We Contributed our Experiences on Exterior Building Maintenance for New England Condominium Magazine

Our latest contribution to maintenance of condo's appears in the March issue of New England Condominium. 

Staying Ahead of Trouble

Building Exteriors Need Regular Checkups, Too

By Lisa Iannucci

Remember the old jingle, ‘it takes a licking and keeps on ticking’? It was the famous tagline from the Timex watch advertisements. The gist of the ad is that no matter what you threw at it, a Timex watch kept working.

If you think about it, a building’s exterior is almost like a Timex watch. Each year, Mother Nature throws its best curveballs – intense sun, high winds, fierce rains, heavy loads of snow and ice, and frigid temperatures – at the outside of your condo buildings. Don’t forget the pollution, dirt from such animals as pigeons and, of course, any items that accidentally hit the exterior. The exterior continues to stand and takes it all in. Well, almost. A building’s exterior can take a lot of abuse, but after time, it does begin to show wear and tear and needs some TLC.

Read the whole article by clicking here. 

http://newenglandcondo.com/articles/718/1/Staying-Ahead-of-Trouble/Page1.html

Leak Blamed on New Decking Found to Be Not From New Decking...but From the Drain Pipe Itself!

A leak blamed on my new deck coating is actually from the cleanout on the drainpipe...it's cracked and drips when the line is full of water!
Bill leys

Hey Deck Expert-My installer wants to put "crickets" in the corners of my deck. I have a hard time sleeping now, won't crickets keep me awake?

Dear Reader,

Thanks for your question about crickets.
To help ease your mind about being able to sleep, the crickets your installer wants to put in are the silent type of crickets that don't chirp all night long, so you'll get plenty of rest.

So what are these "crickets" that our reader is inquiring about? Quite simply, in the parlance of the deck coating world, a "cricket" is a method used to provide reverse slope, or move water in a different direction than where it wants to go.

Water seeks it's own level, so when a deck is pitched 2% from the wall out to the edge,
the water will run out to the edge and run off. That works fine in the case of an open railing system. But often times, a stucco or wood sided solid wall will be built at the edge. As seen above in the picture, water is trapped in a corner, mere inches away from the scupper (not visible in pic). By building slope into the corner across from the outside edge to the scupper, water would move off to the scupper instead of being trapped in a low spot.

Ponding water on a deck is not a good thing, ponded water can over time damage the waterproofing membrane and causes dirt stains and is unsightly.

Installing crickets in corners and in between drains or scuppers helps eliminate ponding water.

So in this case reader, get your self some crickets in those corners and get a good night's rest too!

Deck Drains-Deck Expert Recommends Thunderbird Products

In my many inspections of decks throughout the years as an estimator, I have seen many failed methods that were used in an attempt to install a drain through the floor of a deck coating. I often see drains that came from Home Depot type stores, and also see professional type drains that came from a plumbing supply house.
The drains you buy at these places are not manufactured with deck coatings terminating into them as part of their function. Because of that one flaw, the decks are doomed to fail. The picture above shows a plastic drain system with overflow. The deck guy had the right idea but executed the job with the wrong drain. The plastic deteriorated over the years, the flange is flexible and stepping on it probably damaged it too. As a result, water leaked by the flange and into the ceiling below. We removed that drain and installed copper drains with overflows on them.

The only drain systems I use are from Thunderbird Products, Inc. of El Cajon, CA. They have specific drains for decks and roofs, including tile deck systems, that allow the proper termination of the drain with the deck coating/waterproofing materials. Click the link above to see their online catalog of drains and scuppers or call them at 800-658-2473 to place your order. Tell them Bill Leys sent you their way!