Water Damage Question

[bob253]

Hello all,

Hoping you can help with thi. We are having our house built, the builder had just complete the outside framing and roofing (including shingling). They had also completed the inside framing, and we had just done our pre drywall walkthrough about two weeks ago.

During the walkthorough the construction manager pointed out the holes in the roof for the vents and said the roofers had not completed the flashing, but would be back shortly.

Fast forward two weeks and they had started insulation and drywall. Normally not a peroblem since we have not had much rain in the past two months. However we had a huge rainstorm. I walked in the house to see there were puddles of rain in several areas by the walls.

I spoke to the constuciton manager, and he did say the water was from the openings, and the the flashings had not been installed. He said there were no problems, and not to worry. However I am concerned about the drywall that may have gotten wet.

The construction manager said the water had not damaged any drywall, and had run down the studs, he made me hit a few walls to show me that there was no damage to the drywall. Again, not sure what kind of a test this is, seem like kicking the tires on a car.

Any idea what kind of issues I am looking at? Should I be alarmed?

Thanks

[homebild]

Hello all,

Hoping you can help with thi. We are having our house built, the builder had just complete the outside framing and roofing (including shingling). They had also completed the inside framing, and we had just done our pre drywall walkthrough about two weeks ago.

During the walkthorough the construction manager pointed out the holes in the roof for the vents and said the roofers had not completed the flashing, but would be back shortly.

Fast forward two weeks and they had started insulation and drywall. Normally not a peroblem since we have not had much rain in the past two months. However we had a huge rainstorm. I walked in the house to see there were puddles of rain in several areas by the walls.

I spoke to the constuciton manager, and he did say the water was from the openings, and the the flashings had not been installed. He said there were no problems, and not to worry. However I am concerned about the drywall that may have gotten wet.

The construction manager said the water had not damaged any drywall, and had run down the studs, he made me hit a few walls to show me that there was no damage to the drywall. Again, not sure what kind of a test this is, seem like kicking the tires on a car.

Any idea what kind of issues I am looking at? Should I be alarmed?

Thanks

Drywall should not be installed until the building has been completely dried-in.

That means all flashing and siding in place and the building completely weather-tight.

You're builder is a giving you a pile of hooey.

Contact your local code inspection department to see if in fact there has been an approved rough-in inspection and permission granted to install the drywall.

[dexter]

Unless there is something truely unique about your vents, it makes no sense that they were not installed at the time that the roof was shingled, and even so, you, as the homeowner, regardless of whether the inspector overlooked it for some reason, and regardless of whether you can or cannot see physical damage, should not accept drywall being subjected to an open roof. As mentioned, your first call should be to the inspection department, to check the status of work that has been approved to proceed. Beyond that, and these are rhetorical questions that you do not need to answer here, but who is actually paying the "builder"? You, or the bank? Is the "builder" actually building your home, or is he or she hiring subcontractors? If the latter, are you or the bank receiving sworn statements from the subcontractors, indicating that they have been paid? It's a bit off track from your question, but, again, vents are easy enough to install, so unless there is something unique about them, why are they not in place? Perhaps someone is holding out on completing there work for a reason.

[bob253]

Thanks everyone for the replys. Just to add to this. We've had a week of over 100 degree heat here, and the builder is claiming there is nothing wet. He said he had opened a few holes in the drywall and found none of the drywall was wet. Again after ten days of this heat, not sure he would have found anything. So I am at a loss here.

The builder is a large builder. So, I assume, they get the money to build the home from their line of credit, then when they are done, I take it from them and my bank pays them with my mortgage. So technically this is not my house until closing. But I think the way the contract is worded, as long as they get a CO I have to settle.

As an update I contact the county inspector. He was not sure what he could do. Very odd conversation actually. I told him that he should be able to pull their permits since they roof was not sealed, and he hesitated. So again, kind of stuck.

If you can provide any advice, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

[dexter]

Bob, just to back up a bit, I believe I am a very fair and reasonable person, so I was not trying to "stir the pot", or imply anything negative about the builder, but since all of the circumstances together seem a bit odd, I thought that the second part of my comment was worth mentioning. In regard to the inspector, my many experiences with them over the years have generally been favorable for the most part, but I have seen and heard of instances in which they can be extremely painful to deal with, so, since you will be working with them in the future, you probably don't want to get on their bad side. Also, they most likely work with your builder on many jobs, and may have a certain degree of "loyalty" in that regard. Nevertheless, right is right, wrong is wrong, and you do pay the inspectors wages, so there is absolutley nothing wrong with standing your ground in regard to resolving this matter. My suggestion is that if you do not hear from the inspector within 48 hours of the time that you last spoke with them, call again, and repeat as necessary.

[Don_P]

I don't know that I would be asking anything of the inspector at this point other than that he note your concern and make a written note of it in case there is some problem later. I would also ask him to call the builder and let him know that the building needs to be weather tight before proceeding with interior finish. In other words a polite courtesy call to light a fire under the builder.

It is mighty hard to get up on a roof right now, I suspect the heat is the problem.

[bob253]

Thanks again for everyone's input. This is what has happened/being done.

The builder has had the roof sealed.

I called the township again to ask for a document stating that code requires the roof must be sealed before they proceed to interior work. I was going to take this document, along with the email stating that they had done drywall work without the flashing being on to the building managers boss.

Not sure if this will move things forward, but that's the only shot I've got.

[dexter]

Since the roof is sealed, unless you are aware od something suspicious, I would drop it at this point. My point in contacting the inspector was simply to get them to pressure the builder to stop the drywall and insulation until the roof was sealed, in order to avoid any damage. Since you know where the roof was open, and where the water ponded, I would do a careful examination of the drywall in those areas, and if you have any concerns, show your contractor. If he or she does not answer your questions or concerns satisfactorily, then you may want to kick it up the ladder so to speak, but I doubt that it would come to anything like that.

[bob253]

Dexter, They sealed up the walls and are unwilling to open them up for inspection/replacement. That's what started this. I sent them pictures of all of the issues, and they are insisting that there are no problems.

First he the construction manger said there was no insulation that had gotten wet. On Sunday I went up to the attic crawl space, and found wet insulation. He now says it was an isolated incident.

He keeps insisting there is nothing wrong, and that drywall been affected, it would be crumbling.

[Harley_Monkey]

Sounds to me there was a problem but, he fixed it before it turned into disaster and this is getting blown out of portion of what it is and to what you think you know about situation. Small puddle of water for that one time on insulation and dried up due to this heat wont hurt anything and drywall would more likely crumble at bottom of the piece than whole sheet with this heat. So if they fixed it since that small puddle I wouldn't worry things will be ok.

[XactimatePro]

I would be concerned about mold but you don't need to overreact either. Much depends on how much water came in and where it came in. Insulated wall or ceiling cavities which have an intrusion usually cannot be dried correctly unless they have been opened for aeration. And insulated cavities will usually retain moisture for long enough for mold to take root. And it takes a long time for the mold to show on the finished side of the wall. You might want to contact a water damage mitigation / repair contractor. We have moisture meters and infrared equipment to help 'see' into the walls. Water in a stud wall cavity will almost always be worse at the bottom so if baseboard has not been installed yet you can drill some inspection holes at bottom of wall cavities and inspect and/or feel the insulation with your finger or wetness. Good luck!
:cool2:

[concretemasonry]

Any fiberglass insulation that is wet must be tossed and replaced. It does not dry our in place and requires both air flow and movement. It can hold water and feed mold and saturate the wood if it is dry. Fiberglass does not absorb too much water, but its structure andd surface allow it to hold moisture tha can reduce the insulation value by 50%.

I saw many rebuilds in the south after Katrina that were walls that were stripped of "drywall", and dries with fans. A month or so later they were drywalled (when it was finally available) . I was there a month or two later and there was obvious mold.

On these homes, the water entered through damaged roof vents and especially turbines. No flooding or wall or window damage.

Dick

[mefcclv]

The only thing I would add is the issue of mold. Any leak or water damage can cause mold.