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My New Studio Build (perhaps overly detailed)

#1,081
It's raining heavily here in Seattle today after a long dry and cold spell. I'm hoping that this will be illustrative for tracking down the leak. I'm still getting radio silence from the repair guy and now his boss as well. If this continues into the middle of next week I will stop trying to contact them remotely (email, phone, etc.) and will go to their office and start banging on doors.
 
#1,082
Any luck tracking down the leak?

Good luck with your contractors! This is a great example why I tend to do things like this myself - aside from those jobs where you need a license to perform the work (electrician, gasfitter). Only one I can blame is myself and it only takes a minute or two to track myself down! :laugh:
 
#1,083
DirtDog said:
Any luck tracking down the leak?
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Rain was consistent until late last night. I didn't want to open the door until the rains had stopped to make sure I got an accurate check. Unfortunately they lasted longer than I'd hoped and I had to go to bed before getting a chance to check. I'm at my office now, but will be home later tonight when I'll be able to check. It was bone dry in there before the rains started, so any new water intrusion will be apparent along with a hopefully visible trail back to the leak. The problem is that I suspect it will go to exactly the same spot as before which is what was repaired previously. If it's still leaking it'll likely just need to be more repaired than the previous repair repaired :p

DirtDog said:
Good luck with your contractors!
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Thanks!

DirtDog said:
This is a great example why I tend to do things like this myself
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Constructing a structure from the ground up and doing the finish work associated with hanging a door is outside of my current skill set, so it was a non-starter to even consider not hiring it out.

DirtDog said:
aside from those jobs where you need a license to perform the work
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Seattle building code requires a builder's license to construct something like this. That can be a contractor or yourself, but the bottom line is that if you're not licensed the inspector can have you demo the structure if they feel like it, along with associated fines for every day the structure remains in-place. This is pretty well in line with IBC requirements. I don't have the abilities, experience, or desire to get licensed, so again... Non-starter.
 
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#1,084
My confusion continues unabated :cautious:

Last night I went out to my studio building to check for more water intrusion. This was after the rains from the previous few days had subsided and we were back to our unseasonably dry conditions. Imagine my surprise to find that after a day and a half of rain there was no water entering the studio. None. Now, this wasn't a hard driving rain by any means. Seattle typically doesn't get real strong rains, just more of a persistent drizzle or fog condensing on things making them wet. That said, the recent rains were pretty weak even by Seattle standards.

My immediate reaction was to be overjoyed that the repair seems to have been effective and that I could get the repair guy (if I can ever get in touch with him :rage: ) to come back out to button up the trim, touch up the paint and be done with this whole process. Then I pulled back and wondered why there was water intrusion previously that occurred after the most recent repairs, but not this most recent rain. Could this possibly have been water that entered the studio prior to the repair condensing and then collecting in the usual spot? Or, more concerning, could this have actually been "new" water intruding into the structure? There's no way to know unfortunately.

I suppose I'm going to have to wait a little longer to know for sure. There are no rains in the forecast for the rest of the week, but it's slated to pick up again next week. Hopefully that holds true (still seems odd to be in Seattle and hoping for winter rains). The other option that I've been kicking around is to break out the garden hose and start soaking the structure to check for intrusion. This would require my wife, who's perpetually cold (even when we're on vacation in warm climates she is somehow cold), to stand outside in winter weather spraying a garden hose. I think she'll do it, but she will not be happy about it :laugh:
 
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#1,087
silky smoove said:
I want to be the one in the building so I can actively see where it's coming in and troubleshoot on the fly as opposed to doing it retroactively.
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Your wife might not agree. :laugh:

I figured, how it is hosed is important. Perhaps using different angles or concentrating on different areas based on your knowledge of how it's constructed.

Are you planning on removing any insulation from the area first?
 
#1,092
The forecast looks conducive to playing Sherlock Holmes in terms of leak detection:
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#1,095
Stevorebob said:
Sorry to learn of this. Best wishes for a successful remedy. And strength for your continued patience.
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Thanks!

In related news: The building guys will be out on Monday to (and I'm quoting the warranty specialist here) "Thoroughly go through every piece of that door, the jamb, the frame and completely rebuild it if necessary."

It turns out the repair guy who told me to text him directly for follow-ups left the company so my messages were going to a phone that's been deactivated. That doesn't excuse the office folks who weren't returning my messages, but all the same I'm hopeful that things will get resolved this time around. I'm going to remain optimistic.

In longer term news, there's been another (ANOTHER?!) long term delay for completion of the studio. This one is a good thing though. My wife and I got married back in June of 2014 and due to a series of life "things" coming up, we never got a chance to go on a proper honeymoon. We've taken vacations, even a couple internationally down to Mexico, but nothing that really rang true as a honeymoon. We've been talking about traveling to Iceland for several years and we finally decided to pull the trigger on the trip. We'll be heading there in mid-August of this year. The bad news is that, if you're unaware, Iceland is a shockingly expensive place to travel and the costs of the trip are mounting. They're significant enough that it'll slow down what funding is available for continued construction by a fairly large margin. I'm okay with this given how much we've been wanting to take this trip.
 
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#1,096
silky smoove said:
Thanks!

In related news: The building guys will be out on Monday to (and I'm quoting the warranty specialist here) "Thoroughly go through every piece of that door, the jamb, the frame and completely rebuild it if necessary."

It turns out the repair guy who told me to text him directly for follow-ups left the company so my messages were going to a phone that's been deactivated. That doesn't excuse the office folks who weren't returning my messages, but all the same I'm hopeful that things will get resolved this time around. I'm going to remain optimistic.

In longer term news, there's been another (ANOTHER?!) long term delay for completion of the studio. This one is a good thing though. My wife and I got married back in June of 2014 and due to a series of life "things" coming up, we never got a chance to go on a proper honeymoon. We've taken vacations, even a couple internationally down to Mexico, but nothing that really rang true as a honeymoon. We've been talking about traveling to Iceland for several years and we finally decided to pull the trigger on the trip. We'll be heading there in mid-August of this year. The bad news is that, if you're unaware, Iceland is a shockingly expensive place to travel and the costs of the trip are mounting. They're significant enough that it'll slow down what funding is available for continued construction by a fairly large margin. I'm okay with this given how much we've been wanting to take this trip.
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I'd say that is a good development on the studio front, even if I agree with your assessment of the office staff. Hopefully they do what they say they will. At leas thought know the source now.

Take the honeymoon. A bit like "no one wishes they spent another day at work" on their deathbed. I'm guessing you will look back and find it was a great idea to make it official in your minds.
 
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#1,100
Just a got a phone call from the building folks with some unexpected news. The repair guy was out at my place a couple days ago and went through it with a fine tooth comb. He soaked it with the garden hose and there were exactly zero leaks coming in around the structure itself, the door jamb, the framing, the door threshold, etc. Where he was able to create a leak was in the door itself. It looks like the seal where the glass (remember it's a full lite door) meets the edges is not adequately sealed, and they're calling it a defect. They're working with the door manufacturer to get me a replacement door. Quite the unexpected turn of events from what I had anticipated to be the problem.

This means more waiting, but at least now there appears to be a path to resolution. How many times have I said that already? :p
 
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