Arizona Home Inspection & Construction Blog ACSI

As an Arizona Home Inspector living in the valley of the sun one would think that window leaks are not a very common occurrence. unfortunately the opposite is true.

I see more and more homes with leaks around the windows all the time.

There are several different types of windows but since I live in the desert south west and aluminum framed windows are the norm, that is what I am focusing on in this blog.

There are several reasons for it. Poor drainage, blocked weep holes and flashing issues top the list, I will cover each of these items in a little more detail.

Most windows have weep holes. these are small openings at the bottom of the exterior side of the window that allows any moisture that makes it into the window track to drain back out. Sometimes when performing home inspections I notice these weep holes are blocked by dirt, debris (dead insects) or covered by shade screens. Sometimes they have been sealed by the home owner to prevent dust from coming in the hole. NEWS FLASH That dust will not cause damage to the home, failure to allow the moisture out will cause damage, you can damage the drywall, framing, baseboards, flooring, help create a mold issue and more simply because you didn’t want to clean a little dust.

I tell my home inspection clients to use the attachments on their vacuum cleaner to literally suck the dirt and debris out of the window track. (it works well on the air return grill also)

Another reason is Arizona desert doesn’t get much rain so many contractors either didn’t install window flashing or they didn’t install them properly. The flashing is what keeps the water out if it makes its way through the stucco or exterior cladding or maybe it simply enters between the window and the siding.

The flashing should be installed so it directs water back out of the wall. So if the flashing is above the window the building wrap (Tyvek or building paper) should be on the outside of the flashing however if the flashing us under the window, the wrap should be behind the flashing so the flashing direct water from the window back outside of the flashing. This picture shows flashing under a window that is installed backwards.

When I perform expert witness work we cut into the wall to investigate the damage and the leaks. I will mark the areas that are stained with chalk then spray test the exterior of the window and see if there are leaks and if the leaks are in the same areas as the stains. This picture is of a window that was being spray tested for about eight minutes before I took the photo. You can see the chalk and even see the drip splash as it hits the bottom of the wall. This home is about 5 years old.

If you want to know if you may have window leaks in your home there are some things you can do:

• Clean the windows and tracks, make sure the weep holes are not blocked.
• Look for stains around the sides and bottom of the windows and at the baseboard and carpet tack strip as well.
• Hire someone with a thermal imaging camera to inspect the home right after a rain or spray test the windows and have either thermal imaging or destructive testing performed by competent qualified contractors.

Thermal imaging is a great tool if used correctly but the operator needs to have proper training and a firm knowledge of building science before they perform the testing. If the wall is dry the camera will not show leaks, if the water is not in contact with the inside of the sheet rock the camera will not show it either. I have spray tested windows and waited over an hour before the moisture made it through the exterior cladding, insulation and came in contact with the interior surface, therefore the only way to know absolutely is to open the wall.

I understand that scares some people but some are even more shocked when I open a wall and show them what is inside.

Mold and rot in wall from window leak

Rotted wood removed by hand

If you have questions or comments about how to find window leaks, how to find a competent inspector or what to do when you have window issues please feel free to contact me through our Arizona Home Inspection Website

Lately my job stinks.

I am not talking about the economy (however that may that is part of it) I am not talking about my boss (I’m self employed) I am talking about odors. The kind of smells that make your nose hair curl.

I have been called out on several cases lately that have to do with odor, here are some examples.

1. Moisture causes mold and mildew in a custom home and it stinks. They hired someone to remove the damaged material and perform repairs but they forgot to stop the moisture. Now the smell is back (so is the mold)

2. Office space that has moisture coming up through the slab, they have plastic chair mats at the desks that prevent the carpet from drying and the mildew smell will turn your stomach, for some reason people don’t want to work in this environment.

3. A preschool that has sewer odor entering the building to the point that the City actually closed the place one day this year due to hydrogen sulfide levels. The owner of the building keeps applying band-aids to the problem instead of identifying and fixing the issues.

4. A Arizona Home Inspection where the 4 year old water heater has been sitting and the sulfur smell (rotten eggs) is so bad that when I turned on the hot water the agent ran out the door and refused to come back in.

What do all four of these places have in common? (No I don’t mean the fact that they stink)

All of these issues could have been addressed with proper planning, all can be repaired easily with a simple process, Identify the source , (Mold, bacteria, etc) Identify the cause, (Moisture, sewer vents, anode rod in a water heater) plan repairs that address the cause and the source.

This is where most people fail, they treat the symptom and not the cause of the problem, then the problems come back. Honestly, many times the reason they take this short cut is to save a few dollars. I need to tell you that doesn’t work. Not when you figure that the problem will return, you will be paying to fix it again, these issues tend to get worse with time and you lose valuable time dealing with the issue over and over.

Many time the problem comes down to building science, how do the different building components work with each other. For more information on that see our blog on Building science.

Over the years I have learned lots about building science as well as home and building construction and inspections but this is the first time I can remember where I can honestly say my job stinks.

April 2, 2010

Thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall should be gutted, according to new guidelines released Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The guidelines say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall need to be removed.

“We want families to tear it all out and rebuild the interior of their homes, and they need to start this to get their lives started all over again,” said Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the commission, the federal agency charged with making sure consumer products are safe.

About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall, which was imported in large quantities during the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

The drywall has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible ill health effects. Tenenbaum said some samples of the Chinese-made product emit 100 times as much hydrogen sulfide as drywall made elsewhere.

The agency continues to investigate possible health effects, but preliminary studies have found a possible link between throat, nose and lung irritation and high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the wallboard, coupled with formaldehyde, which is commonly found in new houses.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) said now the question is who pays to gut the homes.

“The way I see it, homeowners didn’t cause this. The manufacturers in China did,” Nelson said. “That’s why we’ve got to go after the Chinese government now.”

Southern members of Congress have sought to make it easier to sue Chinese manufacturers and to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help homeowners pay for costs not covered by insurance. They also say the U.S. needs to pressure the Chinese government, which allegedly ran some of the companies that made defective drywall.

About 2,100 homeowners have filed suit in federal court in New Orleans against Chinese manufacturers and U.S. companies that sold the drywall. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon is expected to rule soon in a pivotal case against the Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., the only Chinese company that has responded to U.S. suits.

Separate claims by thousands more homeowners against Chinese manufacturers are pending, said Jordan Chaikin, a Florida lawyer whose firm represents about 1,000 homeowners.

They are “continuing to live in their homes with Chinese drywall, patiently waiting for this thing to be resolved so they can move on with their lives,” Chaikin said. “We’re not waiting for the government to move quicker than we are in the courts.”

In some cases, homebuilders have paid to gut and rewire homes. In others, homeowners who can afford it have paid for the work themselves. Knauf Plasterboard has offered to pay for remediation in homes where its defective drywall was installed.

On Friday, Knauf Plasterboard agreed that high hydrogen sulfide levels appeared to be the main concern, but it noted the commission’s studies were preliminary and may not reflect conditions inside a home. The company said its studies have shown that drywall should be removed, but that plumbing and wiring do not need to go.

Daniel Becnel, a New Orleans lawyer representing Chinese drywall plaintiffs, including Sean Payton, the head coach of the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, said the government guidelines issued Friday were “word for word what our experts said.”

He also said Congress should give homeowners grants to cover the cost of home gutting.

“Get these people out of this environment,” he said. “You’re making these people sicker and sicker and sicker. You will have long-term effects.”

In Cape Coral, Fla., Joyce Dowdy, 71, and her husband Sonny, 63, plan to move out of their $150,000, 1,600-square-foot home while it is gutted to get rid of tainted Chinese drywall.

Joyce Dowdy said she suffers from nose bleeds and her husband has a persistent cough. They blame the drywall.

“We can’t live like this anymore,” she said.

They’re borrowing money to do the gutting, which means that instead of a mortgage-free retirement they will be paying monthly bills cover the costs of repair.

“It’s costing us as much as we paid for the house,” Dowdy said. “But we can’t just walk away … Our house is worth nothing at the moment.”

But Randy Noel, past president of the Louisiana Home Builders Association, said the Chinese drywall problem has been exaggerated. He called the new guidelines “overkill.”

“Nobody has come up with a house yet that has caught on fire from the Chinese drywall, no one has come up yet with a house that leaks water or gas because of Chinese drywall,” he said.

He has examined numerous homes containing Chinese drywall and found minor problems, he said.

“It’s a black soot on top of the copper, brass and silver,” he said. “You wipe the stuff off and it looks as good as new.”

In today’s market there are lots of bank owned homes on the market. Several people have decided to purchase some of these homes and fix them then flip them. Most of these people  are not licensed contractors and are just people with little to no experience or they hire people with little to no experience to do whatever work need to be performed to make the home look good, not necessarily function well.

Many Arizona Home Inspectors are performing home inspections for people purchasing these homes and finding significant issues with these homes. The Arizona state law says people do not have to be licensed to work on their own homes however there are exceptions.

§32-1121 Persons not required to be licensed;

A. This chapter shall not be construed to apply to:

5. Owners of property who improve such property or who build or improve structures or appurtenances on such property and who do the work themselves, with their own employees or with duly licensed contractors, if the structure, group of structures or appurtenances, including the improvements thereto, are intended for occupancy solely by the owner and are not intended for occupancy by members of the public as the owner’s employees or business visitors and the structures or appurtenances are not intended for sale or for rent. In all actions brought under this chapter, except an action against an owner-occupant as defined in section 33-1002, proof of the sale or rent or the offering for sale or rent of any such structure by the owner-builder within one year after completion or issuance of a certificate of occupancy is prima facie evidence that such project was undertaken for the purpose of sale or rent. For the purposes of this paragraph, “sale” or “rent” includes any arrangement by which the owner receives compensation in money, provisions, chattels or labor from the occupancy or the transfer of the property or the structures on the property.

(emphasis added)

This means that if the person is planning on living in the home for 12 months or more, then they can do the work themselves or hire handymen to do the work (as long as the total construction cost labor and material is under $1000)

Otherwise all work would need to be performed by a licensed contractor.

Since many of these homes have been stripped by the previous owners, it is very doubtful that cabinets, counter tops, flooring and painting can be performed for under $1000. It is even more unlikely that these people are going to be occupying the home for 12 months.

They even took the kitchen sink

If you are purchasing a home that has been recently flipped, I recommend asking the seller for copies of all receipts from licensed contractors and receipts for all materials.

I am currently working on several cases where a home was flipped and they concealed damage, some of these items were missed by home inspectors and some were not able to be identified until the home was occupied again.

This is definitely a buyer beware issue.

Home Buying tips:

Hire a licensed Realtor, not just a real estate agent

Hire an ASHI Certified home inspector. This person will have passed a written exam, performed over 250 home inspections, has a code of ethics they must adhere too and they are required to get a minimum of 20 hours of continuing education every year.

If there are items that need to be repaired after the inspection make sure the work is performed by licensed contractors.

Scott Warga, is the Qualifying party for ACSI American Construction Specialists and Investigations LLC,(ROC216772) a dual licensed residential and small commercial contractor. He is also a qualified Phoenix home inspector certified by the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (#38062) and was appointed to the Arizona Board of Technical Registration’s Enforcement Advisory Committee. He has 9 years construction experience and has performed residential and commercial property inspections for over 8 years. He has specialized in forensic inspections, investigating failed, damaged and defective construction for over 4 years. He is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors, (#205826) and currently sits on their board of directors. He has been an instructor of home inspection at Mesa Community College, for Inspection Training Associates, a Kaplan Professional School and Arizona Sun-Tech Home Inspection School. He has served as District Chairman & Vice President for the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors and an approved instructor for both them and the Arizona Department of Real Estate. If you need an Arizona Home Inspector, he is your guy.

MOISTURE IN CONCRETE SLABS POURED ON GRADE IN ARIZONA

You bought a new home, ordered your options and moved in. A year or two go by and you start rearranging the furniture. That’s when you noticed the odor. You lifted the protective mat under your desk chair and the smell made your eyes water or maybe you smelled it when you opened a closet door or an unvented room. Did you order a light colored vinyl flooring for your kitchen but now the floor has a darker color coming through? Maybe it has a gray or green tint, maybe it has a purple or orange hue or maybe it has bubbled or lifted off of the floor. Did your Arizona Home inspector miss something? Did you have an Arizona Home Inspection? Is this something a phoenix home inspector even looks for? NO.

These problems and many others are caused by moisture vapor coming up through the concrete slab. This condition is occurring more frequently here in the Phoenix area and there are a few factors that contribute to the problem. Before we cover those factors, let’s look at the problem a little closer.

The Issues

Moisture vapor coming up through a slab can cause wood floors to warp, delaminate swell and promotes mold growth. The moisture can cause the mastic that holds tile to the floor to fail, this leads to the floor tiles sounding hollow and lifting off the floor. The vapor frequently passes through carpet and other floorings unless there is some type of vapor barrier. Vinyl flooring creates a barrier by itself; other examples of barriers could be a chair mat, floor runners with a non-slip backing or anything else that prevents the moisture from escaping. The bottom line is, if moisture can’t pass through the flooring, then it is trapped under the flooring. That leads to the next question, where does the moisture come from?

The Source

The moisture typically comes from two sources. The water in the concrete mix slowly dries by traveling to the top of the slab and evaporating. This process can take six months to completely dry a properly placed slab. The other source of moisture is from the soil beneath the slab. Moisture evaporates and once concrete is placed on the ground,
the evaporation of moisture in the soil is severely restricted. The moisture in the ground is rarely viewed, discussed or even considered an issue during construction since the slab is still in the drying process and there is not a large temperature difference above and below the concrete. However, this changes once the home is completed. Now the air inside the home is conditioned and the temperature change and pressure change along with the difference in relative humidity between the air above the slab and the soil beneath the slab causes a vapor pressure difference. Simply put, moisture travels from heat to cool. The moisture under the slab is drawn to the cool, dry, air conditioned concrete slab. Concrete is porous, it is not water proof and the moisture vapor rises to and passes through the slab by capillary action and vapor diffusion.

The Cause

Moisture under a slab wasn’t an issue in the desert a few years ago, but today is a different story. Today’s construction techniques are a little different, contractors are flooding building pads to address issues with the soil like compaction and expansiveness. Homes are also being constructed on properties that used to be agricultural land.
This land may have been a dairy or a farm field that used to be irrigated frequently. Soils tests are commonly performed before the land is developed. Recently these soils tests results indicate moisture levels of 20% to 50% in the soil anywhere from two to 10 feet down. (It is rare that soil samples are taken below 10 feet deep)
It takes a long time for moisture to rise to the top of a concrete slab from 10 feet down, maybe even years.

Sometimes the grading and drainage of the property directs moisture into the soil below the foundation. (This is something an Arizona home inspector looks for)
This, in effect, can recharge the moisture source under the slab. There is also the possibility of an underground plumbing leak or the landscape system adding moisture to the soil under the slab. However, homes are built on moist soils all over the world, why do we have a moisture problem in the desert?

Construction Issues

The moisture is drawn up to and through the slab by capillary action, vapor diffusion and evaporation. The quickest way to prevent the moisture from migrating through the slab is to stop these actions from occurring.

One of the things that need to change is the aggregate base course (ABC) that is being used in the desert. Currently the ABC is a sand/stone mixture, however sand promotes the capillary action and therefore makes a poor choice as ABC in an area where there is elevated moisture content in the subsoils. Using a stone as ABC would help eliminate the capillary action.

Another way to reduce the moisture is to provide adequate grading and drainage. This should include controlling roof drainage and diverting it at least 8 feet away from the foundation. The landscaping plumbing and control valves should also be located several feet away from the foundation as the control valves have a tendency to leak and the further away that moisture is from the foundation, the less likely it it is that it will have an impact on the foundation.

The most effective way to control the moisture is with a vapor barrier. This is a thin plastic sheet placed on top of the ABC before the concrete is poured. Previous construction practices would place the vapor barrier below the ABC or place a thin layer of sand on top of the vapor barrier so that moisture could escape through the top and bottom of the slab, however the moisture still migrates up through the slab. Placing the barrier below the sand or ABC creates a reservoir for the water that drains from the wet concrete and capillary action prevents moisture from draining by gravity through the sand.

It may interest you to know that a vapor retarder is required by the International Residential Code (IRC) in section 506.2.3, however, it may be omitted if the local building official approves the omission due to local site conditions.

So how is the issue corrected?

Correcting the Issue

The best way to get rid of the moisture in the slab is to prevent it from getting there in the first place. Check the moisture content of the soil, use ABC that is ½ inch or larger and install a vapor barrier above the ABC and below the concrete If the home is already built and you own it then you need the help of professionals.

Have a calcium chloride test performed on the floor slab to determine the rate of vapor transmission through the slab. If floor coverings are present they will need to be removed before and during the testing. Testing commonly takes 24 to 60 hours. There are many different flooring companies that can perform this test for you, or contact the engineer you want to assist you with this project.

Check for moisture sources around the home including grading, drainage, irrigation, roof downspouts, and swimming pools. Have the supply and the waste plumbing checked for leaks. If you still have not corrected the issue, then consult with professionals. Expect them to core through the slab and determine if a vapor barrier is present and investigate the conditions of the soil and ABC under the slab.

Methods of repair are limited and should be considered fully before proceeding. The slab surface can be sealed. This will reduce or even stop the vapor transmission temporarily. A good sealer may last ten years, inexpensive sealers may not last a year. Before sealing, all floor coverings and furnishings will need to be removed from the slab.
There are other methods of venting or draining the slab that are available, some involve forcing air under the slab or drawing air from under the slab. Another method is to install a drainage system that gets the moisture away from the slab.
All of these repairs should be reviewed by an engineer before they are implemented, and the work should be performed by a contractor experienced in this area.

Scott Warga, is the Qualifying party for ACSI American Construction Specialists and Investigations LLC,(ROC216772) a
dual licensed residential and small commercial contractor. He is also a qualified Gilbert home inspector certified by the Arizona Board of Technical Registration (#38062) and was appointed to the Arizona Board of Technical Registration’s Enforcement Advisory Committee. He has 9 years construction experience and has performed residential and commercial property inspections for over 8 years. He has specialized in forensic inspections, investigating failed, damaged and defective construction for over 4 years. He is a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors, (#205826) and currently sits on their board of directors. He has been an instructor of home inspection at Mesa Community College, for Inspection Training Associates, a Kaplan Professional School and Arizona Sun-Tech Home Inspection School. He has served as District Chairman & Vice President for the Arizona chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors and an approved instructor for
both them and the Arizona Department of Real Estate.