Does your home or commercial building have a leak or other moisture problems?
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we get the full gamut of weather over the course of a typical year. But our rain – including wind-driven rain – is prevalent enough that we are known for it worldwide. As a homeowner or commercial building owner, you cannot afford to ignore the exterior maintenance work necessary to protect your precious asset: annual (at least) roof and gutter cleaning, checking the exterior caulking to insure it is still providing an adequate seal, and painting or staining as necessary all will help prolong the life of your building.
Likewise, you need to stay on the lookout for any interior signs of water intrusion or excess moisture. Such evidence includes, but is not limited to:
- “Sweating” windows – water droplets forming on the inside
- Water pooling or water staining on an interior windowsill
- Mold growth
- Insect infestation, or
- Excess movement or warping of hardwood floors
By the time water or other evidence of excess moisture is visible on the interior of a home or other building, it often means that the water intrusion has been happening for quite some time. That’s because water may travel from, for example, a breach in the exterior deck-to-wall transition into the exterior wall cavity, down a stud, across other framing members, and then through the interior sheetrock or wood trim before finally making its way to a place where it is visible to you on the inside.
If you do observe evidence of interior water intrusion, it is important that you promptly investigate the source rather than simply fixing the resulting interior damage. This is typically the best time to contact legal counsel experienced in construction defects and property insurance claims, to ensure that you undertake the appropriate investigation using a qualified construction expert, that you timely notify potentially liable parties, and that you pursue all available remedies while taking steps to avoid jeopardizing your claims by acting too hastily to repair the problem – and perhaps destroying evidence in the process. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about possible water intrusion and damage at your home or property.
