Thousands of Alberta homes could rot
Stucco covering linked to leaky walls; crisis could rival pine shakes scandal, expert says
Darcy Henton
The Edmonton Journal
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Thousands of Albertans might be living in homes and condos that will rot because some builders used a stucco exterior wall-covering that is prone to failure, experts in masonry construction say.
Michael Hatzinikolas, a member of a national committee that sets masonry building standards, says homeowners could be facing a crisis rivalling the pine shakes scandal a decade ago.
Hatzinikolas said a surface-seal system used to cover the exterior of homes, apartments and condos is prone to leak and could leave homeowners with huge repair bills and health issues.
"The surface-seal system does not work in Canada," said Hatzinikolas, a former adjunct professor at the University of Alberta and the author of several books on construction practices. "This is a huge problem for the people of Alberta. It's much worse than the pine shingles."
Hatzinikolas said the National Research Council raised concerns about the seal system -- known as the Exterior Insulation and Finish System -- in a report in 2000, but the report has not been circulated.
At least one Ontario insurance company, Pro-Demnity Insurance, has stopped insuring surface-sealed buildings following a building code commission ruling five years ago that the system did not satisfy Ontario Building Code requirements.
Yasser Korany, who teaches in the University of Alberta's department of civil and environmental engineering, said the system was designed to prevent water from entering walls, but it fails in Alberta's climate.
"There are so many issues and problems associated with these systems," he said. "In practice, they don't perform as we hoped."
Moisture inevitably gets inside the wall, which starts to rot, he said.
Korany wants the province to step in with regulations to stop builders from using the system and to make sure home buyers are aware of the issue.
"There's a moral obligation here that the public should know about the potential consequences," he said.
Some builders will continue to use acrylic stucco because it is lighter and cheaper.
But Korany said homeowners face costly repairs and possible health problems from exposure to mould.
Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk, who appointed MLA Thomas Lukaszuk last year to study leaking problems in detached homes, said his department is looking into the matter.
"We'll take it through the process and see what is happening here," he said.
"The whole purpose of our building envelope (review) is to make sure we're using the right materials and to make sure individuals and homeowners are protected -- whether it's materials or workmanship."
Homebuilder Pat Adams said surface-sealed stucco has been an ongoing issue in the building industry for some time.
"We don't use it because it is prone to failure," he said. "We haven't had that many problems with it in the past, but we're having more problems with it now. There's no place for water to go once it gets inside the wall."
The surface-seal system is not included in the Alberta Building Code, but it was approved by the Canadian Construction Materials Centre with a proviso that the system requires a high level of quality control during application and regular maintenance, Hatzinikolas said.
"This is a system that requires frequent maintenance and any cracks should be fixed immediately," Hatzinikolas said.
The pine shakes scandal came to a head in 2000 when about 2,000 homeowners attempted unsuccessfully to sue the province for putting a defective product in the building code.
The province had approved the use of untreated pine shakes as roofing material, but the shingles rotted prematurely. The Alberta Safety Codes Council later amended the code to require that shingles had to be treated with preservatives before they could be installed.
Hatzinikolas, who now operates a company that manufactures masonry accessories, has been pressing the Alberta Building Regulation Services Committee, which sets building codes, to address the surface-seal issue.
"Based on my experience over the last 35-plus years in the field of exterior wall assemblies, it is time for the authorities to do something to protect the public," he wrote in a Dec. 15, 2008, letter to the chair of the committee.
He said the issues raised in his letter, which he copied to Alberta associations of architects and professional engineers, have still not been addressed. Officials say they aren't aware of any widespread problems with rotting homes and condos in Alberta, but they are familiar with the issue because of problems in B.C.
British Columbia's mid-'90s leaky condo crisis, blamed on a building boom, shoddy construction practices and rainy climate, has caused an estimated $3 billion in damage and many condo owners are still grappling with the problem.
Officials with the Alberta Home Warranty Program and the City of Edmonton couldn't say how widespread the problem of defective exterior systems may be in the province.
However, the city has required professional engineers and architects using acrylic stucco exterior systems to sign a waiver absolving the municipality of liability for their use of the system.
Larry Ochocki, the city's director of safety codes, said the city can't be held responsible for builders who use the surface-seal system because it is the province's responsibility to set building standards.
"It's not a City of Edmonton issue," he said. "This is a provincial issue."
Korany said that if the city building department is aware of a problem with acrylic stucco surface-seal systems, it should stop allowing builders to use it.
"Clearly, there is concern by the city and rather than facing the issue and trying to find a resolution that would work for industry and owners, I think the city has taken the easy way out," he said.
Hatzinikolas said most home and condo buyers probably don't know there's a problem lurking underneath the stucco of their new homes.
By the time they discover the exterior walls are rotting, their new home warranty will have expired and they will be on the hook for major repairs, he said.
Once the rot begins, there's nothing homeowners can do but rip off the wall covering, repair the damage and install a vented system, he said.
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© The Edmonton Journal 2009
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