Déjà Vu
.
The Promised phone call from the builder took a while but finally came. JW was not willing to pay for anything so drastic as siding removal and replacement but he would have workers come to Mrs. H house and perform a fix which would extend the J channel free of charge. While there, JW’s people were also going to replace any rotted wood they found while doing the exploratory trim removal suggested by the inspector. Once the repairs were completed the trim would need to be re- painted by us. Around four months later I received this note from Mrs. H via E mail:
.
"Hi, Barry -
Just to let you know, J's guys have come and fixed (we hope) the problems. They recommend waiting a few weeks to begin the painting, so I will defer to your schedule and commitments."
.
Our commitments made it impossible to get to Mrs. H's job any sooner so it was several weeks before we arrived and began what we hoped would be the final phase of a long journey. The feeling of Déjà vu was prevalent as we began to prep the trim once again. JW’s people had replaced quite a few pieces of trim and the fixes they performed on the J channel were not impressive but we hoped they would be adequate.
.
We were about halfway through the paint Job a second time when it became evident we were wasting our time and Mrs H’s money. The wood was still getting wet despite the “Fixes”. I removed a piece of trim to discover damage to the subsiding below. Mrs. H had me call the inspector she hired previously and ask him to come take a look at what JW had done and what he hadn’t. The inspector told me that He did not want to get any further involved because he could see this was going to end up in court and being a local he felt it would not be good for his business.
.
So again it was our word against the builders. Mrs. H decided to hire a well regarded home inspector from Washington DC to give a second professional opinion.
.
The envelope please…
.
I was there when the new inspector came to town. I told him the story and he took a look for himself. He checked the walls with a moisture meter which did not show moisture levels beyond the ordinary. He took note of a window which did not get a fix at all, suggested a few non related cautionary chores and told Mrs. H not to worry because he would write a letter directly to JW. Here is some of what he wrote:
.
"On December 12, Ms. H hired us to inspect siding and trim problems at the above referenced house. Like the inspector prior to us, we observed that the J channel above the both windows and doors was cut too short. This is likely allowing the water leakage that has resulted in wood rot of both the trim and subsiding, peeling paint on trim material and what looks like mold at some locations. On some of the windows, repair work consisting of L shaped aluminum flashing covering the section of the missing J channel was seen. This repair does not appear to conform with the siding manufacturers specifications.
.
We recommend all windows and doors have the J channel installed per the manufacturers specifications. All wood rot should be replaced and any mold be dealt with by professional mold remediation contractors because of the potential health problems associated with mold."
.
In my opinion the confidence this man instilled was unwarranted because absolutely nothing productive came from this letter. JW said he had done all he was going to do. Had Mrs. H been willing to take the matter to court perhaps this new inspector could have been called as an expert witness but she understandably had reached the end of her rope. She asked Keith and I to come up with a price to remove and replace the siding. We did this as the stock market was taking a beating. Our price was higher than Mrs. H ’s financial advisor was willing to condone. She asked us if we could get it down further and we did finally agree upon a price which included reusing some of the more expensive shingle type siding we took off on the front of her house and putting brand new lap vinyl siding on the other three sides. According to the agreement we would give her two days each of fixing damage we uncovered in the price we quoted.
.
So there it was, we were going to remove all of the siding after all. Any fear I had that we were doing the right thing would vanish within the first week.
.
The rest of this story will be told with photographs.
.
.
.
The Promised phone call from the builder took a while but finally came. JW was not willing to pay for anything so drastic as siding removal and replacement but he would have workers come to Mrs. H house and perform a fix which would extend the J channel free of charge. While there, JW’s people were also going to replace any rotted wood they found while doing the exploratory trim removal suggested by the inspector. Once the repairs were completed the trim would need to be re- painted by us. Around four months later I received this note from Mrs. H via E mail:
.
"Hi, Barry -
Just to let you know, J's guys have come and fixed (we hope) the problems. They recommend waiting a few weeks to begin the painting, so I will defer to your schedule and commitments."
.
Our commitments made it impossible to get to Mrs. H's job any sooner so it was several weeks before we arrived and began what we hoped would be the final phase of a long journey. The feeling of Déjà vu was prevalent as we began to prep the trim once again. JW’s people had replaced quite a few pieces of trim and the fixes they performed on the J channel were not impressive but we hoped they would be adequate.
.
We were about halfway through the paint Job a second time when it became evident we were wasting our time and Mrs H’s money. The wood was still getting wet despite the “Fixes”. I removed a piece of trim to discover damage to the subsiding below. Mrs. H had me call the inspector she hired previously and ask him to come take a look at what JW had done and what he hadn’t. The inspector told me that He did not want to get any further involved because he could see this was going to end up in court and being a local he felt it would not be good for his business.
.
So again it was our word against the builders. Mrs. H decided to hire a well regarded home inspector from Washington DC to give a second professional opinion.
.
The envelope please…
.
I was there when the new inspector came to town. I told him the story and he took a look for himself. He checked the walls with a moisture meter which did not show moisture levels beyond the ordinary. He took note of a window which did not get a fix at all, suggested a few non related cautionary chores and told Mrs. H not to worry because he would write a letter directly to JW. Here is some of what he wrote:
.
"On December 12, Ms. H hired us to inspect siding and trim problems at the above referenced house. Like the inspector prior to us, we observed that the J channel above the both windows and doors was cut too short. This is likely allowing the water leakage that has resulted in wood rot of both the trim and subsiding, peeling paint on trim material and what looks like mold at some locations. On some of the windows, repair work consisting of L shaped aluminum flashing covering the section of the missing J channel was seen. This repair does not appear to conform with the siding manufacturers specifications.
.
We recommend all windows and doors have the J channel installed per the manufacturers specifications. All wood rot should be replaced and any mold be dealt with by professional mold remediation contractors because of the potential health problems associated with mold."
.
In my opinion the confidence this man instilled was unwarranted because absolutely nothing productive came from this letter. JW said he had done all he was going to do. Had Mrs. H been willing to take the matter to court perhaps this new inspector could have been called as an expert witness but she understandably had reached the end of her rope. She asked Keith and I to come up with a price to remove and replace the siding. We did this as the stock market was taking a beating. Our price was higher than Mrs. H ’s financial advisor was willing to condone. She asked us if we could get it down further and we did finally agree upon a price which included reusing some of the more expensive shingle type siding we took off on the front of her house and putting brand new lap vinyl siding on the other three sides. According to the agreement we would give her two days each of fixing damage we uncovered in the price we quoted.
.
So there it was, we were going to remove all of the siding after all. Any fear I had that we were doing the right thing would vanish within the first week.
.
The rest of this story will be told with photographs.
.
.
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