Orlando Sentinel - 11/11/04
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/southwest/orl-asechousing11111104nov11,1,5241917.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
City looks to tighten rules for builders
Winter Garden is likely to require new homes to be sealed to prevent seepage.
By Dan Tracy
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 11, 2004
The Winter Garden City Commission is expected to toughen the city's building code tonight, requiring builders to waterproof their houses to prevent the water seepage that has plagued thousands of new homes in the region.
No other city, county or state agency has made such a move, though government housing inspectors and builders have spent the past month investigating the problem and looking for ways to solve it.
Winter Garden Mayor Jack Quesinberry said the solution is simple: Require that builders apply sealant to concrete-block walls before they are covered with a stuccolike finish and painted.
"It's just one of those things that shouldn't add cost because they should have been doing it anyway," said Quesinberry, a 73-year-old retired home builder.
The code change, if approved, would take effect immediately in the fast-growing city of more than 22,000 people about 15 miles west of downtown Orlando. The commission first discussed the change Oct. 28.
Mark Cechman, Winter Garden's planning director, said he has talked with builders active in the community and heard no complaints about the city's intentions. Nearly 1,000 new houses are built each year in Winter Garden, a onetime citrus town that now functions largely as a suburb of Orlando.
Two of the major builders in Winter Garden, US Home and M/I Homes, did not return calls for comment. US Home is developing a 2,000-house community called Stoneybrook West, and M/I is building a 600-unit subdivision called Stonecrest.
Edie Ousley, a spokeswoman for the Tallahassee-based Florida Home Builders Association, which is leading an industry study into water-intrusion issues, said she didn't have enough information to comment on the Winter Garden action.
Bob Olin, Orange County's chief building official and part of a government task force looking at leaking masonry walls, would not comment directly on the code revision because he has not seen it. But, he said, "Certainly I can understand the concerns of the citizens that they want to see some action taken."
An estimated 2,000 homes or more were damaged in Central Florida by rainwater blown through block walls by hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne during August and September, a survey by the Orlando Sentinel and WESH-NewsChannel 2 has found. Most of the homes were built since 2000.
Only eight of the 33 production builders that dominate home construction in the region have agreed to fix all or some of their houses, a Sentinel/WESH survey revealed. Together, these 33 builders will construct well over half of the estimated 25,000 houses to be built in greater Orlando this year. Homeowners have lodged multiple water-intrusion complaints against each.
Two more builders -- KB Home and Transeastern Homes -- said Wednesday that they are repairing water damage, even in those houses no longer covered by new-home warranties. KB previously had not been clear on its stance, and Transeastern did not return calls placed by the Sentinel/WESH.
US Home and M/I Homes did not return calls for the survey, although owners of their houses say the companies are not fixing the leaks.
All new homes come with a one-year warranty that covers most flaws, from cracked tiles to crooked cabinets. Homes also have a 10-year warranty that covers the structural integrity of the roof, walls and foundation.
But most builders are terming damage from wind-blown rain an "act of God," which is exempted from warranty coverage. And the most likely causes of the leaks -- paint improperly and too thinly applied to unsealed exterior walls; cracks in the stuccolike coating applied over the wall; and sloppy mortar joints between the blocks -- aren't specifically covered by Florida's building code. As a result, building officials say they cannot force construction companies to fix damage caused by water seepage.
Some experts blame the water problems on the area's super-heated demand for houses, stoked in part by low interest rates. They say houses are being built too rapidly by poorly trained workers too busy to worry about quality. Last year, a Sentinel/WESH survey of 406 homes built in 2001 found more than 60 percent had cracks around windows and doors, in the foundation and in the stuccolike finish on the block walls.
Mayor Quesinberry said there is little doubt in his mind that many builders are scrimping on materials such as paint, primer and sealants.
"They're just coming in and making a house that looks good," Quesinberry said. "We don't even know if they are priming it."
Winter Garden resident Robert LaNasa, whose eight-month-old home was saturated during the hurricanes and even during a recent rainstorm, applauded the city's plan.
"Awesome," he said. LaNasa paid M/I Homes $229,000 for his house, which he said now has mold resulting from leaks that, among other things, turned his living-room carpet "into a swamp."
But M/I, he said, has told him that he must repair his home himself.
Dan Tracy can be reached at 407-420-5787 or dtracy@orlandosentinel.com.
