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I'm looking at buying a concrete townhouse in a large complex that also has apartment towers. The townhouses have flat roofs.
The problem: The building is about 6 years old and many of the townhouses (including the one I am looking at,) already have issues with water staining on the ceilings.
They say it will all be repaired under warranty and that I will then have a solid concrete building. However, I'm scared.
Is it normal for a six year old building to already have leaks in many of the units?
Is it possible that their repairs (which will almost certainly be patches,) can be trusted or is this indicative of a poor quality building that will lead to a lifetime of chasing leaks?
Not normal.
The entire roof needs to be replaced.
One can be patched. "Many" means the roof was installed improperly.
Do not buy unless you enjoy being a member of a class-action lawsuit.
There are high quality methods to create a completely water-tight flat roof that will last 50 years or more. A building that is just 6 years old and has a leaky roof is very much an indication that the builder was not concerned with quality. I don't care is the rest of the structure is concrete, lead, steel, masoanry, wood or cardboard -- if the roof leaks everything will deteriorate at an accelerated rate!
Find another property!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CondoBondo
I'm looking at buying a concrete townhouse in a large complex that also has apartment towers. The townhouses have flat roofs.
The problem: The building is about 6 years old and many of the townhouses (including the one I am looking at,) already have issues with water staining on the ceilings.
They say it will all be repaired under warranty and that I will then have a solid concrete building. However, I'm scared.
Is it normal for a six year old building to already have leaks in many of the units?
Is it possible that their repairs (which will almost certainly be patches,) can be trusted or is this indicative of a poor quality building that will lead to a lifetime of chasing leaks?
I have to agree with the above. The common tarred roof with gravel can be a CONSTANT problem if it wasn't installed properly. I've seen many instances where they were properly patched, only to open up new leaks in a month or two. It costs $$$ to completely strip and replace one, and if you replace it with another tarred roof and underlying structural movement or weak spots aren't properly addressed first, then it too will leak in a short period of time. On some roofs, the only solution is to strip and replace with a neoprene membrane roof. Those are costly, subject to puncture, and slicker than snot, so they have to have catwalks to the HVAC units and AC techs who will abide by the rules of ONLY walking on the catwalks and never putting anything on the roof itself.
There are high quality methods to create a completely water-tight flat roof that will last 50 years or more. A building that is just 6 years old and has a leaky roof is very much an indication that the builder was not concerned with quality. I don't care is the rest of the structure is concrete, lead, steel, masoanry, wood or cardboard -- if the roof leaks everything will deteriorate at an accelerated rate!
Find another property!
The gravel and tar flat roof installed on the addition to my house was done in 1964 and is still leak free. This goes to show that a roof done right will last more than 6 years without leaking.
Really does not matter if was hot mopped, EPDM, neoprene, steel or any other method. What matters is the builder did not employ workers with the skills to do things correctly / did not properly supervise the work. Even if "repairs" are made now is there are anyone onnthe condo board that is qualified to supervise the repairs?
Just too many unanswered questioned about what else was done without attention to detail in this situation.
I want clarify too that although I often lean toward giving sellers the benefit of the doubt on many inspection related questions that come up on these boards that advice is generally directed to buyers shopping single family homes that are 20+ years old. When it comes to condo / townhouse the problems with multiple unit owners experiencing issues really points out a whole different kind of incompetence. Even if the HOA hires the right kind of contractor to fix the current problem what about the possible damage that years of a leaky roof has already caused? What about the difficult an HOA has coming to agreement about lawsuits or increased repair charges? I recommend against getting involved in this kind of mess...
Just a side note - I regularly (and incorrectly) call EDPM neoprene. Guess the old brain is full and not accepting new words without a fight.
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I think you know the answer to this...
