COLCO NEWS RELEASE

To:  R. (Bob) P. Vickerstaff @ FAX 604-682-6693
 President and C.O.O., AXA Pacific Insurance

From: James Balderson @ FAX 604-739-4109
 COLCO: Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners

Re: Leaky Rotten Condos/ Houses and Building Code

We have recently reviewed material which you faxed to our office in November 1999 and you will recall talking with Sandra La Couvee and James Balderson.

As for Mr. J.C. Currie’s letters to which you refer, please read the report of the Barrett Commission, Part Two, Volume Two, March 2000.  The matters raised by Mr. Currie are discussed by the Commission after hearing expert testimony and are found wanting as an explanation for the prevalence of leaky rotten condos and houses in British Columbia.

As for the rot in your new house (purchased July 1999, built 1996-97) we are confused by the information in your documents.  The explanation you and Mr. Currie have adopted is that the moisture which caused the extensive rot “originated from within the house, and was simply trapped within the sealed wall system required by the code” (Letter, Currie to Vickerstaff, November 7, 1999).  It would be highly unusual, if not impossible, for normal amounts of household moisture to penetrate the vapour barrier and cause the extensive rot shown by your photographs. A marijuana grow operation, however, could cause such damage.  For some unknown reason you conveniently ignore entry of rainwater, windblown or not, through the building envelope into the wall assembly.  However, as a preventative measure against future problems, you “extend[ed] the porch above 30 inches for 112’ around the front and put some gutters on.”  In other words you took measures to shed external sources of moisture (rain) to the outside, which is what the building code calls for and should have been done in the first instance.  Another possible explanation is that the house was built with wet lumber and/or left exposed to the elements during the winter of 96/97 and not dried out before enclosing, another code infraction.  It appears that your house failed and rotted because it was not designed and built to code, just like our leaky rotten condos.

Signed
Dr. James Balderson

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