Solar Panels for Balconies? They're Coming!

Coming soon to your condo or apartment balcony are solar panels designed to be attached to railings with a minimum of fuss. That's right, according to an article in The Guardian, small solar panels with a power inverter will be coming to the US market in the near future. 

These small panels may not provide all the power your apartment or condo uses, but they will provide enough power to reduce your electric bill.

BRIGHT SAVER,  a San Francisco based company is one of the solar companies bringing solar panels sized to fit your balcony or backyard, has some exciting offers such as Black Friday deals (offer expires soon) low interest financing and more to get solar into your home and start reducing your power bills. 

Reach out to Bright Saver for a quote and get started today on reducing expensive electric bills. 

Do you have balcony solar already? We'd love to hear from you about how it's going. Email us at Deck.Expert@gmail.com , your story and photos welcome! 

AGOURA HILLS BASED LORDON HOA MANAGEMENT DECLARES BANKRUPTCY

From The Acorn, an Agoura Hills publication, Lordon Management has filed for bankruptcy 

"Lordon Management, a Southern California-based family-owned company that represents, among others, the Lake Lindero, Annandale, and Liberty Canyon neighborhoods of Agoura Hills as part of its 200-member California HOA portfolio, filed for bankruptcy Nov. 3 in the Central District of California. It lists between 50 and 99 creditors to whom it owes nearly $15 million in judgments, wages, products and services. The company, which has offices in Covina, Camarillo and Tustin, lists assets between $500,000 and $1 million. The business could not be reached for comment. Lordon was also the property manager for the Agoura Hills Morrison Ranch HOA until a breakup between the two a few years ago."

Read the whole article here

 Key HOA management company files Chapter 11 bankruptcy https://share.google/Hitl3fZPHWwMoBlVe

EMPIREWORKS AND THE DIRTY TRICKS THEY USE TO LURE HOA'S INTO A FINANCIAL TRAP.

We had a conversation with a concerned member of an HOA over the last couple days and his concern was regarding empire works + the contract that they propose to make repairs to his association's decks in Ventura County. Watch my video at our YouTube channel here at the link below.

https://youtu.be/h6Z4eb7IMa0?si=H6HY2UTkiEsx1Mjq  

From a newsletter posted at the association. 

A Google review shows one angry client who felt Empireworks is running a scam. 

the contract appeared to be open-ended with numerous exclusions + when he attended his board meeting last night, he found that empire works had actually waived the fee for the stage 1 inspection provided they performed the repair work on the balconies.

this should be a clear warning sign, but the association thought that it was a good deal until they came up against a million dollar bill and having to pass a special assessment. This is why contractors need to be banned from bidding on repairs at associations they inspect.

It turns out that empire works is using an architect who although he's licensed In California, he actually lives in Tennessee. which means that he is robo signing their reports and he admits as much in his cover letter by saying Empireworks performed the inspection.

326 needs to be amended to ban inspectors from bidding on repairs.

We're Back and Ready to Bring New Content To You!

DeckExpert.com vis a vis  this blog is coming back soon! New content and blog posts are coming! Stay tuned and get ready! 

R Brothers Waterproofing Has POS Victim Blaming Lawyers

When I read %&@! like this I want to hit something! From the Irish Times  article found here http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/berkeley-victims-may-have-contributed-to-balcony-collapse-1.2597039

“The plaintiffs and/or cross-complainants’ own carelessness and negligence may have proximately contributed to the events and damages complained of..."   

Those are the words in a filing from R Brothers Waterproofing attorneys on why the balcony in Berkeley collapsed last year, killing 6 people and leaving seven more with serious injuries and a lifetime of horror. 

It gets worse, R Brothers lawyers is trying to blame everyone else too - here they throw the architect under the bus. They may have a point but you don't follow shitty plans either...

 "R Brothers Waterproofing also claims the “designs of others” that it had no responsibility for were to blame for the injuries complained of.

“This answering defendant did not select, design or approve the allegedly defective components,” it says under the heading of “causation”.

It also said it had no notice of any alleged defects and that the injuries alleged “were caused by third parties’ deficient work or products”.

So in California when one is looking at plans and one knows, as the licensed expert waterproofing contractor that they are, that the design is wrong, you don't bid it. Secondly if it did slip by that the design was wrong and you did bid it, when you got to the job and saw what you were doing, you stop and don't do the work until an RFI is made and a decision is issued by the architect and the general contractor. R Brothers apparently covered wet substrate with moisture trapping membranes and wants to say they aren't responsible? 

So if R Brothers is saying this detail is wrong, why did
they apparently follow it? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Even worse, they say in their filing if we are found negligent, it's secondary to others negligence...excuse me but WTF? 

I see it fairly simply-you check the moisture content of your plywood with a simple moisture meter. If it's higher than 14-16% then you say can't do it...and the problem is especially compounded when/if it was a double layer of OSB that's soaking wet. It would take weeks of dry weather if ever to get that moisture content down to acceptable levels. 

Simple moisture meter gives a general reading of the moisture content
of the plywood I have the probes pushed into. The moisture content
is to high for applying a coating to right now so this wood needs
to dry more. 

Bottom line, the attorneys are POS scumbags IMO for even suggesting the victims had anything to do with their deaths and injuries. 

BREAKING NEWS-No Criminal Charges in Berkeley Deck Tragedy Case

Just saw in several tweets from @mgafni that the Alameda DA's office announced after nine months of investigation that no charges will be filed for criminal actions by the parties involved in building the deck that fell last summer.

If you recall, six died and seven Irish summer worker college students were injured after they fell 40+ feet to a concrete sidewalk in Berkeley last summer when a rotted balcony gave way. The images of that scene were horrible and left lasting wounds on the rescuers and survivors.

The DA's office seized the fallen balcony and made it evidence from a crime scene. After investigating the case, no criminal charges will be filed, leaving civil action as the only real recourse. Although criminal intent was not found, it's probably going to be easier to show negligence and construction defects for the plaintiff's attorneys. Civil suits have been filed by attorney's against the builder and the subs as well as the management company and others.

Watch for further news on the Berkeley case in the future as the civil cases move ahead.