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.
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.
We appreciate the outreach from so many people around the state who are appreciative of what we’re doing here at William Leys Waterproofing Consultants LLC!
If you don’t trust your balcony inspection report, if your balcony inspection company is pressuring you to take out special assessments, if your balcony inspection company also does repairs, you need to reach out to us today to help you defend against unethical immoral tactics designed to separate your HOA from its money. We perform second opinion inspections that can help an HOA determining if they got a good report or not.
Call today, I answer the phone personally! Bill Leys 805-801-2380
The other home inspector missed this “little” issue
A recent inspection we performed for a prospective buyer of a condominium in San Luis Obispo demonstrates perfectly, why you as a buyer need to have your own inspections done at your own cost. This particular inspection found many issues that were glossed over as simply needing patching and painting rather than complete replacement of major components such as windows, doors, decks and subflooring under a shower.
The seller had a pre sale inspection done at their expense and provided that report to the prospective buyer. He had questions and doubts about the report and reached out to us after searching for a waterproofing and building consultant.
Our inspection found that many items the other inspector glossed over in his report as needing “patching and painting” or minor repairs were far from the real situation which was that all the doors and windows were past their useable lifespan and needed to be completely replaced. We found dry-rotted framing on decks, open and exposed framing on columns, dry-rot in the substrate below a shower floor which requires the substrate to be replaced due to fungus infestations.
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.
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.
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.
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.
SB 326 Deck Inspection Specialists * Building Waterproofing Consultants * Construction Defect Investigations By Bill Leys The Deck Expert 