 | Bruce Mosias
Your Advice Expert
| The Leaky House that Jack Built:
Tips on Construction and Leak Prevention
By Bruce Mosias, Consultant Emeritus
Jack and Jill climbed up a hill and decided to build their dream house. They buy their property on top of a mountain with a beautiful view of the valley below and the ocean beyond. They fantasize about the wonderful moments they will have sitting on their deck with friends and family.
Jack draws a basic layout for the home and they both decide to finish the exterior with stucco because they want a southwestern look and don’t want to have to paint every five years. They hire an architect to design their house. The architect provides a proposal for the cost of design and construction management during the project.
Jack feels that the cost for design is a little high and that having the architect’s supervision will not be necessary. Jack has a friend who knows a great contractor that builds custom homes. Jack himself knows a little about construction. Jack feels confident that, between the two of them, the chances for errors are practically nil.
Mistake #1 – Not paying for construction management of the job
Jack asks the architect to produce a basic “builders” set of plans for the house. This includes floor plans, structural, electrical and mechanical. Jack assumes that the details of where and how waterproofing will be installed will be figured out by the contractor.
Mistake #2 – Details of the waterproofing aren’t addressed up front
The contract goes out to bid. Even though Jack feels confident in his friend’s recommendation, he also wants to get the lowest price. The bids come in and, sure enough, the friend’s contractor is $50,000.00 lower than the other two contractors who were very close in price. Jack chooses the low bid without checking the contractor’s references.
Mistake #3 – Selecting the lowest bid without checking references
The contractor proposes a lump sum bid with 10% mark-up for each sub-contractor. Jack feels that a 10% mark up is a little high, and since he will be on the job every day for at least an hour, he will be able to manage the subs. After all, these subs know their jobs. Besides the money Jack and Jill will save can go toward a new car.
Mistake #4 – Supervising the subcontractors yourself to save money
Chapter 2
Construction begins and framing goes fairly smoothly, except for a little trouble with the coordination. The General Contractor (GC) had multiple jobs and was not always there to answer questions as to sequence of work. He usually, but not always, showed up in the morning to make sure all the subs were there. Jack was not always there either because of his increased workload at the office.
The subs are confused as to the sequencing of their trades. Consequently they get in each other’s way and in some cases complete their work before another sub can get in to do his. These errors require either costly removal or the more inexpensive and creative “caulking and cover up” technique.
The project that started in June and was scheduled to take six months grew into twelve months. Winter rain created more delays. But, Jack and Jill’s dream house is finally completed and they move-in.
A few months later, the first rains fall. Jack goes into the kitchen to make his morning coffee and walks through a large puddle of water. Jill screams from upstairs that the bathroom is flooded.
They call the GC who shows up three hours later with a ladder. He inspects the site and informs them that roof jacks (the collars that go around the vent pipes) had not been installed. The puddles are caused by water entering the roof and wall framing via the vent pipes. The GC is sympathetic and reminds them that Jack was responsible for the roofing sub. Jack calls the roofing sub but he’s on a fishing trip in Mexico. Jack pays the GC to apply wet-patch roofing mastic as a temporary repair.
The rain continues off and on for a couple of weeks. Meanwhile Jack and Jill begin to detect a musty smell in the house. Water is pooling on the windowsills and a blackish discoloration is forming at the baseboards in some of the rooms. They also see a crack developing in the ceiling of their lower level master bedroom. In the basement storage room they find water pooling on the floor. It appears to be seeping in at the bottom of the concrete retaining wall.
The GC returns with an extension ladder and a laborer. The laborer uses 24 tubes of clear, “lifetime” silicone sealant to caulk around all the windows and doors and to fill all the cracks in the storage room walls and floor.
During the next rain, the windows are leaking less. But, water in the basement has reached the wall in their adjoining bedroom. The black stains on the walls and windows are now fuzzy. Also, the crown moldings on the ceilings are beginning to separate and water is leaking out of the ceiling can lights.
Jack tarps the roof for the rest of the rainy season. The GC says he is at his wit’s end, refuses to return, and stops answering their calls. Jack’s lawyer writes a threatening letter to the GC, who does not respond.
Chapter 3
The lawsuit begins. Enter the Construction Defects Expert; the last person to be called. Tests are run, finishes are removed, and reports with photo documentation are written.
Following is the laundry list of problems that need correction:
- The windows were installed without a continuous bead of sealant behind the fins, allowing water access to the wall cavity.
- The exterior light fixtures were not flashed properly. Neither the junction boxes, nor the fixtures were surface sealed at their tops and sides.
- A large sliding glass door on the second floor was installed without a sheet metal sill pan allowing water access to the master bedroom below.
- Perimeter sheet metal flashing laps were not soldered or sealed and the membrane returned up the wall to finish just to the bottom of the stucco screed. The screeds were grouted to the tile leaving no weep space.
- The deck was built dead level instead of sloped ¼” per foot. Water on the deck had direct access to the unsealed perimeter sheet metal laps.
- The waterproofing used on the basement wall was a brushed-on product that was far too thin to be effective.
- There was no provision for drainage at the basement wall so water flooded the basement.
- The black substance on the gypsum board is mold.
Chapter 4 – The Moral of the Story
The house cost $1,400,000 to build and the repairs came to $2,600,000.
If you are going to build your dream house, let the architect design and actively participate in the construction management of the project. Do not base your decision on the lowest bid. Do not take on unnecessary responsibility (and liability) for any of the work. Make sure that waterproofing is addressed at the beginning, from bottom to top and all along the way. After all, your home is primarily your shelter from the elements.
In our next story, we’ll tell you how three little pigs used improper construction materials that couldn’t stand the slightest breeze, let alone rain!
For a free 15 minute phone consultation about your situation,
please call 415-884-2121 or email info@noleak.com
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