LEAK
INVESTIGATION
The leak investigations also provide lessons learned why did some thing fail? Was it poor craftsmanship? Was it bad detailing? Was it in compatible materials? Learning these lessons helps you design a building that will be much less susceptible to these problems.
Then there is the world of paper where the details work perfectly, and then there is the real world where do decide conditions or unforeseen conditions, the details don’t work or don’t fit. In these conditions, or when a good waterproofing consultant can add value to a project. I have always been an architect that has thrived in the field working with contractors.
ROOFING
CONSULTING
Deeper in the niche service of roofing consulting, I find much of my time spent working on leak investigations. Leak investigations are a hands-on series of testing possible deficiencies in the exterior of the building in order to understand what actually needs to be repaired, and therefore solve the leak. By learning where water comes into buildings, it helps me to design details that have redundancy, and therefore have a better chance of staying dry.
Leak investigations have to be treated in a holistic manner where you’re testing horizontal then vertical components. There are also many times when there might be more than one leak and therefore the professional testing should spend the time and be thorough. It’s always good to double check other areas during testing and see if there are multiple leaks.
My second focus is keeping building safe by working on
FISP PROJECTS
The façade inspection safety program was created by the New York City buildings department, as a means to keep the public safe from buildings with potential deficiencies that could hurt a person if a piece of the building fell off to the ground.
Every five years buildings over seven stories are required to have an up close inspection to see if the building facade requires maintenance. My experience over the last 25 years working on building exteriors, makes the fisp work in natural fit in my practice.
KEEP
IN MIND
During construction it’s important to have a second set of eyes making sure that the contractors have someone that they can rely on to help them with field conditions that might not have been planned for. It’s the roofing consultants roll to help contractors identify and solve these problems for the good of the project. In the end I want to be on the same team with the contractors so that owners can get quality work that will last for decades.
