We've discovered that
Syncon Homes has begun offering a repair for some homeowners who have
found the foundation v. wall v. siding defect. What they've
offered is to caulk/seal the opening, according to multiple
owners.
That's like putting a
"Band-Aid
on a bullet wound!" It's a cheap and inappropriate treatment for the
injury, which is:
-
Not the right way to fix the problem,
-
Doesn't
address the underlying defect,
-
Adds to the cost of maintaining the
home for the owner, and
-
Does not comply with requirements of the
building code we provided on the Omega
Siding page.
It will remain a
significant defect in your house. If you think it's something that
you can ignore when you sell your house, think again. You will
have to disclose to any buyer that your house was built with
violations of the 2003 International Residential Code
since Syncon did not follow the manufacturer's instructions, as required. Do you
want to assume the liability that belongs to Syncon?
Furthermore, caulk doesn't last and
adhere forever. It will need to repeatedly be removed and
replaced. How would you like to periodically lie on your back and
crawl around the perimeter of the house as you removed and replaced
caulk, year after year, decade after decade, because of someone else's
poor workmanship? We know that's not what we want to do and it's
not what would be required had the house been built properly.
Where's the
guarantee that their resolution will really solve the problem and result
in a siding system that meets the manufacturer's standards? It's
not there. The evaluation report
on the siding used on our homes defined the standards and testing
criteria to
ensure that the siding system worked and met codes (read the evaluation report).
That's the purpose of the report. It resulted in installation standards that the independent testing organization and the manufacturer
directed their users (Syncon Homes) to follow when the product was
applied to the house.
Syncon Homes'
resolution will not cause their installation to meet the standards
required in the evaluation and by the manufacturer of the siding
product. There's no way that they can say it will provide the
performance expected of a correctly installed system.
The instructions were
written for a reason and, if Syncon's resolution was appropriate, it
would have been offered as an alternative by the manufacturer.
Since there's no alternative offered, Syncon's suggested repair will not
result in anything except a less expensive repair for them and a siding
system that will not perform as expected for the homeowner.
In the end, I can't
understand why anyone would allow a company, who let their construction
defect make it all the way to the consumer, get away with a couple tubes
of cheap caulk. Where was their oversight during construction? I don't know,
but no matter what the cause or motivation, full responsibility for their lack of
workmanship lies with Syncon Homes, not with the end purchaser and a
couple tubes of caulk.
Again, I encourage you
to see if a similar defect exists in your home. If it's there, why
do you want to accept any liabilities caused by Syncon Homes' defect? Of course it remains
entirely up to you, but feel free to contact us if you have any other
questions or need referrals.
