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Repairs: Roofing & Siding Leaks
A Story of a Disaster
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| The image above was taken upon initial inspection where original contractor was on site uncovering the reality of the underlying mold and rot issues related to poor workmanship and bad roofing and siding practices. Repairs to the roofing and siding and framing by the original contractor were substandard. |
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| What would have been a simple detail for a professional roofing and siding contractor (as you will see later), was performed horendously and turned this home into a festering, unhealthy microbial disaster. The contractor chose to patch the job up with very poor framing and substrate repairs while never addressing the root cause of the problem. The damage ran into the 10's of thousands of dollars. |
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| Old Photo from client: A second floor addition was built upon a standard bi-level home. The photo above is of the rear of the home shortly after completion. The area circled in red (enlarged below) shows the problem leak area in the rear. Both front and rear had major leaks in these areas. |
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| A simple area of the roof intersection was obstructed by the jamming of siding, shingles, underlayment, caulk and an improper gutter, all impeding the necessary watershed needed to evacuate roof water run-off.. |
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| The mold resulting from the poor work showed itself five years after the construction and addition work. Particularly dangerous was the black mold (Stachybotrys), a known killer of human beings. The problem was serious. |
| After the poor exterior repair measures by the contractor our client decided not to allow them inside. The danger of spreading the mold was too serious to be left to amateurs. The work done on the exterior was just more of the same: Housewrap, band-aids and caulk. |
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| Above is the Fake "Kick-Out" Flashing. Just a piece of aluminum caulked to the 'J' Channel of the siding, it looks like it was put there to appease a building inspector. Kick-outs are now well known and even the officials from the building departments look for them. Look at the gobs of caulk. Caulking a leak is like turning on your water hose and placing your thumb over the nozzle. Water spews everywhere. Water under velocity will travel up, down and sideways. This is exactly what happened as the run-off from the roof traveled behind the siding and through a layer of rigid insulation and a layer of wall sheathing. Vertical leaks saturated the insulation inside the walls and the water cascaded over the several layers of floor levels on the 2 story to bi-level intersections. |
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| The mold had established itself in several areas inside of the home. |
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| Rot accompanied the mold and structural repair was major. |
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| Above is a shot of the mold uncovered (on the outside first to protect the inhabitants) and killed from the outside prior to moving to the interior. |
| This purpose of this page is to stress the importance of engaging the services of professionals that know what they are doing. We have hundreds of photos of the remediation & reconstruction of this home, but we are sticking to the root cause and the proper installation methods used by the pros. |
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| Here is the area in the rear where the roof intersections met the corner post. The splashing water traveled in all directions. This roofing and siding had to be totally removed to repair the rotting framing, substrate, remove the mold and rot, etc. |
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| Contrast the work of a professional (above)with that of the amateur (below). |
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| This is what we found: The ridiculous use of Ice and Water Underlayment as a primary flashing system. This is common! This is costly! This stupidity caused massive mold, rot and insect damage to the home! |
| Again, we are sparing you all the gory details. This page could not hold all of the misery we uncovered. The damage was massive! |
| A novice can turn your dreams into misery with the simple overlooking of proper flashings and proper wall cladding. The misuse of Ice and Water Underlayments and Housewraps has become rampant. Many of the Siding Claddings are manufactured with full knowledge that they leak. It is so bad that one consortium of manufacturers make the statement that their products provide only "A SUPPLEMENTAL RAIN SCREEN." We must ask again, SUPPLEMENTAL TO WHAT? Housewraps and Ice and Water Underlayment? |
| Roofing manufacturers are enjoying the sales of their Ice and Water Underlayments. The roofers out there that are following manufacturer specifications without old world common sense are causing nightmares like the one outlined above. |
| We call this enigma, "The Underlayment Craze," where more attention is focused upon the underlayment than the primary water-shedding of moisture. |
| Does your home have a mold problem. We eliminate mold by finding the cause and remedying the problem once and for all. |
| Philadelphia Mold Remediation |
| Roofing and Siding Leaks Repaired |
| THE HOUSEWRAP MENTALITY ? THE UNDERLAYMENT CRAZE |
| VAPOR BARRIERS ? VAPOR RETARDERS ? WEATHER BARRIERS |