Water Intrusion
Complete, Inc. was hired to work as experts in this water intrusion builder liability claim on this commercial class an office space. There were a number of issues ranging from the weeps in the bricks, simulated slate roof and grade problems.
The weeps in the exterior masonry had been installed below the grade established for the driveway. We have seen this often and it effectively traps the water inside the wall that was attempting to exit the weeps at the perimeter grade. This one of the challenges in modern construction and the use of subs, it is paramount that each trade understands how to interface their product with the next.
It is even more important for the general contractor to know this same information and confirm that the subs live to it. In this case, the mason might have thought to install the weeps higher on the masonry wall. Additionally, there is no excuse that the driveway got poured as the installer watched the weeps fill in with asphalt. Of course, by the time there is a dumptruck full of hot asphalt in the yard it was too late to cut in weeps.
The simulated slate was a fiber reinforced product that was having challenges at the valleys and at some of the fasteners and clips. This appears to be symptomatic of may of these “concrete” products. They appear to spall, flake, swell and otherwise become damaged.
There were additional challenges in regards to the construction and these were reviewed and considered in our inspections of this property which is typical of many of our water intrusion appointments. Complete stayed with the owners through the process and presented in a logical way what was wrong, what will it take to fix and how much will it cost. We presented these costs in a line by line fashion with attention to the details and an understanding of the underlying and resulting problems. This is what we do every day and we hope we helped to make this a better place for these people to go to work every day.
