Notes 2/27/13

Tile - Met with JB on site today to go over tile layouts etc.  We clarified all areas of kitchen and master bath.  All of the tile is readily available from the Midwest and will be ordered tomorrow.

Breakfast Nook - With all of the rain we found a leak in the breakfast nook.  On further investigation we believe it was an issue with the scupper not being sealed.  This has been remedied and we will monitor it for the next few weeks to make sure that it is not recurring and that here are no other issues.
We have opened up the Sheetrock in that area to assist in drying it out and will patch next week.

Gutters & Downspouts - I had our copper company by the site today to discuss the gutter issues.  We would like to get the downspouts re-installed as soon as possible to alleviate the water infiltration in the basement.  We could do this in either copper or aluminum.  The benefits to copper are that it is inexpensive and not attractive to thieves.  The cons are that it is easily dentable and over a period of time (10 - 20 years) the aluminum will corrode because of dissimilar metals.  The aluminum will come approximately the color that the copper will patina to.  We will get a sample.

Basement Water Issue - There are areas of water in the basement as the pics below show.  We believe these are the same issues we had early on and are due to the lack of downspouts and caps on chimneys.  When the downspouts are re-installed and caps installed we will monitor to confirm our theory.

In safe room under patio.

In safe room under covered patio

Water at squash court.  Appears to be seeping in from standing water on the exterior.

Appears to be coming down chimney.

Thermostats - We have confirmed that the majority of the wiring for the thermostats is 3-wire which is what is needed for the Honeywell Wifi thermostats.  The 2-3 places that we have 2-wire are on the first floor and therefore accessible by drilling up from the basement.

Meeting Notes - 8/1/12

Peter Millington (PM), Peter Stames, Mike Norton, Boston Basement Technologies

Basement - Met with Boston Basement Technologies to discuss options for water control in the basement area.  See next post for description of their proposed remedy.  On further discussion with PM we decided to wait for a year to decide on the extent of interior water retention.  In the mean time we will propose an intermittent plan of attack for the basement to include:

•  removal and replacement of the rotted framing
• installation of industrial dehumidification system
• Clean up existing wiring and install new electric as necessary.

Landscape - PM mentioned that he may go without trees in front of the kitchen windows. We will leave estimate as is and adjust with the landscaper once we have agreed to a contract.

Stone Wall - PM would like to take entire stone wall out and relocate over beside driveway.  We will leave estimate as is and adjust with the landscaper once we have agreed to a contract.

Copper - We are still looking in to alternatives to help bring the copper estimates down.  

Basement Water Issue

The following is the response from Basement Technologies to our walk through regarding basement moisture.  I suggest that Archia and the homeowner meet with them again to go through the options as suggested below.

"Thank you for the opportunity to allow Boston Basement Technologies (BBT) to review this project for you and the home owners.  BBT is based right in Canton, MA.  and is the leading basement water proofing company in the United States if not the World. In New England alone we have successfully completed over 300,000 residential and commercial waterproofing projects using our patented systems. In addition we have over 110 dealers throughout the US, Canada and Europe. I know that you have chosen the right company for this particular project.

   My findings at 1431 Brush Hill Rd. are that throughout the majority of the basement there are evident signs of water seepage at the floor and wall joint from a light to moderate nature that have occurred over a lengthy duration. In some areas this has likely been heavy in nature during specific weather events. The areas that have been most effected are the lowest sections of the basement, the racquet ball court and stairway, the media room and the boiler room pit.    The entire basement has a severe humidity issue even with the HVAC type dehumidification unit running. Ideal Relative Humidity levels are 40% and not greater than 50% RH. My readings where between 62% and 69% RH throughout and over 80% at the entry of the crawl space under the breakfast nook.    Access pits in the floor suggest severe dampness under the slab which is very common and an issue that BBT treats regularly with our Humid Evac system. Eighty percent of the dampness in a basement comes from under the slab, and forty percent of the air in a home comes from the basement. These issues should certainly be handled in a permanent manor using a combination of BBT’s systems to assure a worry free and healthy basement and home environment.    This project has multiple issues that BBT can certainly solve. This project warrants a follow up visit with our project manager and engineer along with the decision makers of the project. The objective of such visit would be to determine the proper plan to assure the outcome that would be most beneficial to the home owners and what they wish to achieve. At this follow up BBT can also outline the solutions for this project and then develop a sound quotation to provide the right solutions that will make the most economical sense."