STORM AND RESULTANT DAMAGES CLAIM

ASSESSMENT

Black Bird Construction was contacted by the client’s insurance company to assess and conduct repair work. An assessment took place at the client’s property in Sunset Links, where various items were inspected and a quotation was then generated and accepted by the insurer and client. Below is a breakdown of what transpired during the claim and excerpts of the assessor’s findings have been included as a means to explain the various building work required to repair the damages. The scope of work has also been included along with photos of the damages before and after the repairs were completed. We hope you enjoy the post and if you would like to learn more about Black Bird Construction please feel free to contact us.

REPORT

Damage Report:

Our team has been to assess the affected property. We have compiled a damage report which you will find below. The report details which of the properties/structures have been damaged. There was a considerable amount of maintenance related damages found at the property which we’ve specifically filtered out where we can, this has been done to avoid confusion as to what may be claim related and what is purely maintenance related. We have included details regarding the maintenance related issues where the damages have impacted on the interior of the affected property to help better understand the nature of the damages and how they occurred. Upon the assessment, it was clear that much of the damages affecting the home is a direct result to waterproofing failing in many areas along the roofing structures. This included the frames of the skylights leaking, the concrete slabs which have no waterproofing membrane on them cracking, window frames sealing work failing. Certain areas along the steel Clip-lock roof (above the garage) serve as catchments during a hard rain and subsequently have been the root cause for moisture entering the property. These ‘catchments’ allow rainwater to pool. To make matters worse, the waterproofing applied to these components are not in great condition. There is also an obvious issue with water sitting on the concrete slab’s roofs due to the very little run-off allowance. This can clearly be seen by the current condition of the concrete in the photos attached herein. There are cracks running through the slabs and water is most certainly seeping into these cracks causing expansion and contraction of the concrete and masonry works to occur. As per the above-mentioned point, contraction and expansion of the concrete has caused fine hairline cracks to occur inside the structure’s walls in various areas of the interior walls. This is not claim related and was brought to our attention while the assessment took place. The affected property includes multiple structures that involves the following:

Main house (Kitchen, conference-room, 2 x garages)
Guest house

Since there is more than one structure, we have broken up the areas as much as possible. Each section gives an explanation as to what occurred and how the specific area of the property was affected (resultant damages).

Main Housing Structure:

Fireplace & flooring:

The flooring at the fireplace was brought to our team’s attention. This is an ongoing problem that the client has had at the property and is maintenance related as the fireplace needs to be sealed correctly. The flooring has progressively worsened over time. This is evident by the multiple stain marks that have developed due to water saturation.
Rainwater is seeping into the home via the masonry stonework and is bleeding on to the flooring boards.

Passageway leading to garage | Skylights/fanlights:

Fanlights are leaking due to rainwater collecting on the fanlight itself. The rainwater pouring down pools and does not drain away fast enough causing water to seep inside the property below.
Resultant damages to the walls have occurred due to these issues.
These damages are a direct result of the leak seeping into the property at the doorframe and cobble wall.
Waterproofing repairs needed
Skylight in the passage leading to the garage leaks at the side of the window due to it being broken.
Waterproofing sealing work need to be redone on the roof around the skylights.

Garage 1 (Concrete roof)

The roof above the garage is a concrete slab roof.
Leaking has occurred due to cracks forming along the surface of the concrete.
It is highly recommended that a waterproofing membrane be applied to the roof such as torch on.
The ceilings under the roof have subsequently been affected by the leaking slab and will need to be repainted to restore them back to their former condition.
Under normal circumstances, we feel that the rain would not have penetrated inside the property the way it had, but because of the intense rains we’ve experienced during this past winter period the rainwater has pooled and collected along the roof.

Garage 2 (Clip-lock sheets)

The Clip-lock sheeted roof is leaking at the flashing (Waterproofing applied).
The waterproofing making up the membrane layer on the roof and its components, such as the flashing has saturated and cracked. This waterproofing needs to be re-applied and coated.
As per the above-mentioned garage ceilings, the ceilings of this garage will also need to be repainted.
Resultant damages to the ceilings below have occurred due to the pooling of water in the area.

Conference | Lounge | Leaking box gutter:

The box gutter running above the affected area has a good fall and drains water away correctly.
The issue with this box gutter is that it overflowed causing spillage of water to affect the bulkhead below.
It is recommended that the gutter be re-sealed from end to end.
The resulting damages caused by the overflowing gutter is a section of the adjoining wall developing drip marks. These marks can be seen running down along the surface of the walls.
As per the garage, we feel that under normal circumstances the rain would not have penetrated inside the property in this area.

Guest House:

The guesthouse has been affected in one area due to the sheer quantity of the water that rained down. It appears that the sealing work around the windows has warn away and needs to be re-applied.
A thorough coat of silicone sealant around the windows needs to be re-applied to ensure that the windows do not leak further.
The resultant damages include a slightly damaged timber sill and skirting boards below due to the water dripping onto the floor. Because of the water bleeding on to the floor, this has subsequently affected the skirting boards causing them to pull away from the walls.
The skirting will need to be removed, repaired and repainted thereafter to return the area back to its former condition.

Note: Maintenance & Waterproofing

As a closing comment, there is a lot of waterproofing repairs that need to be conducted to the property. These issues need to be seen to as soon as possible. This is to help prevent/avoid any further damages from occurring in the same areas.
There is a dilemma in terms of when it rains unusually hard that the rainwater has an issue with draining and pools. This is something that cannot be treated by simply placing waterproofing onto a surface. In these instances, the client needs to look at possibly creating or implementing a more thorough drainage system on the roofing work above the affected structures.
Thankfully there are very few to no signs of ‘old damages’ damages except for the general wear and tear in very few areas. This shows that the home is built in a very good way and that regular maintenance is conducted at the property.
As mentioned, the waterproofing issues seem to be the core problem, but we believe that the damages the client has experienced was due to the incredibly strong downpours we experienced here in the Cape during the winter season.

Under normal circumstances, we believe that the damages sustained at the home would not have occurred and that the existing waterproofing would have held out and prevented any moisture from entering inside the property