Got a Call From Homes by Avi

June 1st was the deadline for Homes by Avi to get back to me. Ian Mosher, General Manager of Operations for Homes by Avi gave me a call today to let me know that Homes by Avi was mailing me their response. He also offered to meet me Friday June 9th at my residence to go over the issues contained in the letter I sent them. I will be going in to the meeting with an open mind, but with a firm backing of knowledge and facts about the state of my house.

I am not sure if the Chief Building Inspector "enlightened" Homes by Avi to the situation in my house (and my cul-de-sac) but, I have to believe it had something to do with it.

Alberta Legislative Question Period

I was digging on the Alberta Legislature website to find contacts in the Alberta Government to email about the Alberta Building Code. I came across a debate in the Legislature from April 19, 2004.

In a question by Hon. Bill Bonner, MLA Edmonton-Glengarry, Liberal Municipal Affairs Critic: "Mr. Speaker, Albertans are concerned that stucco wall systems are not being constructed in accordance with the building code, placing immediate and long-term health and safety risks on Alberta homeowners. To the Minister of Municipal Affairs: given that the stucco and home-building industries freely confess that they have long been ignoring the minimum stucco wall thickness of 19 millimetres laid out in the Alberta building code, what is this ministry going to do to enforce compliance?"

The Reponse by Hon. Minister Guy Boutilier: "I’m not aware of the particular situation, but I am aware of this: for those of us in this Assembly that have stucco homes, we want to make sure that our homes are at the highest standard. That is something that the Alberta safety code does certainly assure Albertans, and we continue to work towards that. So in answer to the hon. member’s question, we are going to ensure that the safest and the best protection for Albertans is always there regarding the Alberta safety code."

In the two years that have passed since this was brought up the Alberta Government has promptly done - nothing!

So, don't forget to email the Minister of Municipal Affairs - Hon. Rob Renner, because I don't want him to be caught "unaware" that New Home Builders in Alberta are not building to the Building Code. While you're at it, CC the email to Hon. Kevin Taft since he is the Opposition Critic for Municipal Affairs (and Liberal Leader), and probably won't mind pointing out any legislative shortcomings to the Minister!

Stucco Application - The Homes by Avi Way

Unfortunately for my family and I when it came time to lay the stucco on the lath the Homes by Avi way of Stucco Application was to look at the Alberta Building Code Section 9.28.6 on Stucco Application, and ignore the mimimum requirements for thickness. In some areas the stucco around the trim it is 67% less than the mimimum required by the Alberta Building Code.

Have a peek at the pictures to see, the first one shows the typical batten installation and thickness. The battens are applied to the house prior to the stucco. Generally they are made of two parts, a 1" batten and a 1/2" backer, which gives a total thickness of 1 1/2". So, if it is 1 1/2" total, and the minimum stucco thickness is 3/4" (19mm) then there should 3/4" (or less) of the batten exposed around each and every inch of the window trim

I looked around every window on the house, I cannot find anywhere around any window where there is 3/4" or less of trim showing. In fact in some cases I can find as much as 1 1/4" of trim showing, which means the amount of stucco at that point is 1/4"!! That means they would need to add 1/2" of stucco to bring it up to the minimum.

The first picture of the trim shows the horizontal batten by the garage. It has 1 3/16" exposed, so there the thickness is about 5/16". The second shows the trim right above the main front window that is to the office/den, it shows a whopping 3/8" of stucco there. The final picture is the back window, this is a window that faces a large open field and is exposed to a lot of wind and very little protection from the elements. In reading the suggested installation techniques by Imasco (the stucco supplier/manufacturer for this job) about their stucco, they state that for an exposed area the installer should not only meet the minimum requirements, but it really should exceed them:

Um, so instead of exceeding the code for an exposed area, this portion of the stucco around the back window is 67% less than the mimimum code.

Oh and one more thing... Alberta Building Code 9.27.4.1 states that "Caulking shall be provided at vertical joints between different cladding materials unless the joint is suitable lapped or flashed to prevent the entry of rain." Whoops, I guess Homes by Avi and Kazan Construction forgot that code too. There has never been any caulking applied to any of the vertical joints.

Alberta Building Code - Stucco Application

Here is the what the Alberta Building Code (1997) has to say about Stucco Application (Thickness):

9.28.6. Stucco Application

9.28.6.2. Number of Coast and Total Thickness

1) Stucco shall be applied with at least 2 base coats and one finish coat, providing a total thickness of less than 15mm, measured from the face of the lath or the face of the masonry where no lath is used.

9.28.6.5. Finish Coat

2) The thickness of the finish coat shall be not less than 3mm.

9.28.6.6. Alternative Method

1) Stucco shall be applied in at least 2 coats to provide a total thickness of not less than 19mm measured from the face of the sheathing paper to the face of teh second coat where lath is used.

2) The second coat shall be continuous across the entire surface of the coat and be without gaps of voids.

The basic point here is - if you are applying in 2 coats (which is pretty much the standard now in Alberta) then it has to be at least 19mm; or for those imperial minded people, 3/4".

Chief Inspector Calls

Wow, Canada Post was particularily fast on this one! I dropped a copy of my letter to Homes by Avi in the mail to the Chief Building Inspector on May 23, 2006. He called me back bright, and very early on Friday the 26th. He said he called me to let me know he got it, and that he was going to call a meeting with Homes by Avi "to impress upon them their responsibility in the matter".

I have to say, that made my day!

Shoddy Work Creeping into New Homes

May 10, 2006

Looks like its not just Homes by Avi and Kazan construction violating the Building Code when it comes to installing stucco.

CTV Calgary Consumer Affairs reporter Lea Williams-Doherty did a recent story on bad work by Calgary new home builders.

According to the intro: "Some construction experts say Calgary's super-heated housing market is leading to poor quality homes. A calgary homeowner says he found a hazardous amount of mould growing in the basement walls of his two year old home. Kevin Hnatiuk hired an independent construction expert to figure out what went wrong during his build. Bob Passmore found several mistakes, like too thin of stucco, poorly sealed openings, and poorly installed vapour barriers that all allowed water and mould to enter his walls. Passmore says he's seeing this problem a lot in new homes. He believes the cause is the lack of good tradesmen, coupled with the lack of good supervision."

That sounds really familiar. Interestingly enough Bob Passmore works for Building Science + Architecture, the same inspectors I used. I think they are waaaay too busy. I think I will send an email to Ms. Williams-Doherty!

Video of Lea Williams-Doherty Reporting

The Letter...

May 19, 2006

I hand delivered a letter (well, by letter I mean a 14 page, coil bound booklet) to several members of the Homes by Avi Management Team stating all the Building Code Violations, Breach of Contract details and the required remediation steps.

In the letter (booklet) I gave them a deadline of Thursday, June 1, 2006 to agree to my remedition steps. I am not going to hold my breath, but I will keep you posted.

Just to add to the number of people getting the letter, I also mailed a copy of it, along with an introductory letter to the Supervisor of Building Inspections at the City of Calgary.

Flashing Installation - The Homes by Avi Way

Unfortuantely when it came time to build my house, the Homes by Avi way of Flashing Installation was to skip installing all of those pesky flashings between the wood battens and the stucco. Even though the Alberta Building Code Section 9.27.33 is pretty clear that they outta be there!

Have a peek at the pictures to see, that's my house, and the missing flashings on just two pictures of the house. There are at least a dozen more areas where there should be flashings, but alas there are none.

Alberta Building Code - Flashings

Here is the what the Alberta Building Code (1997) has to say about flashing:

9.27.33. Flashing

9.27.3.2. Installation

1) Flashing shall be installed at every horizontal junction between 2 different exterior finishes, except where the upper finish overlaps the lower finish.

2) Except as provided in sentence (4), flashing shall be applied over exterior wall openings where the vertical distance from the bottom of the eave to the top of the trim is more than one-quarter of the horizontal overhang of the eave.

3) Flashing shall be installed so that it extends upwards not less than 50 mm behind the sheathing paper and forms a drip on the outside edge.

4) Where a window or exterior door is designed to be installed without head flashing, the exterior flange of the window or door frame shall be bedded into a non-hardening caulking material and the exterior flange screwed down over the caulking material to the wall framing to form a waterproof joint.

That is kind of clear, basically it is saying you must have flashings between two differnt materials (like, say stucco and wood battens) unless it the surface is within 1/4 the width of the eave down from the top of the eave.

So, you want a stucco house in Calgary?

I love the look of stucco, always have. When it came time for me and my family to build a house, a stucco exterior was one of the things my wife and I could agree on (that, and tile floors.) Little did I know that choosing stucco was going to cause me so much grief and wasted time! The Calgary new home builder who built my house (Homes by Avi and their stucco sub-contractor Kazan Construction) either did not know the Alberta Building Code, or decided not to follow it when they stuccoed my house.

So, if you like stucco and are thinking of adding it to your new home, or if you built a stucco house in Alberta in the last 10 years, read on. For those readers outside of Alberta, most of this applies to other provinces, but you should check your local building codes to make sure.

According to the January 2004 Alberta Municipal Affairs Standata Bulletin [pdf], only 15% of Stucco applications that their study looked into were installed properly - what about that other 85%! How come the government is not stepping in to make these builders more accountable? Well, you can start by dropping a note to the Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister, the Honourable Rob Renner.

Site Inspired by HGTV's Holmes on Homes

Holmes on Homes Website

"I think it's time to expose the work of these so-called contractors and help some homeowners make informed decisions. I want to take the word 'minimum' out of the construction industry and stop the slow death of craftsmanship" Mike Holmes is quoted on his website.

Hopefully this site will reach a couple of people in the Calgary area, and beyond and clue them in to the lack of proper workmanship, failure to meet 'minimum' acceptable Alberta Building Code Standards in the application of stucco. In this site I will highlight my house (unfortuantely), which was constructed by Homes by Avi, who sub-contracted stucco work to Kazan Construction.

All observations on this blog are mine, and directly related to the experiences I have had in the construction and post possession experiences with Homes by Avi, and their sub-contractors. The ideas and comments are in no way affiliated with Mr. Holmes or the Holmes on Homes Television Program.