Significant Change in Door Design

Replacing the inswing doors to the patios with outswings was a significant change during the building envelope project that was not comprehended by owners. It is a design defect that is dysfunctional and expensive to rectify, but the damage is too significant to ignore.




















The drawing list for the building envelope rehabilitation showed the existing hinged door details. I couldn't tell by looking at the new hinged patio door details whether it was inswing or outswing, but I didn't expect the swing to change.


14 Setting out of Work page 11 of 17 states that:
.6 Drawings are, in part, diagrammatic and are provided to convey the design intent and scope of Work as well as indicate the general and approximate location, arrangement and size of fixtures and equipment. Obtain more accurate information about locations, arrangements and sizes at the site and become familiar with conditions and spaces affecting these matters before proceeding with Work. Where job conditions require reasonable changes in indicated locations and arrangements, make changes with no additional cost to owner.






The original in-swing doors wasted no usable space inside or outside. The design did not spoil the limited common property of any strata lot.

The new out-swing doors take away 30 inches of patio seating space. It also blocks the air and view.

The strata management team destroyed the function of our patio by a combination of acts and decisions, starting with the loss of space taken up by the trellis planter replacing the tree cut down without notice to extend 407's deck and ending with changing the patio door design from in-swing to out-swing from Starline. Making it worse, the strata management team has cruelly and persistently deprived us of a remedy for decades.

Starline doors are available in in-swing and out-swing designs.http://www.starlinewindows.com/vinyl/?q=swingdoor. In-swing doors were installed by the developer for a reason - USABLE space.  

http://longlife.ca/doors/?gclid=CL3X5oWT3roCFe5cMgodiE8ATg

Starline’s equivalent to the home warranty insurance required by the Homeowner Protection Act against unintended water penetration that causes, or is likely to cause, material damage to the home was quickly voided by the stresses caused by structural movement when 409 repeatedly sank as the roots of destroyed trees decomposed. I don't know what the strata's building envelope warranty was supposed to be good for other than extra insurance premiums, but the door design defect has been expensive for the strata corporation and devastating for 409.

Even on a patio where the space is not too narrow, the outswing door blocks off dining room sliders, air flow, and the view outside without justification. On 409's narrow deck the 8-foot high trellis planter takes 18 inches away, which added to 30 inches for the outswing door is a total loss of 48 inches, and this has made the furniture that we had on our patio impossible to use for years.


















Outswing doors may be standard in the Bahamas because of hurricanes, and may be recommended for high rises exposed to strong wind driven rain near the ocean. But here it is very hard to come up with any legitimate reason for spoiling our patio where the detriment is so obvious and there has never been enough wind to sound our wind chimes more than 2 or 3 times in 25 years, and there was never any moisture penetration from the patio doors in the moisture testing reports that I saw and there was definitely no moisture penetration into the building from the door on Unit 409.

I estimate the swing-out design added thousands of dollars per door in extra strata costs to demolish and reconstruct brand new decks in order to add 30-inch extensions in an insane attempt to compensate for the loss of 30 inches of useful space without s.71 approval by the owners.

The strata's lengthening of patios by 30 inches to the south may have been welcomed by some units, but for 409 it acts as more of a distraction than anything else because our patio has always been long enough from north to south. The problem is it is not wide enough from east to west because  there are trellis planters trespassing on the east side of our limited common property in place of a tree on the common property.  From the estimates we have received, it may cost another $3,000 to reinstate a swing-in door style to restore some degree of function to the limited common property that we purchased and have lost use of.

The maple tree that screened the windows between Unit 409 and Unit 508 and Unit 407 was cut down to extend Unit 407's deck across all of what was originally shared common property between the patios.
The strata adding an out-swing door ruined what little was left of the seating in our only outdoor dining space. When the 30-inch swing-out  is combined with approximately 18 inches for trellis planters the space remaining on our deck is no longer fit for its intended purpose. There is no place left for our patio table and chairs and umbrella.

The swing-out door design spoiled not just the function of our patio but it also contributed another foreseeably stressful and disrespectful dispute, the whole of which is damaging my health.

We have been unable to go outside to entertain friends for dinner at our patio table since 2004

We tried.
- we bought a smaller table
- and our guest's clothes were ruined when red wine spilled
- while the table was moved to make room to leave the seat


Because of the new door - our deck is not fun anymore.

Not fun to entertain.
Not fun to grow flowers.
Not fun at all.















The strata council has not approved our repeated requests for reinstatement of the original swing-in door style, even at our own expense, and our repeated requests for accommodation of the trellis planters outside of our limited common property have been bypassed while extra decks and garages were built for others at our expense. ALL of our requests for remedies for more than 10 years were ignored or endlessly delayed. This is most unreasonable, and very unfair. It has cost me many thousands of dollars in health care, legal fees, and loss of earnings. I've had more than I can stand. If we can't get fair and respectful treatment, we are seeking compensation and costs, but the toll on me is profound.

Water Pipes not Extended to Specifications

Copper water pipes were supposed to be extended to accommodate rainscreen assembly



















with space between the nut and the wall - like this:



















not with no space between the nut and wall - like this:



















We have not been able to screw our hose onto our taps since 2005



















Pipes were extended on some units, but not others. Our unit was not the only one excluded.

The strata paid high prices for proper repairs and high premiums for a 2-year warranty for labour, materials, and design - but for what good?

The Willis Warranty with Commonwealth Insurance expired on October 11, 2007 for materials and labour, and it will expire for water penetration on October 11, 2015. It does not cover diminution in the value of property, or failure to give prompt notice to the insurer of a defect or potential defect or loss.

The building envelope behind this tap looks to us like it will probably fail sooner than if the tap had been extended in accordance with the terms of the contract specifications.














It goes from bad to worse.

These plants are artificial.
We bought them after the building envelope project was completed because we can't grow our plants or flowers without being able to use our hose to water them.














We don't know what else we can use to screen the view between the windows of the buildings.

Instead of requiring Heatherbrae to correct the tap defects to allow us to water plants with our hose, council gave notice on March 6, 2009, of a proposal to amend the bylaws as follows:

"An Owner shall remove all planters, pots and decorative apparatus that do not contain live plants." So, that strata acts again to deprive us of privacy and expects us to remove the screen because the pipe to our tap was not extended so we can no longer attach our hose to water live plants.

We had to get new trellis planters in order to accommodate live plants, which we will have to water with a bucket, if we don't buy a new hose adapter.

This is unfair.

After the tree was cut down and replaced with a trellis planter, at our cost, not 407's, and the strata council refused for 20 years to enforce the bylaws to remedy the nuisance in order to preserve and protect the illegal acts and detrimental privileges of others, our prayer for relief must now go to a judge of the court.

All of this is sickening to us but we can't just keep living this way for all the rest of our lives.

Lights and Unit Numbers

Light Bulbs and Timers

If I recall correctly, when I was on council the lights on the garages were automated and a member would go around and replace the light bulbs at regular intervals because it was a strata responsibility.
Not anymore. Now our garage light is either on all the time or off all the time, depending on whether the bulb is burned out or not. This is dangerous and costly. Leaving the lights on 24/7 seems wasteful, the bulbs burn out too fast, and a visitor nearly fell in the dark because with just our porch light on at night this is all that they could see.

Here is how it looks with a flash bulb on the camera, and how it should look with if a light was working on the garage.

I don't know how it worked before, or if the matter will be addressed in the Depreciation Report, but I think the old system was a better one.

Unit Numbers
Unit numbers were originally located on the garage under the light where emergency services, taxi drivers, delivery services, and first time visitors could see all addresses easily when approaching

whether the destination was a unit that faces east or west 

day or night. This is 409 with the strata's automatic light on.
 













Address numbers on lower units were moved during the building envelope project from a light coloured surface under a light on the garage to a dark building out of the light where visibility is lost, particularly on units facing east like 409 where the numbers face in the opposite direction to a visitor's line of approach.

Now we try to warn new visitors that they may not be able to see our unit number unless they look backward from their approaching line of travel, or get out of their car, and we tell them where to turn around when they've gone past us.

Moving our addresses to a dark surface in a location with poor visibility increases emergency response times - when seconds count. If the rescuers can’t find you - they can’t help you.

Selling your unit? When potential buyers have a hard time finding the address they get a negative first impression which contributes to the stigma plaguing Sunridge Estates since 2003.

Moving numbers from the original location to a dark wall which faces away from approaching visitors on all of the lower southeast units makes it far more difficult for visitors to find their way through the complex - no matter who they are trying to visit

Its just a little thing, but easily visible addresses help the whole neighborhood, showing first time visitors if they have gone too far or not far enough down the road. In fact, revised residential building codes for new construction are requiring illuminated street address numbers in cities and towns across the state of California.  http://www.addressled.com/ I think we could very easily do better.

.

This photo shows the light on the garage when it is on at night and is on every lower unit throughout the complex in the line of sight of approaching visitors. Unit numbers were originally located here on a light background that visitors could easily see as they made their way through the complex. Since the numbers were changed owners are using coloured lightbulbs and balloons to mark their address.

This is 409's number in the evening with all of the automatic lights turned on throughout the complex - if you look carefully you might be able to see it














When we turn on our porch light approaching visitors still have to look backward from their line of travel and have very sharp eyesight to find 409.















We hang a brightly coloured wind sock - but it helps only a bit.














What visitors need is a good flashlight and instructions on exactly where to look.

People coming to our door who don't notice our unit number on the wall facing away from their approach, do notice the small area of stucco that was not covered with siding, As they stand at our front door they wonder if the building envelope project was just a cover up.














The writing on this white vehicle said that it was some kind of ambulance. I took the picture when I saw it creeping through the complex - presumably searching for an address in broad daylight. It begs the question - are obscure building numbers just a trivial annoyance to pizza delivery drivers - or could they be a more serious matter - like life and death?














Perhaps time will tell. Perhaps today's engineers and architects and owners will be gone by then. But, the older I get the more concerned I feel about safety issues.

I estimate that the problem could be solved for $100 http://www.ledress.com/

more http://onlinesignco.com/index.php?Itemid=147

or less http://www.ebay.com/bhp/lighted-house-numbers

We would like the address numbers reinstated back onto a visible spot on the garage. We would like  LED lit unit numbers so they are more visible on the dark new surface throughout the complex. Not just for our safety at 409, but for the benefit of all.

http://www.ledress.com/

Personal Injury

While living in this strata corporation since 1988 I have suffered personal injury from:

1. repeated exposure to pesticide spray escaping from neighbouring units
2. weeks of toxic sewer gas & dry drain traps following a strata repair which shocked the plumber
3. five 24-hour days of deafeningly loud noise during the strata's industrial air drying process after 510's Crane toilet tank broke in the unit above
4. toxic fumes from the strata's inappropriate application of exterior sealant around the interior of our windows throughout Unit 409
5. a fall down the stairs on carpets that the strata left slippery wet and soap filled
6. a back injury from our patio becoming dangerously slippery from strata's failure to maintain it, and
7. 10 years of unspeakable stress.

My health is damaged to the point that I feel like my life expectancy is reduced.

In 2005 my doctor told me that I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which I promptly reported to the strata corporation. After that I don't know what, if anything, was unintentional and what was intentional. I do know that I was injured and that it was definitely avoidable.

1.2 Project Description .2 Design Intent Statements

.3 The work is to be completed on occupied residential buildings, and every effort shall be made not to disrupt the occupant's use of the building or create unsafe conditions.

It is my understanding that the man who was originally held out to be some kind of Heatherbrae boss, until he was removed from the project, was also the live-in boyfriend of an owner.

He told me a different chemical product was used around the windows inside our home, then he said something else was used, leaving me unsure for awhile of exactly what was used in this attack.

I eventually found out that Tremco 830 was used for sealing the interior of the 8 replacement windows in Unit 409 in June 2005.

The Hazardous Materials Identification System health rating for Tremco 830 is at the Serious level. Yet after I advised that I have lung disease and asked for something less toxic after first window this product was used in such extraordinary amounts that it hung like drapery valences and swag panels.



















General Requirements
10 Construction Facilities and General Controls
.16 Execution of Work within occupied premises shall cause a minimum interference with the use of the building. Maintain maximum safety to occupants during Work...

Knowing that I had lung disease - Tremco 830 was selected and applied in exceptionally large quantities, in many places without backer rod, in an unreasonable and foreseeably injurious manner that was clearly avoidable. Not one member of council took a look at the amount of sealant in our unit. Nor did they take a whiff of the fumes. It seemed to me like a targeted assault.


















A worker told my husband that Tremco 830 was supposed to be used outside to seal the window to the paper, that it should not have been used inside.



















Heatherbrae installed a door and 8 replacement windows in unit 409 that were significantly smaller than the openings, which were from the original windows and filled the correspondingly large gaps with sealant throughout the interior of our unit in quantities so excessive that when I came home the sealant was hanging down in drips up to a foot long. It looked like drapery valences. When I tried to remove it it was still so wet over a week later that it dripped onto our table and floors.



















Extracts from the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
Material Safety Data Sheet on this product said at the time:

• Non-sag gunnable paste
• May cause moderate irritation to the respiratory system
• Respiratory disorders may be aggravated by exposure
• Prevent inhalation of vapor - Avoid overexposure
• Wear air respirator when airborne contaminant level(s) are expected to exceed
  exposure limits indicated on the MSDS
• Use professional judgment in the selection, care, and use
• Use only in well ventilated areas. Provide maximum ventilation in enclosed areas.
• Use local exhaust when the general ventilation is inadequate
• HMIS Health Rating: 3 = Serious
• For Industrial Use Only

http://www.tremcosealants.com/fileshare/msds/985894_320_C.pdf
Whatever the actual products were, the oversized joints between our existing interior gypsum board and the new window frames were from about 1/2 to 1 inch wide. Foam back up rods were undersized and missing. The large amount of sealant used resulted in the product sagging under its weight and in some instances dropping out of the joint. It was such a large quantity that it could not cure properly.

What I removed was dripping days after it was supposed to be cured and what remained was off gassing for about a year. Tremco 830 was selected and applied in this manner in full knowledge that I had lung problems. A less odourous and less toxic product, such as Tremflex 834, would have been adequate if the replacement windows fit the adjacent wall components or the interior gypsum was refinished so all voids between the new window frames and the gypsum board were the smallest reasonable size.

This action was taken in full knowledge that I had lung disease. It forced me to rent a motel room for 6 weeks and caused painful breathing, personal injury, and trauma for more than a year. My lungs have never felt the same. The way they felt then and since makes me believe that my life has been significantly shortened as a result of these events.

The Willis warranty with Commonwealth Insurance covers reasonable living-out expenses for material and labour that render the residential building or portion of it uninhabitable. Of course, it did not take effect until 4 months after the damage was done, and it excludes bodily injury, including without limitation any liability arising from uninhabitability or health risk attributable to release of pollutants, contaminates, or irritants, or attributable to the presence of, or proximity to, hazardous or toxic materials.

 

****

I wrote and complained to strata to no avail.

June 28, 2005
One window in our downstairs bedroom was replaced, the strong fumes made my lungs burn, and I wrote to express my concern.

June 30, 2005
Heatherbrae replaced the other 7 windows in Unit 409 and applied sealant in such large quantities that when I came home it looked like this:















































I cannot find words to describe the overwhelmingly strong fumes. My lungs were burning for a year.

Backer rod was not added as required. The gaps cut around the 9 windows are 4 or more times larger than the gaps cut around the original windows. (Three of which still remain for comparison.)

In the photo below the top sample shows the thickness of sealant taken from around the replacement door. In comparison the bottom sample shows the average thickness around 8 replacement windows in Unit 409. A lot of the sealant was much thicker than the images below show.














Little or no foam backer rod was used to fill the gaps
instead sealant was used in large toxic quantities















July 5, 2005
Heatherbrae said the Tremco 830 was not properly applied
and they would speak to the guys who did it.

I lived in this motel for 6 weeks
When I went home I was exposed to noticeable fumes and
we kept our window open for a year or more
















I wore this mask and removed as much toxic Tremco 830 as I could, but my face was too thin for the mask to seal properly.





































the size of the backer I found was a lot smaller than the gaps that were supposed to be filled

















In spite of my complaints no report was made in the minutes. Presumably no other owner experienced an improper application in any other unit.

July 15, 2005 - Morrison Hershfield said that:

• Dymonic FC sealant when used for touch-ups is not expected to present a problem for individuals with respiratory concerns, particularly when used in very small amounts, but that the occupant should leave the unit during the day time, and
  
• it is not acceptable for anyone other than Heatherbrae to do the work.

It was never acceptable to us for Heatherbrae (the perpetrator) to do the work. Nor was it acceptable for Morrion Hershfield to claim that replacement sealant would be used in "very small amounts" - because the replacement windows that it had selected were so much smaller than the openings for the original windows that using very small amounts for sealing such large gaps was impossible.

The amount of replacement sealant actually used was in no way "very small amounts" as Morrison Hershfield alleged that it would be. Nor was just "used for touch ups" - it was used for complete, or nearly complete, replacement in some windows, such as in our bedroom. The amounts used in the last application were large enough to fill gaps that are so large that the required moldings are at least 4 times larger than the original moldings, some were even larger than that - such as in our living room where the molding had to be custom made to a larger size just to cover the gap around the window. The length of the drops below the window sills were lengthened also.

Although Dymonic FC's HMIS Health Rating was only Moderate, down from Tremco 830's rating of Serious, I think that the gaps around the ill-fitted replacement windows in my unit were far too large to be safely filled with it the way they were.

We think the replacement windows in unit 409 are too small for the openings and the resultant voids are too large to be filled safely with sealant. We think that if Heatherbrae had refinished the interior gypsum in our unit to eliminate the oversize voids between the new window frames and the walls, that a less toxic sealant more suited to interior use inside of occupied units, such as Tremflex 834, could have done adequate job and been a lot more safely applied in our unit.

We consider the choice of ill-fitting windows and toxic sealant applied as they were inside our unit to each be a defect in design and/or materials that should have been corrected as requested and that should never be allowed to happen again to anyone - anywhere - ever.

Although there is no evidence that the same types of sealants were applied in any other units in the same quantities as in unit 409 - or that any other occupants had given notice of having lung disease - other units were occupied by infants and elders, and we believe that windows of the correct size for the openings should have been selected for the sake of safety in order to minimize the gaps and corresponding exposure to any kind of toxic sealant.
http://www.registrocdt.cl/fichas%20especificas/listado_fichas/fichas/c16/TECPRO_sellantes_poliuretano_dymonicfc/descargas/pdf/960807_323_U.pdf

Morrison Hershfield and the project manager suggested that Heatherbrae was asked to install poly sealed with tape to the ceiling and walls to separate the windows from the interior of the unit for 72 hours. - Not surprisingly, Heatherbrae did not do so. I noticed, however, this form of protective measure being done in the building I worked in during a construction project at the Newport Public Health Services. It certainly did not look anything like our Heatherbrae project.

Instead of advising the strata council to attend at our unit to investigate or to take action against Heatherbrae, the strata corporation's lawyer, Stephen Hamilton, claimed to be satisfied that the work and materials were safe based on speaking to unidentified people who had no direct personal knowledge of the conditions in unit 409.

In spite of my pictures, complaints, health, and the extreme and prolonged smell inside our unit, not one member of council attended our unit to investigate the oversize gaps around our windows, the type and amount of sealant, or the method of application and toxic air quality that resulted. Without any kind of authorizing vote by council Mr. Hamilton wrote to us on July 21, 2005, stating that:

Should you continue to interfere with the Building Envelope Work in any way whatsoever, we have received firm instructions from our client to initiate legal proceedings against you in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and to obtain a Court injuction to restrain you from interfering with the Building Envelope Work. Such legal proceedings will be commenced without further warning or notice and all expenses including legal costs relating to the legal proceedings will be charged to your account for collection.

This effectively acted on us as a SLAPP suit, described fairly accurately on Wikipedia as:

A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation ("SLAPP") is a lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition. Winning the lawsuit is not necessarily the intent of the person filing the SLAPP. The plaintiff's goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism. A SLAPP may also intimidate others from participating in the debate.

On August 2, 2005, I found out that, according to a technical representative at Tremco, the 830 product is typically used for exterior applications, as the high per-unit-volume of solvents in the product will cause the sealant to emit strong odours and fumes. The representative further stated that should the 830 product be used for interior applications, the interior space should be well ventilated until the sealant has cured.

There is no cross-draft in the 3-bedroom units and Heatherbrae provided no additional ventilation, so we paid $176.82 to rent an industrial fan.

Project Specifications Page 16 of 17 .7
Provide adequate ventilation during use of volatile or noxious substances. Use of building ventilation systems is not permitted for this purpose.

The sealants in unit 409 were applied in such huge quantities that it took approximately one year to cure enough to stop off-gasing noticable fumes. With respect to my respiratory concerns, I have been bothered by associated respiratory distress forever afterward.

• Over the next year our heating costs rose and security was compromised as a result of needing so many open windows during not just the summer, but the fall, winter, and spring as well;


• The sizes of the gaps around the new windows in Unit 409 and the sizes of the correpsonding moldings to cover them look like they are at least 4 times larger than the gaps and moldings around our original windows, and it was never acceptable to us to use such toxic sealant to fill such oversize gaps.