R Brothers Waterproofing Has POS Victim Blaming Lawyers

When I read %&@! like this I want to hit something! From the Irish Times  article found here http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/berkeley-victims-may-have-contributed-to-balcony-collapse-1.2597039

“The plaintiffs and/or cross-complainants’ own carelessness and negligence may have proximately contributed to the events and damages complained of..."   

Those are the words in a filing from R Brothers Waterproofing attorneys on why the balcony in Berkeley collapsed last year, killing 6 people and leaving seven more with serious injuries and a lifetime of horror. 

It gets worse, R Brothers lawyers is trying to blame everyone else too - here they throw the architect under the bus. They may have a point but you don't follow shitty plans either...

 "R Brothers Waterproofing also claims the “designs of others” that it had no responsibility for were to blame for the injuries complained of.

“This answering defendant did not select, design or approve the allegedly defective components,” it says under the heading of “causation”.

It also said it had no notice of any alleged defects and that the injuries alleged “were caused by third parties’ deficient work or products”.

So in California when one is looking at plans and one knows, as the licensed expert waterproofing contractor that they are, that the design is wrong, you don't bid it. Secondly if it did slip by that the design was wrong and you did bid it, when you got to the job and saw what you were doing, you stop and don't do the work until an RFI is made and a decision is issued by the architect and the general contractor. R Brothers apparently covered wet substrate with moisture trapping membranes and wants to say they aren't responsible? 

So if R Brothers is saying this detail is wrong, why did
they apparently follow it? Inquiring minds want to know. 

Even worse, they say in their filing if we are found negligent, it's secondary to others negligence...excuse me but WTF? 

I see it fairly simply-you check the moisture content of your plywood with a simple moisture meter. If it's higher than 14-16% then you say can't do it...and the problem is especially compounded when/if it was a double layer of OSB that's soaking wet. It would take weeks of dry weather if ever to get that moisture content down to acceptable levels. 

Simple moisture meter gives a general reading of the moisture content
of the plywood I have the probes pushed into. The moisture content
is to high for applying a coating to right now so this wood needs
to dry more. 

Bottom line, the attorneys are POS scumbags IMO for even suggesting the victims had anything to do with their deaths and injuries. 

BREAKING NEWS-No Criminal Charges in Berkeley Deck Tragedy Case

Just saw in several tweets from @mgafni that the Alameda DA's office announced after nine months of investigation that no charges will be filed for criminal actions by the parties involved in building the deck that fell last summer.

If you recall, six died and seven Irish summer worker college students were injured after they fell 40+ feet to a concrete sidewalk in Berkeley last summer when a rotted balcony gave way. The images of that scene were horrible and left lasting wounds on the rescuers and survivors.

The DA's office seized the fallen balcony and made it evidence from a crime scene. After investigating the case, no criminal charges will be filed, leaving civil action as the only real recourse. Although criminal intent was not found, it's probably going to be easier to show negligence and construction defects for the plaintiff's attorneys. Civil suits have been filed by attorney's against the builder and the subs as well as the management company and others.

Watch for further news on the Berkeley case in the future as the civil cases move ahead.

These Words Should Send a Chill Down The Building Industries Back!

Maybe you didn't feel it, but on November 12th, the building industry was shaken up. Hard, like they got punched, and punched and punched. The law firm of Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger is representing Aoife Beary and another party who are suing for damages from the result of the balcony collapsing on June 16th of this year.  

The suit asks for damages, enough to make an example out of the defendants, enough so THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN! Every person involved in building decks, especially cantilevered, are now on notice that it better be done perfectly and correctly. OR YOU WILL PAY. Remember to, the DA's office is investigating this too and criminal charges may still come!

BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID! 

NO OSB SHOULD BE EVER USED! THIS LIST OF ALLEGATIONS IS A LIST
OF EVERY DECK PROBLEM I SEE ALL THE TIME

So here you are building industry, property management industry, design industry etc; start designing, building, sequencing and use the right materials cause the deaths of these poor kids WILL NOT BE IN VAIN! READ THIS LIST, IT'S JUST A WHO'S WHO OF THE SINS I SEE DURING INSPECTIONS AND WHEN I WAS WATERPROOFING DECKS! 

LESSON-IF YOU SCREW UP AND PEOPLE DIE, YOU PROBABLY WILL GO TO JAIL AND PAYA WHOLE LOT OF MONEY, AND HAVE TO LIVE WITH THOSE THAT DIED ON YOUR CONSCIENCE. 

NOT WORTH IT, DO IT RIGHT, IT ONLY COSTS A LITTLE MORE THAN DOING IT WRONG. 

Cigarette Believed to Be Trigger of Massive Condo Fire

A safety expert believes a cigarette is to blame for sparking a massive fire on a deck on a condo in Florida. We recommend the use of fire resistant Class A rated solid surface decking over wood and synthetics for superior protection.

Watch the news clip below

 

From Contra Costa Times-As Berkeley begins balcony inspections, records suggest safety problems are common in region

Photo by Contra Costa Times Photographer  Karl Mondon
shows two balconies falling off a building in San Francisco.
The sliding doors are not blocked to prevent access, a
dangerous condition.

An investigative report on Berkeley's new deck inspection ordinance by Matthia Gafni, David Early Sr & Thomas Peele shows that other Bay area cities with inspection requirements reveals the difficulty in forcing building owners to repair their buildings. Gafni interviewed me on my opinions and expertise on the subject. 

"A rotting deck railing at a San Francisco house suddenly snaps during a birthday party, and three people fall onto concrete below, suffering serious injuries. Posts tenuously prop up the collapsing balcony of four San Jose apartments that city inspectors may soon order vacated, fearing an imminent collapse.

In Concord, inspectors find balconies at an apartment complex badly rotted and order immediate repairs, citing danger to residents.

These details -- gathered from inspection records reviewed by the Bay Area News Group -- suggest just how common the types of problems are that doomed a Berkeley balcony and killed six young adults last month."

My personal professional opinion is landlords and property management companies have decided to not fix decks until someone dies. Read my opinions in the article here at this link. http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_28538504/berkeley-begins-balcony-inspections-records-suggest-safety-problems

Signs Your Deck Needs To Be Inspected

We have had a lot of traffic recently to our site from people who are concerned about their decks. We want to assure you that your waterproofed deck probably isn't going to collapse, but many wood decks do collapse on a near everyday basis in the US. How can you check your waterproof solid surface deck to see if it has any warning signs of danger?

Do use our photograph's to check your deck for signs of problems and dangerous conditions. If you find these conditions, you'll want to have a deck inspector review your deck and give you a report with a basic scope of work to use to obtain bids with. Don't let a deck waterproofing contractor write his scope of work, they may be complete and truthful or they may be adding extra work and profits on.

Even if your deck is in no danger of collapse, water getting under the surface of a waterproof deck can cause damage to framing and the plywood substrate.

1.) Therefore, cracks on a deck are a warning sign. Look at your deck carefully in the field of the deck. Many times plywood moving will cause a deck to crack.

Urethane deck with seam tape showing through coating.
We recommend a professional inspection and evaluation. 

Long cracks in the field of the deck
should be inspected and repaired. 

Some decks crack because of moving plywood. This deck's
coating cracked because of plywood not being level. 

Cracks at the edge of a deck may indicate a more serious issue underneath.
Further evaluation is recommended.

2.) Rusted metal flashings on deck edges or at deck to wall areas. Rusted areas in field of deck. Rusted railing bases.

Rusted railing bases have lost their strength and now may present a hazard
as they won't be able to retrain you from falling. An inspection and fast repairs
need to be done in many cases to maintain safety. 

Any type of plant growth around a railing bases indicates moisture
conditions underneath. 

Rust on the metal flashing like this is a sign that further inspection
should be done and a scope of work written.

3.) Ponding Water. After a rain storm, your waterproof deck should be dry within 24 hours to at most 48 hours. Water should not ever pond longer than that. An inspection of the problem areas can help you determine what work can and needs to be done to correct a ponding water issue.

Ponds in the middle of a walkway always create problems.

Water sitting at the wall can attack exposed sheet metal causing rust and leaks.

Water sitting on an edge indicates a high edge. 

Watch for future articles discussing drains and scuppers.

Deadly Berkeley Balcony Collapse - Poor Design, Poor Workmanship in Installation

The six people that died and seven who were seriously injured in the balcony collapse on an apartment building on Kittridge St in Berkeley CA never should have died or been injured. That's my opinion, based on the information and documents I've received and photograph's I've reviewed.

Eventually a jury or a mediator will award the dead and injured money to compensate them. Who will pay and how much they will pay will be the only question.

Broken off joists from dryrot due to water intrusion.
Decks must be pre-sloped, then waterproofed. 

From what my review and discussions with other experts have come up with, the wood cantilevered deck was framed out flat, despite the plans calling for a 2% slope on it. After being built, it was waterproofed using Grace 3000 bithuthene membrane, a peel and stick waterproofing sheet good.

Grace 3000 waterproofing system on horizontal surfaces
requires the use of a sub-surface drainage membrane under the concrete
overburden to allow water to escape unimpeded. 

Waterproofing detail for deck shows Grace 3000 bituthene membrane
but the drawing FAILS to include Grace Hydroduct 660 Drainage Membrane.
We presume water WILL get under concrete overburden and will need a way
 to drain sub-surface water out

After being waterproofed, it appears that sloping materials in the form of concrete backer board type materials were placed on top, then screwed down through the waterproofing membrane. Grace advertises that their membrane is "self healing" but also advises that any penetrations be patched. Near impossible to do in this type of situation. But someone probably thought hey it's self sealing so no problem screwing through it.

Apparently no further waterproofing over the sloped materials was done.

Then a concrete deck was poured over this assembly. Water will leak through concrete. It's permeable unless it's waterproofed. Stucco was applied as the finish under the balcony. One design flaw with the stucco was that no vents were installed on the underside of the deck.

Clearly there are no vent strips on the underside of the stucco covered deck. 

My theory is that water got through the concrete and in at the door area. The fasteners used to screw the concrete board down allowed water to penetrate to the waterproofing membrane. As screws rusted, they provided a channel for water to penetrate into the deck substrate and framing. Now with the wood wet, dryrot could begin.

This pic clearly shows the joists of the deck in a rotted condition.

Now I want to be clear, the design of the waterproofing appears to have been a problem too. I've reviewed details of the waterproofing assembly and the architect appears to have left out on critical piece of the system assembly-subsurface drainage. 

The Grace 3000, like nearly every Grace waterproofing product, requires a drain board assembly to be placed on top of the waterproofing membrane over a pre-sloped substrate. Without the ability to drain water out, concrete will hold the water against the waterproofing membrane, allowing it to sit, especially on a flat deck. The Grace system, if properly designed and assembled, should have worked for years and years without issue. 

So a flat deck, with waterproofing on it without slope, allows water to sit on it under the concrete overburden. Theoretically this deck as it began to deteriorate. My question then becomes, were the decks at the property ever inspected by the management company or a building evaluation specialist? My reason for asking is I would think that some signs of distress may have been present and noticeable to an expert. I say this because experts inspected the other decks on this property and determined several were dangerous and were red-tagged. Therefore it's reasonable to assume this deck, had it been inspected, could have been found to be dangerous before this tragedy happened. 

The lawyers will figure it out, the insurance company will pay out and we as a industry in building and protecting occupants, must become better at our trades, in both design and assembly. Someone has to own their work and take pride in it and do it right. 

We can't afford cheap construction.  

From Habitat Magazine, NYC New Balcony Inspection Requirements Discussed

How Much Will the New, Expanded Local Law 11 Inspections Cost Boards?

By Jennifer V. Hughes

April 24, 2014 — Following a recent fatal accident involving the failure of a high-rise balcony, the well-known Local Law 11 (LL11) was updated to include not simply façade inspection every five years but also inspection of the railings on balconies, terraces, roofs and even some fire escapes. So just how much will this expanded LL11 — now called the Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP) — cost condo and co-op boards?

It's difficult to estimate the added costs of the new LL 11, a.k.a. FISP, saysStephen Varone, president of Rand Engineering & Architecture.

Read the whole article here http://www.habitatmag.com/Publication-Content/Legal-Financial/2014/2014-April/New-Costs-of-Expanded-Local-Law-11-FISP#.U16Pw_ldUR4

When Tragedy Strikes-A Great Safety Awareness Article on High Rise Balconies/Railing and Keeping Them Safe

Florida Community Association Journal has a great article from last months issue available for free reading on the web. The article discusses railing safety on high rise buildings-pertinent info for any high rise building whether in Florida, Boston, LA, San Jose or wherever your high rise may be...

Joe Sanders, a CMCA credentialed HOA manager wrote this article on high rise balcony safety.

When Tragedy Happens
by Joseph Sanders, CMCA

On occasion, there comes a time when managers responsible for
operating a mid-rise or high-rise building have to deal with tragedy.
This type of tragedy is truly every high-rise manager’s worst
nightmare. That bad dream is someone falling from the building. This
may not happen to a high-rise manager in his or her entire career; yet it
may happen more than once. The chances or odds, if you will, of it occurring
are commensurate with the nature of what a high-rise building is.

Read All of Joe's Article By Clicking Here