I opened my mail today to find the latest course offerings from the Society For Protective Coatings, most of which concern paint and other types of coatings, however this one caught my eye- "FLOOR COATING BASICS" which adheres to the SSPC Consensus standards titled "Procedures for Applyoing Thick Film Coatings and Surfacings Over Concrete Floors"
It's an intensive 2 day course that will make the concrete coatings contractors a higher level of expertise.
There's also a great course titled Concrete Coating Inspector Program that mirrors the Basics Couse and intensifies it with lab testing and 5 other high level areas for certification as an inspector.
The experts on pedestrian traffic coatings brings you the information you need on one website! We have information on all pedestrian traffic coatings manufacturer's, including Pli-Dek, West Coast Specialty Coating Systems, Desert Brand, Life Deck, Tufflex, Mer-Kote and Dex-O-Tex systems. Browse our website for articles, videos, news stories and more. We'll be updating and adding more pages soon so bookmark this site and come back and visit!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com's website see it's 26,000th visitor!
Surpassing our hopes of 25,000 visitors in our first 12 month calendar year, our website was visited by our 26,000th visitor sometime on December 26th!
Thank you to everyone who visited, your support and the fact that 42% of you added us to your favorites folders is testimony to the need for knowledge and one source for all
pertinent information on deck coatings.
Some interesting tidbits-
The were over 3400 different key phrases used to find us in web searches.
Google was the top search engine by far, leading Yahoo searches by a 3-1 margin. Everyone else was so far behind, it's not worth talking about...
Among the top twenty search terms used to find us were-deck waterproofing, waterproof deck coatings, Pebble deck, Desert Crete, Dex-O-Tex, Tufflex, Merkote and deck installation. With all modesty, waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com was also a top twenty search phrase too!
Barely not making the top twenty was Westcoat...further down the line was Pli-Deck, All Deck and others.
The most odd search term that brought a visitor to us was
Others came to us with their problems, like the person who typed in
or to the other person who searched
We heard from a lot of you, so many that we had to institute a pay for my time and advice policy, I love helping out but time is money! Thanks for understanding and thanks to those of you who have received my email advice. Keep them coming in 2008!
We look forward to bringing out www.waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com 2.0 in late 2008; it promises to be a better website-, faster, more user friendly, have more information and we hope will become destined to get us 100,000 visitors soon.
Thanks again for supporting us with your visits; we look forward to serving you in 2008.
Happy New Year,
Bill Leys
Thank you to everyone who visited, your support and the fact that 42% of you added us to your favorites folders is testimony to the need for knowledge and one source for all
pertinent information on deck coatings.
Some interesting tidbits-
The were over 3400 different key phrases used to find us in web searches.
Google was the top search engine by far, leading Yahoo searches by a 3-1 margin. Everyone else was so far behind, it's not worth talking about...
Among the top twenty search terms used to find us were-deck waterproofing, waterproof deck coatings, Pebble deck, Desert Crete, Dex-O-Tex, Tufflex, Merkote and deck installation. With all modesty, waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com was also a top twenty search phrase too!
Barely not making the top twenty was Westcoat...further down the line was Pli-Deck, All Deck and others.
The most odd search term that brought a visitor to us was
105...I have no idea how that relates to us.
advantages of urethane concrete deck coating systemswas something that 2 folks wanted to know about...
Deck leaking into housewas another memorable search term, I hope the poor soul who typed that into his search engine didn't have to much water coming in...the other poor soul who sounded like they were in trouble wanted to know if they
Can waterproof deck in the rain.Sounds like a candidate for procrastinators anonymous to me...
Others came to us with their problems, like the person who typed in
westcoat finish problem
or to the other person who searched
who needs coating inspectionanswer-You Do! Give us a call today...805-801-2380
We heard from a lot of you, so many that we had to institute a pay for my time and advice policy, I love helping out but time is money! Thanks for understanding and thanks to those of you who have received my email advice. Keep them coming in 2008!
We look forward to bringing out www.waterproofdeckcoatingadvice.com 2.0 in late 2008; it promises to be a better website-, faster, more user friendly, have more information and we hope will become destined to get us 100,000 visitors soon.
Thanks again for supporting us with your visits; we look forward to serving you in 2008.
Happy New Year,
Bill Leys
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Compilation of significant construction defect cases
A 100K Special Assessment! From the Chicago Sun Times
Holy Toledo Batman! A special assessment of $100,000.00 for repairs...from the Chicago area comes these horror stories...
The perfect shock
Condo dreams turn into nightmares with $100,000 special assessments
February 16, 2007
BY SANDRA GUY Staff Reporter
Robert Kelter was watching a football game when he noticed water dripping from the ceiling into the living room. He figured he'd have to call a roofer for a quick repair of the upstairs deck.
Kelter, who had paid $405,000 for his 2-bedroom condo in 2001, had no idea the water drip would turn into a potential $100,000 expense because of alleged major structural problems in the building.
But it did. And he's not alone.
Condo board President Robert Kelter stands under a leaky roof at the Lincoln Theatre Lofts.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
RELATED STORIES
• 'I don't know. Why are you bothering me?'
• Always read everything
• Ideas for deflecting defect shock
But it did. And he's not alone.
About 100 condo owners at two renovated buildings -- one where Kelter lives on the North Side and the other in the South Loop -- have faced special assessments as high as $100,000 apiece to pay for damage they say is caused by shoddy construction.
The two condominium buildings are undergoing a total of $7 million in repairs, and their boards have filed lawsuits asking the developers to take responsibility for alleged construction defects.
A legal expert says the jaw-dropping extra assessments result from a perfect storm of condo conversion circumstances: A lack of oversight by the city, buyers with stars in their eyes and little information and developers who claim they have no assets to correct defects after they sell the condos.
One condo building is the Lincoln Theatre Lofts at 3146-72 N. Lincoln Ave., near the busy intersection of Belmont, Lincoln and Ashland. The other is the East Side Lofts at 1601 S. Indiana Ave., which is about two blocks south of Mayor Daley's home.
About $4 million in repairs to the East Side Lofts are nearly complete and have been paid for by a special assessment imposed on the condo owners. Final repairs to the roof will start when the weather improves.
"We're going to have a tip-top building when it's all done," said one owner who asked to remain anonymous.
The East Side Lofts owner said he paid $77,000 in the first special assessment. He bought his 2-bedroom condo for $290,000 in August 2001, and owed less on his entire mortgage than the amount of the first special assessment.
He said he will pay another $4,000 to $5,000 for a new special assessment to cover lawyers' fees.
"The homeowners didn't deserve to be put in this situation," he said.
The first special assessment of $4 million was divided among 65 condo units of varying sizes. A couple owners of double units reportedly paid $120,000 each in the first special assessment.
The second special assessment for lawyers' fees totals $100,000.
The board recently approved a third special assessment totaling $150,000 to pay lawyers' fees through trial. A trial is scheduled for late this year.
sguy@suntimes.com
READ THE REST AT SUN TIMES
The perfect shock
Condo dreams turn into nightmares with $100,000 special assessments
February 16, 2007
BY SANDRA GUY Staff Reporter
Robert Kelter was watching a football game when he noticed water dripping from the ceiling into the living room. He figured he'd have to call a roofer for a quick repair of the upstairs deck.
Kelter, who had paid $405,000 for his 2-bedroom condo in 2001, had no idea the water drip would turn into a potential $100,000 expense because of alleged major structural problems in the building.
But it did. And he's not alone.
Condo board President Robert Kelter stands under a leaky roof at the Lincoln Theatre Lofts.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
RELATED STORIES
• 'I don't know. Why are you bothering me?'
• Always read everything
• Ideas for deflecting defect shock
But it did. And he's not alone.
About 100 condo owners at two renovated buildings -- one where Kelter lives on the North Side and the other in the South Loop -- have faced special assessments as high as $100,000 apiece to pay for damage they say is caused by shoddy construction.
The two condominium buildings are undergoing a total of $7 million in repairs, and their boards have filed lawsuits asking the developers to take responsibility for alleged construction defects.
A legal expert says the jaw-dropping extra assessments result from a perfect storm of condo conversion circumstances: A lack of oversight by the city, buyers with stars in their eyes and little information and developers who claim they have no assets to correct defects after they sell the condos.
One condo building is the Lincoln Theatre Lofts at 3146-72 N. Lincoln Ave., near the busy intersection of Belmont, Lincoln and Ashland. The other is the East Side Lofts at 1601 S. Indiana Ave., which is about two blocks south of Mayor Daley's home.
About $4 million in repairs to the East Side Lofts are nearly complete and have been paid for by a special assessment imposed on the condo owners. Final repairs to the roof will start when the weather improves.
"We're going to have a tip-top building when it's all done," said one owner who asked to remain anonymous.
The East Side Lofts owner said he paid $77,000 in the first special assessment. He bought his 2-bedroom condo for $290,000 in August 2001, and owed less on his entire mortgage than the amount of the first special assessment.
He said he will pay another $4,000 to $5,000 for a new special assessment to cover lawyers' fees.
"The homeowners didn't deserve to be put in this situation," he said.
The first special assessment of $4 million was divided among 65 condo units of varying sizes. A couple owners of double units reportedly paid $120,000 each in the first special assessment.
The second special assessment for lawyers' fees totals $100,000.
The board recently approved a third special assessment totaling $150,000 to pay lawyers' fees through trial. A trial is scheduled for late this year.
sguy@suntimes.com
READ THE REST AT SUN TIMES
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sheet Metal Association Contractors (SMACNA) newlstter warns about deck coating and flashing problems
From a 2001 newsletter, still relevant today though...
Most Residential Construction Defect cases start as a result of actual leaks in roofs, walls, decks, doors or windows. Some cases get started as a result of a clever attorney convincing a homeowners’ association that they might have leaks later on. Regardless, if you did any exterior sheet metal work, they want you. Short of not doing that work, your best protection is to do it right and to document your work with photos and written correspondence concerning flashing details, including any and all suggestions you might make as to improving flashing, especially those buried in deck or hot-mop roof assemblies. If you see a bad detail in the plans, discuss it, document it, suggest your improvement and price it. Any documented rejections of this type of proposed improvement could be your ticket out of a lawsuit if that flashing is questioned later on. Also document with photos and correspondence any problems with the work of related trades that touch your work, i.e., roofing, siding, stucco, deck coating, windows and doors.
Most Residential Construction Defect cases start as a result of actual leaks in roofs, walls, decks, doors or windows. Some cases get started as a result of a clever attorney convincing a homeowners’ association that they might have leaks later on. Regardless, if you did any exterior sheet metal work, they want you. Short of not doing that work, your best protection is to do it right and to document your work with photos and written correspondence concerning flashing details, including any and all suggestions you might make as to improving flashing, especially those buried in deck or hot-mop roof assemblies. If you see a bad detail in the plans, discuss it, document it, suggest your improvement and price it. Any documented rejections of this type of proposed improvement could be your ticket out of a lawsuit if that flashing is questioned later on. Also document with photos and correspondence any problems with the work of related trades that touch your work, i.e., roofing, siding, stucco, deck coating, windows and doors.
Rumor-Dex-O-Tex coming out with metal lath decking system to compete with Mer-Kote's Shur Deck
Heard today that there's samples of a metal lath decking system from Dex-O-Tex around...
Hmm, is the deck coating market about to get more competitive as new construction slows?
More to follow when we hear more-got any tips?
Hmm, is the deck coating market about to get more competitive as new construction slows?
More to follow when we hear more-got any tips?
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