Advice on dealing with a faulty contracting job

a more pragmatic suggestion would be to treat the interior like an exposed basement wall (but on all sides).

you mentioned a ceiling water barrier, but i didn’t see the details; obviously this is not working. i would run an interior dimple mat, applying a single sheet from one side of the floor, across the ceiling, and down to the other floor; overlapping seams 6” at least with ridiculously generous amounts of mfgs sealant. this will dump any water on your floor; hopefully there is a drain or other means of disposing.

add furring strips, 1/2” or 3/4” xps (butted with foam caulk). This will give you a moisture and vapor barrier for your preferred interior finishing.

personally, i would use pvc trim boards for wainscoting (actually, because ceiling is always a risk i would do pvc everywhere), and do your painting and finishes off that.

the weather is getting too extreme and we need to start thinking about when things get wet, not if.

dorkofwindsor

in General Discussion 4 years and 2 months ago

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fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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We had our leaking stoop repaired about 18 months ago. The contractor replaced the slab and steps and supposedly installed a water barrier, repointed the brick, reframed and installed a new door. The job cost around $25k. When we finished the job and paid him in full, it seemed to be dry but since then we have had excessive leaks. He comes back and repoints parts of the brick or caulks a seam here or there, but it never works and we now have more leaks than before he did the job. To make matters worse, I had spent 4 weeks redoing the interior, hand painting a custom pattern on the walls and installing board and batten. The hand painted walls are ruined. Much of the cement board needs to be removed.
Does anyone have any advise on how to deal with this with the contractor? We cannot afford another $25K to redo this job. It seems every time we have work done on our house the reliable contractors don’t want the work because it’s not a full gut reno and too small a job. We did not and do not haggle with the contractors trying to get a lower priced deal. We are willi ng to pay a fair price, but we do expect the work to be done correctly. $25k is a lot of money for faulty work.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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It’s terrible that you had to deal with this and so sorry. If I were you I’d be very upset also that the handpainted walls also got ruined.

Did you sign a contract? If you did not sign a contract you can file a DCA complaint but that may or may not scare the contractor into rectifying the situation. Your only other option is to get a lawyer since the amount is substantially higher than what you might recoup in small claims court.

Separately would not recommend cement board in water prone areas.

fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@janedrew yes we did sign a contract. We are still trying to get him back to fix the work but it seems he doesn’t know what to do unfortuantely.
Cement board is what is generally used in waterproofing from my research. Regardless, it’s not supposed to be leaking post job and thus shouldn’t be water prone!

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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What does the contract say with regards to dispute resolution?

I think you need to decide if you think your GC can actually rectify this problem. It doesn’t sound like he has the knowledge to stop the water issues.

Reach out and get some quotes from reliable companies for rectifying the work. Perhaps the repair is a smaller amount that you and the old contractor can settle on. i.e he compensates you for the repair vs. DCA complaint

Yes you are right cement board is used but it is NOT waterproof. Just because people use it doesn’t mean it’s the correct thing. We ripped all the cement board off – it had completely deteriorated from water infiltration. Some contractors use it and then forget about the waterproofing and sealing. Look it up it’s not waterproof.

https://www.silive.com/homegarden/homeimprovement/2008/02/theres_a_big_differrence_betwe.html

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I am curious why cement board was used? is it a bathroom or kitchen? Hardie board is a better solution: https://www.jameshardie.com/products/hardiebacker-cement-board/hydrodefense

helen40

in General Discussion 4 years and 2 months ago

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Sounds like a very lousy situation. Sorry.

The fact that he is coming back even after you have paid him in full shows he is generally acting in good faith. It sounds like you are correct, though, that he doesn’t know how to fix the mess he created. There aren’t a lot of good options here:
– You can sue or go to arbitration if thats required in the contract. And wait for that process to finish. Which might not end in your favor.
– Or find another contractor to recommend a fix and see if the original contractor will do that work for a discount.
– Or, find a third party to do the work (which might be the solution to get this done), but it is very unlikely that you will be able to recoup that spending.

Also, not sure why you think bargaining vs. not bargaining matters in this case (or in any case). It sounds like this contractor couldn’t do the job for any amount of money. You might have used another contractor who bid $25K and agreed to $20K and did the best job. Or another contractor who bid $35K and agreed to $25K and still couldnt get it right.

JohnHancock | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I’m very confused, the contractor worked on your stoop, the exterior and replaced steps and landing. How does the water end up inside where you painted? Perhaps first thing to do is to find the source of the water, even if lot of rain falls on your steps in shouldn’t travel to the inside of your house.

randolph | 4 years and 2 months ago

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sell the house and rent.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I thought OP said the facade was repointed. Where is the water entering i.e the leak on the inside?

JohnHancock | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I see no mention of facade, just stoop

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Perhaps I misunderstood- I thought repointed brick meant facade but it may not be the case. It might just be stoop. A picture of the exterior with notes would be helpful.

cate | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I am so sorry to hear you are going through this — and also you are not alone. We had quite a few leaks when we moved in over a decade ago, some we have fixed, some we still have, and there are new ones. Could you please clarify where you have water infiltration and what work you had done? What slab are you referring to, where was the water barrier installed, where the cement board is located? Is the door you refer to the one at the top of the stoop or underneath it? Thank you.

dorkofwindsor | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Just so we can get everyone on the same page – you have a stoop whose main structural element is brick and the steps and slab are either marble or concrete, with a door that closes under you stoop so as to make the under-stoop an extended part of your living area? So the board and batten and cement board and painting was under the stoop?

I have no idea if this is correct but first let me just say that brick stoops can be pretty challenging. Bricks and mortar can and do soak up a lot of water. It also has to be married with the steps and/or top slab, which could also be areas of interest.

A photo would be really good suggestion. If you are trying to address waterproofing from under-stoop it will not work…. the water has always and continues to penetrate and will win eventually regardless of the product used. Furthermore you could prevent the brick from drying out and it could freeze / heave or crack the mortar. The bottom line is you need to prevent the water from penetrating from above.

I highly recommend you try to seal the brick /mortar with a penetrating brick/ concrete sealer. These are usually contain silane/siloxane and are breathable but repel all water. I would *not* recommend spraying on your stair treads or the main top landing as rain can freeze in the winter. You can get an acid sprayer from the box box store, buy the sealer there or online. Should take about 20 minutes to apply, re-coat every two years.

This may not solve the problem but it is not too expensive and you can punch wet brick/mortar off the list.

fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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The exterior stoop is brick with limestone slabs. A pretty typical row house stoop. The door replaced is below the stoop, entry to the garden level. The brick was repointed. The limestone steps and top slab were removed. A water barrier was placed above the interior ceiling of the stoop between the interior finishing and prior to the limestone steps and slabs being replaced. So the barrier is beneath the limestone.

Cement board was used on the interior rather than dry wall because of the moisture possibility occurring. Hardie board would not make sense on an interior as suggested by Jane drew since that is for an exterior facade.

We are not trying to waterproof from the inside. The water is coming from what appears to be the top slab but we have not found a solution. We have replaced concrete in the seams, touched up areas of repointing yet nothing has worked. There do not appear to be cracks.

We have used vex con and thorough elastic
in the past as a temporary fix on cracks in the stucco facade of another area of the house facade as dork of Windsor suggested on the brick. We were hoping since it was repointed that would not be necessary. We do not believe the brick is the source however since the water seems to be coming from above and draining down interior the wall

fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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[IMG_0231](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s1/:brownstoner:5qah:img_0231.jpg.jpg) [IMG_8725](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:Exkf:img_8725.jpg.jpg)

fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Above are exterior and interior after the work had started and the original drywall was removed but before the new work was completed

fluffins | 4 years and 2 months ago

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[07B33D34-72E5-4345-90B2-B9A8DCC48D79](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:aneg:07b33d3472e5434590b2b9a8dcc48d79.jpg.jpg) [IMG_3178](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s3/:brownstoner:he9d:img_3178.jpg.jpg) [IMG_3179]
(img_3179.jpg)

Interior post work and showing leaks where the stairs meet the top slab

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@fluffins these are helpful. I went through a very similar situation. Hardie board was used when we rectified. There’s always a layering process to this – it’s never one product.

Guest User | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Sorry forgot to add, you shouldn’t need hardie or cement board in your situation if the wall is correctly pointed, sealed. There really shouldn’t be water coming in.