Page 12 - Chicago Cooperator Spring 2019

12 THE CHICAGOLAND COOPERATOR — SPRING 2019 CHICAGOCOOPERATOR.COM EXTERIOR MAINTENANCE W hen you close your eyes and pic- ture any building, you are quite likely imagining its facade – the outer shell which protects and contains all of the hustle and bustle that goes on within. In a residential property, the facade is what separates a building's occupants from both elements and intruders. As such, it's impera- tive that the facade be inspected, maintained and serviced regularly to ensure that it's secure and functioning as intended. For a community association, the responsibility to do this falls on the board or management. While methods and routines may differ, fa- cade care should be a major priority for ev- ery association. (Non-)Moving Pieces The standard facade consists of many parts – and all must be in working condi- tion, lest the greater structure start to falter. “We look at building exteriors – or the building 'envelope' – as a system of vari- ous components: the roof, trim, windows, exterior cladding (including shingles, clap- boards, brick, EIFS \\\[exterior insulation fin- ishing system\\\], etc.) and all related flashings and details,” explains Robert H. McBride, CEO of the Dartmouth Group, a property management firm in Bedford, Massachu- setts. “It is very difficult – and arguably un- wise – to look at any of these individually; they're all integrated in order to provide the intended function of protecting the building structure and interiors, primarily from wa- ter intrusion.” The manager and/or relevant board members should develop a familiarity with the facade of their building or buildings to better assess when something may be amiss. “It becomes clear that a repair, or at least a professional consultation, is neces- sary through day-to-day inspections,” says Frank Anastasi, Manager of the Riverwood Community Association in Port Charlotte, Florida. Leave your facade to its own devices for too long and “you'll start to notice rot, re- ceive more complaints regarding leaks from homeowners, see paint failure or cracked wood... the general appearance just begins to look quite bad,” Anastasi says. He further adds: “And you should know the useful life of your facade via your reserve report, at which time you should be able to assess if things are not looking so good, visually.” A failure to properly assess root causes or smaller signs of wear can have that Band- Aid-over-a-bullet-hole effect, where you're only treating symptoms of a larger problem, rather than curing it. “When individual, piecemeal repairs are no longer feasible or cost effective, it may be time to consider a major repair,” warns Kelli Rick, a property manager with Draper and Kramer, Incorpo- rated, in Chicago. Root Causes In order to identify both that there is a problem, and from whence that problem comes, it helps to understand the main causes of facade deterioration, and the tell- tale signs that it may have already taken hold. “So many factors play into this, includ- ing weather, lack of preventive maintenance, building movement, construction mate- rial quality, age...” says Rick. “The important thing to remember is that small problems become big ones when not addressed. Look for cracks, concrete spalls, metal flashing deterioration, failing window seals, interior leaks... it all depends on the type of facade. And hopefully it doesn't come to this, but chunks falling off the building is definitely a red flag.” “Depending on the nature of the con- struction – i.e., clapboard versus masonry – signs of deterioration may or may not be evident,” adds McBride. “In clapboard – or wood, vinyl, cement siding such as Har- diPlank – telltale signs are usually rot, peel- ing paint or interior leaks. The most im- portant next step is to stop; do not simply replace the rotted material or repaint. It's critical to find the source of any water pen- etration. In our experience, nine out of 10 times, the source is a failure in the installed flashing. A comprehensive investigation should be conducted in order to determine if the problem is isolated or systemic. It's key to investigate intersections – i.e., roof-to- wall, wall-to-sidewall, or roof-to-chimney, and so on. During this process, an assess- ment of the underlying structure needs be made. Is there extensive rot in the wall sheathing? Are window sills and frames rot- ted? Is there extensive deflection or sagging of roof sheathing?” Another issue at play here is of course cost. Lack of maintenance by an associa- tion can stem from the attitude that doing preventive or major work would just be too expensive, and as such the board may adapt an 'ignorance is bliss' mindset. “Generally, as siding gets older and a building is increasingly worn down by the weather, the cost to take care of everything starts to build, eventually requiring much more money than it originally did,” says Anastasi. “Eventually things look really bad, and they have to be replaced. Generally, communities like to stretch things out, \\\[and\\\] unfortunately associations often fail to do a great job saving for the future. When build- ings get to a point where siding needs to be replaced, the association does not have time on its side, so phasing things in isn't an op- tion. These scenarios require an immediate assessment, and most associations will go out and get a loan, then spread the financial burden out over time, thereby not severely financially impacting all of the residents. And some associations use a combination of reserve money as well as that loan to lessen the financial impact.” What to Expect When You're Expecting (Facade Work) When a major facade project is unavoid- able, there are decisions a board must make, including choice of vendor, the timeline for the project (and its potential disruption of normal residential activity), cost, impact on curb appeal, etc. It's important to partner Facade Repair and Restoration How to Know When It’s Time BY MIKE ODENTHAL ISTOCKPHOTO.COM continued on page 14