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Strata Council Members….
As Strata Council Members….you have volunteered for a position of responsibility and been elected to an office by your fellow Condominium Owners.  First of all, good for you for stepping up to the plate! At times people take the easy way out and leave everything to others to care for.  However your willingness to serve your community has brought with it a fair amount of responsibility.  You must try to coordinate the needs of the complex you live in, with the wishes of the owners, and balance it all with a strong sense of what is good value and what can be afforded.
One of the single most talked about terms that we hear spoken about is the “building envelope”.  A few years back the only envelope we knew anything about was the envelope we put a letter in.  Well in many ways the building envelope is very similar.   The building envelope protects warm interior spaces from cold exterior spaces….like a letter is protected by the envelope. 
The building envelope has received a lot of bad publicity because there has been a huge number of failures in the envelope leading to the “leaky condo crisis” where untold billions of dollars has been spent to correct faulty envelopes.  So as a strata council member and condominium owner you worry about the condition of your envelope and may think that perhaps you are on your way to becoming a leaky condo.  It has been such worry that has caused many strata councils to arrange for an engineering firm to come and analyze your building envelope.  The result of most of these studies is a report saying the envelope or the majority of the envelope must be replaced with a new “rain screen system” since that is the only system that works and is approved. 
That is partly true, since all new construction is required to install it to meet code.  However existing buildings do not require it to be installed under most circumstances and it is not the only system that works.  We have only to look at buildings that were constructed 25 or 30 years ago or more to see that they are mostly all going fine with few problems, beyond a bit of maintenance or repairs which is normal.  So to say that rain screen is the only system that works is simply not correct and is in fact a very costly assumption. 
At Stucco Doctor we have perfected sensible solutions to stucco problems.  We have created new systems for maintaining and improving the building envelope that do not require a total tear off of the building envelope.  How many owners have anguished to see very little or no rot behind their cladding be it stucco or siding of some type and wondered where is all the damage that they were told had to be repaired.  Of course at times there is a hidden disaster but the reality of more than 40 years of experience is that we seldom find 5% rot in the building substrate….and 95% is still perfectly fine…..  so how is it that 100% of the cladding has to be removed if 95% is still fine after 10-20 years or more.
If a building has lasted for the last 20 years with little or no improvements and has ended up with less than 5% rot then imagine how long it would last if the owners invested some money in improving the envelope weaknesses and repairing the deficient sections.  This has been done successfully many, many times in the last 15 years and without a single failure or unsatisfied complaint!
This system is called the “WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”
Call Stucco Doctor now to find out more details about why this system can save hundreds of thousands of dollars for your complex.  ……or click on the topic for more information found in the web site.

* CLICK 'OK BUTTON' TO GO TO ANSWER*
Since cement based stucco absorbs water, what protects the wooden substrate?
What is stucco made of?
What is the history of stucco…its formation and its finishing?
Can stucco be used to form a 'roof'?
Is stucco waterproof?
Is waterproof stucco superior to weather- resistant stucco?
Will conventional stucco cause rot like waterproof, acrylic or painted stucco?
Can I paint stucco?  If so, with what?  If not, how do I clean it or change the colour?
Can you use a pressure washer on a stucco surface?
What if the stucco won’t come clean?  What if I want to change the colour of the stucco?
What about venting in stucco walls?
What kind of flashings should stucco have?
Why are window sill flashings among the  most important flashings on the house?
What are compression/ expansion joints? What are their purposes?  What are their weaknesses?
What are the weaknesses of balconies/decks and what can be done to protect them?
Why does stucco crack?  What are the worst kinds of cracks, and how should they be treated?
What should be looked for when considering testing a stucco building?
What kind of testing do you recommend for stucco moisture testing?
Is stucco suitable on our wet west coast?   How long does it last?   How thick should it be?
Can stucco be refinished or over-coated?  What can be done if it is already painted?
What has caused so many ‘leaky condos’ and buildings?
Why are so many buildings having the stucco or cladding torn off after just a few years?
Is a total tear off and rain screen option the only answer to envelope weaknesses?
How does the Water Management System work?
Does the ‘leaky condo’ problem apply to private detached housing?
FROM THIS...
TO THIS !
FROM OLD, DATED AND DETERIORATED...
TO
"BETTER THAN NEW"
PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENTxt.
LEARN TO SPOT SIGNS OF PROBLEMS
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?... IS IT SERIOUS?... WHAT CAN BE DONE?
IS THIS ONLY A 'CLEANING' PROBLEM?
IS THIS ROT?
Is rot really that serious?