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Aug
24
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Korr Building Sciences and Consulting provides solutions for Mould Testing and Mould Removal Services as well as Reconstruction of the interior and exterior of your building or home.
Mould contamination can be a problem if you have had:
- Flooding
- Seepage into a basement
- Water tanks or pipes leaking or bursting
- Chronic or persistent dampness, high humidity and/or window frosting and water condensation
- Crawlspace issues
- Construction issues
Moulds are microscopic fungi that are highly adapted to grow and produce rapidly. Moulds can grow on wood, paper, carpet, and insulation.
Mould growth accumulates when excessive moisture or water is present from leaky windows, decks, roofs and foundations.
Moulds produce allergens , irritants, and, toxic substances called mycotoxins. Mould spores may cause an allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. Allergic symtomes include hay fever, sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash. Allergic reactions to mould are common and can be immediate or delayed. In addition, mould exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs .
Contact your physician immediately to protect you and your family.
Certain strains of Mould is a recognized heath hazard, these strains have been connected to heath problems such as allergies, aspergilloses, and mycotoxin poisoning.
The Strands of mould most commonly linked to health issues that are present due to excess water or moisture are Aspergillus, Penicillium, Stachybotrys.
Contact us at Korr Building Sciences and Consulting for all your Mould questions.
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18:11
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Jun
27
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To the surprise of many, Alberta does not have any building code for multi-family or high rise condo building exteriors. The City Of Calgary has taken upon itself to start inspecting single family homes to ensure the builders are completing their projects properly however this division at the City is very small. That all said the people in this division are new to the practices that are standard with building science Engineers and specialists. Codes for this portion of building have been in place for several years in Ontario and British Columbia, why not in Alberta, good question there are many trying to change this. It is individual people, owners and complaints that will ultimately drive and lobby the Government of Alberta to change these codes provincially. Until that time you can check out this blog and keep up to date.
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13:12
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Jun
21
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There is a few ways a condo corporation can finance a condo partial or complete reclad project. In most cases this will be the single most expensive expense a condo corporation will endure. This can be very stressful to unit owners as typically it is addressed by what is called a special assessment. This is especially hard for new first time owners as they tend not to have a lot of equity in their home to borrow against it, to further make this difficult is the mortgage holder may view the unit in a devalued light. In many cases this cost can be considerable and in the thousands for each owner, sometimes up to6 digits per owned unit. In any case there are situations where some owners can’t raise these funds in which case ultimately lead into foreclosure by the condo corporation. This is a very troubling situation for the all involved. The good news is that there are options to that scenario. Financing is available through a select few capital companies and small financial institutions. The interesting part of this is these are not mortgages these are set up as loans to the condo corporation, the structures of these loans are surprisingly flexible and very quick to obtain(within 1 week approval). There are many different ways to structure the loans some owners may want to do the special assessment while others would prefer to finance their portion this one of the few benefits these capital companies can help you with. If financing is an avenue your condo corporation is interested in contact us and we will reply to you with a list.
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13:08
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Apr
15
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A drainage plain is simply the area between the paper and the finished building exterior component such as siding, conventional stucco, or an efis application etc. this area between the wall is somewhat expected that there can be water present in this area of the envelope. Its sole purpose is to allow the water to drain down the wall and exit at the bottom of the wall system through drainage ports. This can be a woven plastic mat or can be pre formed groves on the back of foam panels(styrofoam) mainly used on concrete buildings with a glue on application, or just a void between conventional and the building paper. This is very important that the paper does not have a reverse lap. A reverse lapping of paper happens when a non trained worker installs the paper with the over lap facing to the top this allows water running down the paper above immediate entrance into the wall and creates a trap for the water to penetrate into the interior walls.
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9:56
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Apr
7
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A buildings envelope is what separates the transition between the inner and outside wall, it is also what protects the sheathing from the elements of weather. The windows are the first to be installed and prepared for a building envelope to be successful in redirecting and water even if there is a breach or a leak, the industry call this a drainage dam. It is constructed by installing a strip of sloped wood on the bottom sill situated on the inside of the window rough opening ledge. This area then gets a primer application and wrapped with a rubber like membrane material called Soprema, on the outside of the bottom of the windows rough opening, a cut section of building paper is attached to an extended flap of Soprema making it look at the base of the window like its an apron somewhat. After this the window is installed into the rough opening on top of the newly built drainage dam and fastened to the building, then the sides and top of the window receive primmer and Soprema placed on top of and surrounding the nailing flange of the window should water ever get in the window area it will drain down to the bottom of the window onto the drainage dam out onto the apron. After the double layer of building paper has been applied to the buildings exterior the apron is placed on top allowing the water to now naturally drain onto the drainage plain. The double papering of your building believe it or not is the single most important part of a building envelope being successful. Often this part of the construction is done by the least experienced workers and is the single largest reason for building envelope failure we call this reverse lapping.
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9:45
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Mar
24
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Alberta (Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer & BC (Vancouver) restoration general contractor launches new web site! Looking for a general contractor that has over 25 years of restoration/renovation, mold removal/remediation, new construction, design build, high-rise restorations, condo renovations, new commercial construction experience? Check this construction management general contractor out!
General Contracting Construction Management, Calgary, Edmonton Alberta & Vancouver BC, Canada
Providing construction management and consulting services, general contracting for condominiums, high rise multi family dwellings, including commercial, residential and commercial projects.
design-build condo high rise restoration contractor
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23:08
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Feb
26
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Each policy can different from one insurance company to another. You need to review your home owner’s policy and ask your representative to clearly explain what coverage if any you may have for mold. Always ask if there are others options to add on a trailer policy, some of these that offer more coverage can be as follows:
- Environmental liability policy
- Director and officers liability policy
- National New home
When you hire a Building Envelope Engineer or a Building Restoration Contractor they should be able to determine whether your insurance policy covers mold remediation. Mold inclusive insurance, if you don’t have it, is highly recommended to add to your policy even if your building is newly competed, this will be very advantageous if you building is determined after testing that you have level 2 or level 3 category remediation work required.
WHY TEST FOR MOLD?
Certain strains of Mold is a recognized heath hazard, these strains have been connected to heath problems such as allergies, aspergilloses, and mycotoxin poisoning.
While not all mold is harmful, growth of any micro organisms in occupied building should not be allowed. Testing helps determine the hazard level and how to handle them safely.
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10:47
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Feb
21
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- How many contractors do you use when you are tendering a bid?
- Where have these contractors performed work with you? Can we get the boards contact?
- Who of these contractors have completed projects for you on time and on budget?
- What were these projects that have been completed on time and or on budget, who would we contact on those boards?
- If a project goes past the preset completion date do your fees remain the same? If not who is responsible for this cost, you, the contractor, or does this expense revert back to the board to pay.
- Who determines the time required for successful completion of any given project? The engineering firm or the contractors.
- When you give a budget price for construction costs what is considered an acceptable plus or minus percentage for cost variables.
- What percentage of your completed projects are within 10% of your initial estimated budget and does the percentage reflect the added time or is the project delayed considerably more on average.
- When you do the minutes of a project are there companies that require less supervision and inspection than others.
- Do you have a select group of building envelope restoration companies you like to work with? Can you provide us a detailed rating for quality and performance of 2 projects for each of these contractors?
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10:42
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Feb
16
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- How many people in your company have over 15 years experience in running projects worth over 2 million.
- What kind of project is your main discipline of work? How many building envelope restorations has your company successfully completed?
- What was the dollar value for these projects, and in detail, your scope of work?
- Upon receiving the award of these projects what was the preset completion date? Did you meet the deadline; if not can you explain why and how late you were to project completion?
- Was your price based on a change order process or a preset contingency percentage?
- What was the price before you started the project, and what was cost at the completion date?
- Have you had any accidents or safety infractions? If so can you explain why and if not can we review your safety documentation from 2 of your projects.
- How many complaints have you received for lack of performance for work being performed in an owners or tenant’s suite?
- Can we review 2 of your projects and contact the board for confirmation?
- Are you or your company involved in any litigation with a condo board, an owner or a condominium corporation?
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10:41
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Feb
1
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BUILDING ENVELOPE RESTORATION - The first contact you should make is with a competent contractor in this field of work, in most cases this is the first step because most restoration or building envelope restoration construction management companies will come out and look at your problem initially free of charge. If you find a contractor that has a designated engineer in house this can lower your construction costs and time of project, there are multifamily restoration contractors that offer these complete packages. The second contact if the contractor doesn’t provide an in house investigation would be to search the web in your local area for a qualified engineering firm that is experienced in building sciences and building restorations.
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19:48
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