Orlando Sentinel - 11/30/04
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bizseepage30113004nov30,1,720971.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
Meeting on home leaks ends without a decision
By Dan Tracy
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 30, 2004
More than two months after the last of three hurricanes blew water through the walls of thousands of Central Florida homes, government building experts still have no official cause or potential solution.
A meeting of building inspectors from throughout the state ended Monday without the group taking a stand on what to do about homes that leaked through masonry walls. Members of the group, who are paid by local governments to ensure homes are built to the minimum standards in the state's building code, decided to wait and seek more information from home builders.
The decision didn't set well with Frank Rapprich, an Orlando attorney representing more than 50 people who contend their homes were damaged by rain that seeped through the walls. "It has been a long time to resolve something that should be pretty simple," he said.
The problem, Rapprich said, was caused by too little paint applied to a too-thin coating of stucco-like material smeared over the concrete-block walls. That combination, he said, allowed rain to puddle inside homes, damaging drywall, cabinets, carpet and flooring.
The fix, he said, is not complicated: "Whatever you put on [the outside] needs to keep water out."
An estimated 2,000 or more Central Florida homes -- almost all built since 2001 -- suffered seepage damage during hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne during August and September, a survey by the Orlando Sentinel and WESH-NewsChannel 2 has found.
Only nine of the 33 production builders that dominate home construction in the region have agreed to repair all or parts of the houses. The other builders have termed the hurricanes an "act of God" not covered by a home's warranty.
County and city building inspectors complain that they cannot force home builders to make repairs because the building code does not specifically set quality standards for mortar joints between blocks, stucco-like covering and paint.
On Monday, the only suggested solution was changing the residential building code to include a complicated testing procedure used by many commercial companies to ensure their structures do not leak.
That proposal, put forth by Orange County's chief plans examiner Alan Plante, was not backed or opposed by the Building Officials Association of Florida, which met Monday in the Maitland office of the Home Builders Association of Mid-Florida.
"What he has proposed sounds as reasonable as anything we've heard thus far," said Robert McCormick, the Longwood-based association's director. But he added the group remains unsure about what to do next: "We're still learning."
The Florida Home Builders Association also is studying the leaks but has not reached any conclusions, said spokeswoman Edie Ousley in an e-mail.
As for the recommendation of Orange County, she said, "Like all involved with this issue, the more technical data we have the better we will be able to help prevent this from happening in the future. It would be premature for us to implement changes without knowing the exact reason for the problem. It appears that Orange County is looking at all options. Hopefully, the county will await the results of the professional study before committing to a specific solution."
Philip McMahan, a manager with the nonprofit council that writes the international building code, agreed with Ousley. Rewriting the code, he said, is "very technical" and should be based on months of engineering studies and tests. "It's not as easy as it sounds on the surface to fix," McMahan said.
Some experts blame the water problems on the area's booming demand for houses. 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 stucco-like finish on the block walls.
Winter Garden, a fast-growing city of 22,000 people 15 miles west of downtown Orlando, already has approved a code change to prevent the leaks.
The ordinance, which took effect two-and-a-half weeks ago, mandates that builders either apply a sealant to the concrete block walls before they are covered with a stucco-like material or use a heavy-duty paint to keep the rain out.
Dan Tracy can be reached at 407-420-5787 or dtracy@orlandosentinel.com
