Mehmet Gundogdu v. King Mai Establishes Case Law

In lawzilla.com's California Court Opinions comes this published decision on contractor liability for defects...

Plaintiffs Mehmet and Aynar Gundogdu (the Gundogdus) appeal a summary judgment in favor of defendant King Mai, Inc., a California corporation doing business as Hyde Park Estates (King Mai), on their complaint for negligence and breach of implied warranty. Plaintiffs contend that the court erred in holding their action for damages arising out of defects in the construction of their home to be barred by the 10-year statute of limitations in Code of Civil Procedure section 337.15. We affirm.

Discussion

On November 2, 1995, King Mai filed a notice of completion for a home it constructed on its own account at 199 Kings Court in San Carlos, California. On March 13, 1997, plaintiffs purchased the home from King Mai. The purchase contract identified 26 categories of repairs that King Mai agreed to complete. Between March and August 1997, King Mai attempted but failed to complete the repairs to plaintiffs’ satisfaction. In August, King Mai confirmed that certain repairs had not been completed but pledged to continue working on them. In October 1997, plaintiffs, still unhappy with the repair work, had an independent inspection performed. The inspection report identified numerous deficiencies, including defects in the retaining wall, improper installation of windows and doors in the master bedroom and living room, and cracked trim. It is unclear from the record when this report was delivered to King Mai and no further repairs were performed in response to the report.

In December 2002, plaintiffs contacted King Mai about water damage caused by leakage following a winter storm. King Mai acknowledged potential responsibility for the leak and confirmed that it would repair the damage. In January 2003, plaintiff wrote to King Mai complaining that there had been structural water damage in the home for five years. Plaintiffs warned that they would take legal action if repairs were not completed immediately. Within days, King Mai informed plaintiffs in writing that it was not responsible for the leak or any resulting water damage.

Read the rest of the decision and opinion by clicking here.

Construction Defect Suits in El Dorado County, CA Show Why Wind Load Calculations are Sooo Important

Wind ratings for building components are often forgotten about or not considered when building. I always discuss my products wind ratings compared to other products with lower ratings that the builder may be considering.

Often these lower wind rated products are CHEAPER too compared Desert Crete decking.

So here's a story from the Sacramento Business Journal about an increase in construction defect suits surrounding new homes...homes that apparently weren't built/designed with the Central Valleys high winds that funnel through...winds that are moving houses on their foundations, cracking stucco, windows etc.

Questions linger over the wind load needed for homes in the region

Sacramento Business Journal - by Michael Shaw Staff writer

Teresa Gallad knew there was something wrong with her newly built home in Cameron Park the first time she walked through.

Soon, there were cracks in the walls and leaky windows and her kids were getting respiratory infections.

Dave Crozier hasn’t been able to live in his water-logged and moldy El Dorado Hills home in more than two years.

Both are fighting their homebuilders in court, two of at least 29 homeowners in El Dorado County who have active lawsuits over alleged construction defects.

There have been a surprising number of construction-defect lawsuits, considering the county’s small size, laws that generally limit the ability for homeowners to sue their builders, and a near stop to new construction over the past few years. Some of the pricey homes built during the housing boom have started to show common problems: Leaky windows, gaps in doorways and cracked walls are among some of the more common complaints.

Click here to read the rest of the story. Just goes to show ya, do it right the first time elimnates problems. Design, construction materials, methods...don't shortcut and you'll save money in the long run...but that's just my opinion.

Dirty Decks Done Dirt Clean...

Yes it's a parody of an AC/DC song...here's the latest video of Central Coast Waterproofing power washing a Desert Crete deck clean. I did this complex about 6 years ago, and now they are cleaning and painting/sealing them again.

While it's well past when they should have been done, surprisingly the decks have done very well and have little damage after 6 years.

Desert Crete is the answer to HOA's and Apartment Residences; easy to care for, hard to damage, inexpensive to reseal.

Call us today-available to HOA's in California at 805-801-2380 for a free estimate on your job.

Job of the Week...or What 23k Worth of Materials Looks Like...

Central Coast Waterproofing is doing a big job in Monterey County. We took delivery of the Mer-Ko materials today; 33 thousand pounds worth... plus all the copper flashing-1400 lineal feet, 58 door and window pans, post collars, counter flashing....

Here's a picture of all it stacked up-15 pallets worth-waiting for us to put it down. It's a tile ready waterproofing system, with an inch of underlayment that we are putting on, reinforced with Structalath. 3500 square feet of decks worth of work...we've spent 2 weeks doing the copper flashings and door pans plus all the window sidelite pans and now we are ready to waterproof it all with Mer-Ko ARC membrane. All the copper was sanded with 100 grit to achive a rough finish to bond to, then encapsulated the copper to isolate it from air with Mer-ko waterproofing primer and a membrane.

Central Coast Waterproofing is the only authorized factory approved installer of Mer-Kote in San Luis Obispo and nearby Monterey County. For any Mer-Ko/Mer-Kote decking call Bill Leys direct at 805-801-2380.

We can repair and reseal your deck(s) and your warranty, despite what it might say as far as applicator goes, will be intact. You do not have to use the original applicator who installed your deck if you don't want to. Contact Mer-Ko directly for further information- tel 310-320-1880.

QUEST BUILDING PRODUCTS OFFERS LIFE DECK "How To" Clinic

Put down on your calendar to attend the Life Deck sponsored "How To" clinic at Quest Building Products on Wednesday July 1st at their store on N Patt Street in Anaheim. Quest is the newest distributor of Life Deck products and is carrying a full line of products.

You'll see demonstrations on the Life Deck Marble Life Epoxy system, Concrete Overlays and more...

Starting at 10 am, for a $50.00 registration fee, you'll get a free T shirt, lunch and with a $50.00 store credit to use the next time you shop at Quest, the seminar is "free". You'll be done for the day at 2pm to shop all you like.

If you want to go, call Erica Vargas at Quest at 714-738-6640 or email her at questbuilding@yahoo.com.

Visit Quest on the web at www.questbuilding.com

See all their training classes online at this link http://questbuilding.com/blog/?page_id=137

PCBC IS COMING UP SOON!

PCBC is coming up quick! June 17 to June 19, 2009 at Moscone Center San Francisco is where you'll find the latest building information, tools and materials.

Deck Expert will be there visiting all his favorite manufacturer's and seeing what's up in waterproofing and deck coatings.

Pli-Dek and Mer-Ko, sponsors of DeckExpert.com will be there, as will AVM Industries and Multicoat.

Notably absent are Crossfield/Dex-O-Tex, Hill Brothers, Westcoat and others who have been at the show before...sign of the times perhaps with shrinking show budgets? PCBC is an expensive one to exhibit at.

The rest of us will crowd into hall and make our way around to visit.

Notable speakers include Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN's Sunday morning show a a reporter for Newsweek and Adam Werbach, Sierra Club president.

Come celebrate PCBC's 50th birthday with your peers!