Hey all,
New member here. Been building for way too many years and have held a “B” for about the last 18, so………..
I am acting as an “expert” for a friend that wants to run his own job and save a bit of dough. I had a sub that I have been working with for the last 5 years blow it big time on this job. This sub hurt his back and had no choice but to let his lead man [J-Man] work on some joisting layout.
On this job, he had to remove some LVL’s which suffered water damage and were overspanned anyway. This is a waterproofed deck surface that is over a game room downstairs. So the plywood comes up, the LVL’s come up and new LSL’s go in at 12″ o.c. I ordered 16″ LSL’s so there would be no problem in cutting my slope for the deck surface and maintaining the spec’d 11-7/8″ minimum in joist thickness. Here is where the problem starts…….
I hit the site to check on the sub’s guys when the first joist is cut and I see that there is not enough slope, I show him and he assures me that he will cut the proper slope, I call his boss to give him a heads up as well. This happened on 3 different occasions and fast forsward to now, the 1-1/8″ ply is sitting under a blue tarp after these California rains getting nice and saturated. Bottom line is that we have ended up with an unacceptable 1/8″-1′ slope at BEST. The sub has acknowledged responsibility [not without some tap dancing] and is willing to fix the problem created. I want him to remove the now saturated ply and snap new lines and re-slope the joists [12″ o.c.= 4-1/2″ sidewinder-imo]. He wants to use a combination of lifting the ledger [now we cannot use the 3/4″ Bluestone tiles that we have saved] and using some kind of 3’rd party substance [something LIKE Vitex] in order to create additional slope. Now we have to put our waterproofing, a high end 3 part hot rubber product utilizing primer on substrate, Kevlar like membrane and then the rubber [the name escapes me right now] either on top of saturated wood [after it dries of course] or on top of this now introduced 3’rd party surface that may delaminate from the substrate……..
Queston, has anybody had any experience with some kind of material that is applied in order to create slope underneath a waterproof membrane? I have never had to do this type of application as I have never had this kind of issue come up. Any advice would be appreciated. Glad to see this kind of forum.
M.E.
Replies
Breaktime was the right place to post. Make sure you keep checking that thread, be/c those guys will have answers for you.
Flat roof commercial up here (Canada) often uses tapered sheets of rigid insulation ,
(eg Dow SM) to create slope to drains & rain water leaders. Give a call to a local
commercial roofing co. cheers.
a. Your pal did not do what he was supposed to do - even if he had someone else do it.
b. The HO wanted to use saved bluestone and won't be able to. Upshot - they are not getting what they and you and the other subs agreed to give them at an agreed price.
c. The sub screwed up - it doesn't matter why - and wants everyone to share in absorbing the fix. He gets off easy and EVERYONE else has to compromise. The work remains sub-standard/ patchwork and I assure you, will affect something else down the line that no one has yet considered. Then, what do you do?
d. This is a standard construction specification that he screwed up. He was informed of the spec/ detail a number of times.
e. It will cost him money to correct it. He may only break even. He may even loose money. That's not your or the HO's problem.
f. Has he been paid in full? Seems he has to decide if loosing the rest of his payments and getting a strike against himself will be more than the $$ he'll loose by correcting the problem.
g. As a precaution/ Plan B, have someone else lined up, along with an estimate, to correct what's there. This way you can also compare what the cost will be to camaflage the error vs correct it. If the cost is the same, then correct it. If it is greater, figure out where it will come from.
h. Are you getting paid for your services or is your friend using you, I mean GC'ing the job himself without compesation to you? If you do not have a financial stake in this, you should NOT reach into your pocket or call in a favor. You SHOULD explain to the HO that part of a GC's fee, which the HO has saved, goes into an insurance type fund to deal with these sort of things. Just because he has gotten rid of that line item in the budget, doesn't mean he has remove the responsibilities and costs associated with that position.
I think it is pretty clear what you have to do, aside from grow a set of balls. This is a business not a church social. Egos and purses may get bruised, but it will work out fine if you deal with it in a business like manner.
F
PS. Come over to BreakTime. They are a great group and a spectacular resource.
F
Edited 1/28/2005 3:27 pm ET by Frankie