ tall on the upper deck, any fall from that height would probably have fatal consequences.
This discovery highlights why HOAs need to hire the best qualified inspection company instead of the least expensive company. Yeah the cheap company, if they missed these defective railings and an accident happened, would get sued. Small comfort for the victim if they were seriously injured or killed.
At William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC, we are very thorough in our waterproofing observations. Our independent structural engineer is an expert at finding structural issues.
Call us today for a free conversation on how we can help you with getting the most thorough inspection at a competitive cost. Call Bill Leys at 805-801-2380.
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!
Setting the Bar in Coordinating SB 326 Inspections With Independent Structural Engineering Experts & Waterproofing Experts With No Conflicts of Interest
Call 805-801-2380 Coordinating SB 326 EEE Inspections Since 2020 * Waterproofing Consultants * Leak Investigations 