From HOA Law Blog-Association Does Not Have to Stop Water Intrusion Into Condominium Units

Saw this interesting article from David Swedelson's Blog on an unpublished opinion/case law on water intrusion into a condo unit...

 

Association Does Not Have to Stop Water Intrusion Into Condominium Units

Calemine v. Jared Court Homeowners Association, Inc.
In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeals, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Lamden, upheld a trial court ruling that a condominium association, acting in good faith and in the best interests of the community, can decide not to take action to stop water from intruding or leaking into a unit due to construction defects in common areas.
Jared Court, an 18 unit townhouse style condominium association located in Woodland Hills, California, is made up of four buildings and common area that includes a tennis court, swimming pool, concrete walkways, front patios and mature landscaping. The CC&Rs require that the Association "maintain the portion of the project not occupied by the units [the common area], in good, clean, attractive and sanitary order and repair."

Each unit in Jared Court has a similar townhouse style three-level design. The lowest level consists of a garage and a windowless "bonus room"; the second level contains an entry foyer, living room, family and dining room, kitchen and powder room; and the upper level has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
In 1982, shortly after the association was completed, unit owners became aware that water was leaking through the foundation and into the garage and bonus room areas. The association sued the developer/builder for construction defects and received a settlement of $335,000. Using the settlement funds, the association hired a contractor to repair and waterproof the interior of the below-grade surfaces of the garages and bonus rooms.
The repairs performed by that contractor were defective and did not resolve the water intrusion issues. The association sued that contractor in 1996 and settled that second generation defect case for $565,000. During the lawsuit, the association hired a consultant/expert who estimated that it would cost approximately $1,020,896 to repair the defects and stop the water intrusion; and that the repairs would involve extensive trenching and disruption to the common areas.

READ THE REST OF DAVID's ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE TO GO TO HOALAWBLOG

Deck Expert Recommends You Read DURADEK President John Oglivie's White Paper on Waterproofing and Tile Decks-BEFORE YOU TILE, Not After.

One of our advertisers (full disclosure here) has just published a white paper on the waterproofing and tiling of decks over living space.

Entitled "COMMON SOURCES OF FAILURE OF TILE DECKS ON WOOD FRAME CONSTRUCTION" the article discusses the issues and problems that result when one cheaps out on properly preparing and waterproofing the deck, the importance of drainage planes and Duradeks recommendations. John Oglivie, president of Duradek, is the author.

Here's an excerpt from John's article. 

There are few outdoor surfaces as attractive and durable as tile or stone and they can be used outdoors even in very extreme climates providing there is a great deal of care put into the choices of materials and trades people. As so often happens, attempts to cut corners on costs or by taking shortcuts, even ones that seem to make sense, result in the most expensive installations. The common themes in this report are to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations to the letter and employ only experienced professionals for each part of the job. The chances of a successful, long lasting installation increase exponentially if you do.

 The most surprising thing we discovered was that that if you were willing to research the issue and look to the industry experts and follow the recommended “best practice” standards, the success rate would be dramatically increased. Simply knowing the questions to ask and who to ask is the first step to getting the right answers.
Some of the best advice given to us by a “long in the tooth” tile contractor was this: He tells his customers who are interested in having tile or stone outdoors (especially on a wood frame building) that if they don’t have a budget sufficient to do it properly they should not even consider it. Taking money-saving short cuts with an “assembly” that requires all the components to work together could prove to be extremely expensive in the long run.


Click here to read the rest of this article at Duradek.com
 read this article or you'll probably pay a heavy price to fix the failures that commonly occur...

Long Time Orange County Contractor DeckMasters, Inc. Appears to Have Closed?

The address to their website, www.deckmastersinc.com is dead, and at the CSLB, the license says suspended for workers comp...

Reliable sources tell DeckExpert that Deck Masters Inc. of Lake Forest/Irvine has closed it's doors.

Deck Masters, Inc was the first company that I worked for years ago, when I first came into the business. Mark Sigman was the owner.

Sources say that Prestige Decking has taken over Deck Masters accounts. They are a newly licensed entity in Orange County whose owner worked for Deck Masters.

Good luck to Mark Sigman and Prestige Decking

Gaco Western Shifts Manufacturing to Waukesha WI Plant

From Biz Times comes new about Gaco Western shifting it's manufacturing up to Wisconsin...

Gaco Western LLC, a Seattle, Wash. -based manufacturer of waterproofing chemicals and foam insulation, will shift all of its manufacturing operations to its new 60,000-square-foot facility in Waukesha by May.

The company moved into the new building in December. At the time, the company had 14 employees in Wisconsin. It now has 25 and is in the process of hiring about six more, said Irene Schwechler, vice president and general manager of the Waukesha plant.

A second shift is scheduled to begin in May.

"They're being hired for the second shift now because we need to train them," Schwechler said.

The company's Waukesha location will be more convenient and cost-effective for shipping than the West Coast site. Also, the labor costs and costs of living are cheaper in Wisconsin than in Seattle.

Before the company moved into its building on Chapman Drive, Gaco Western occupied a 20,000-square-foot facility at 521 Biddle St. in Waukesha. With about one-third of the space it has now, the cramped operations were chaotic, Schwechler said.

Read the rest of the story at Biz Times by clicking here.

CHANGING OUR NAME AND PUBLISHING OUR NEW WEBSITE...

Coming soon

Yes, true enough, we've forged ahead to revise our website at waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com, signing a contract yesterday to revise the layout, look and interact ability of the website.

We'll be using a JOOMLA based site, which is a free app that has easy to learn user control panel, lots of apps to add stuff in with and will be a content management system site, whatever that means...

Here's a picture of the proposed look for our new site's design...

There is one more space for a deck coating manufacturer's ad on the right side column, and there's 3 new spaces at the top, only available to wholesalers of decking, flooring and waterproofing companies. So if you are a distributor, you should think about getting your logo on the only website devoted to decking, Deckexpert.com. There will never be more than 3 ads, so you'll only ever have 2 other distributors ads competing against you. Exclusive ads for an exclusive market. Call about rates to 805-801-2380 or email me at Bill@deckexpert.com


Other news...

Anyway, we're also moving ahead with a change up in the naming of our site, to make us easy to remember and type into your browser, we'll now be known as

DECKEXPERT.COM!

Much easier than Waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com, whew, say that 3 times fast, DeckExpert.com will be the site address to remember for easy typing into your browser.

Watch for our new logo coming soon,

we'll have limited edition T Shirts to give away with the new logo on it...

watch for these changes, the new website should be launched around April 15th, logo changes next week!

From Huffington Post Comes News about an EPA Settlemement over Mercury in Cement

From the Huffington Post comes this news about Cement Plants and mercury emissions. Many deck coating manufacturer's use cement based products as their material of choice for decking, sloping, waterproofing etc.

How will the changes effect cement prices, and deck coating material prices? Isn't our health and welfare paramount over manufacturing concerns?

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Federal regulators have settled a lawsuit with environmental activists and nine states over standards for mercury emissions from cement plants, the plaintiffs announced Friday.

Earthjustice, an environmental law firm based in Washington, sued the Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 on behalf of activist groups. The firm said existing federal regulations that exempted older cement kilns failed to impose adequate mercury pollution controls.

Nine states, including New York and Michigan, also joined the suit, contending the agency had not based its standards on the latest pollution control technology.

About 150 kilns around the nation generate nearly 23,000 pounds of airborne mercury a year, according to Earthjustice. Mercury, a toxic metal that can damage the brain and nervous system, is generated from the raw materials and some fuels used in cement-making.

The agency had issued mercury regulations for cement plants three years ago, but they applied only to kilns built after Dec. 2, 2005. Most operating kilns, however, were built earlier and were exempt.

CLICK ON OUR HEADLINE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

How our Ancestors Waterproofed-Ancient History Tales

Trivia question-when did our ancestors start to waterproof things?
Answer-from a recent find in Mexico, around 3500 years ago!

Here's an article I got from my Google alerts...

Mexico City, August 18 (ANI): Archaeologists have gathered the earliest evidence of tar used as waterproofing material in Veracruz in Mexico, which is more than 3,500 years old.
Earliest remains of containers with tar are those recovered in the municipality of Hidalgotitlan, Veracruz, as part of El Manati archaeological project.
Olmeca cultures that inhabited the Gulf of Mexico vicinity used tar to protect soil, terracotta or wooden constructions, floor and wall covering, boat sealant, as well as glue.
According to University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Carl Wendt investigations, Olmeca people collected tar directly from deposits, many of them concentrated at Eastern Veracruz, between Coatzacoalcos and Choapa rivers.
Once collected, it was transported to the dwelling areas, where it was warmed up and combined with other materials like sand and vegetal elements to harden it.
Contemporary inhabitants of the Gulf coast vicinity still use tar to flatten the entrance of their houses, patios, floors and highways, but mainly to fix boats, as their ancestors did more than two thousand years ago.
In December 2007, in the right margin of Coatzacoalcos River, two Cayucos were found.
This finding represented archaeological confirmation regarding the use of tar, or chapopote, as waterproofing and sealant material, which is at least 2,500 years old. Although the wood has disappeared, the tar coating remains.
Alfredo Delgado, man in charge of INAH archaeological project, explained that the ships' vestiges confirm that the use of a waterproofing and sealing is a millenary technique.Cayucos' rests consist of several thin tar layers that vary among 1 and 7 mm depth. (ANI)