Minnesota/Woodbury/Mold

[Guest guest]

2 articles in the Minneapolis star trib newspaper this week end:

Sheila Asleson

www.hadd.com

PS- Our homeowners group here in Minnesota is working on new laws for the 2006

session to protect homeowners. If you are interested in helping in anyway,

please email me.

1. http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5736366.html

A Growing Concern

Last update: November 18, 2005 at 10:47 PM

Water intrusion may be an issue of some urgency as Woodbury and other Twin

Cities suburbs continue to build homes. Woodbury's population has more than

doubled since 1990 to 50,000, and the city recently added 1,400 acres to its

land area to allow for 4,200 new housing units in the next seven years.

DONNA HALVORSEN

2. http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5736299.html

Woodbury still absorbing shock of water damage Mold-plagued houses there that

made news in the 1990s continue to haunt the courts, the state and the building

industry.

Donna Halvorsen, Star Tribune Last update: November 19, 2005 at 6:10 PM

A growing concern

Like a prairie storm, the epidemic swept through Woodbury: Home after home

experienced black mold, soaked insulation and crumbling wallboard.

Half of the city's stucco homes built before 1999 -- and some built later --

fell victim to water, a life sustainer that turns nasty when it gets inside

walls, turning the structures to mush.

" Everybody was in shock, " said home- owner Debbie Long. " It looked like a

tornado hit around here. "

" Water intrusion " is now known to be an equal-opportunity home wrecker, not

just a problem in largely affluent Woodbury. It can occur anywhere homes were

built from the 1990s on, when poor construction with new materials allowed water

into walls, rotting building materials that were never meant to get wet.

Experts say water may have first entered the walls shortly after the houses

were built, and it may not have been noticed for several years.

Ron Glubka, Woodbury's chief building official, calls it " the largest

construction defect problem in local history. " Recently, he concluded that the

city's 1999 efforts to make stucco houses dry and durable had failed, and water

problems continue to take a physical, emotional and financial toll on Woodbury

homeowners.

The burden of finding answers is now with the state (researching water

movement in walls), the stucco and building industries (seeking solutions), and

the courts (homeowners seeking relief and rulings on who should pay).

Steve and Debbie Long avoided court.

Their builder, Kootenia Homes of Woodbury, came out regularly to address

problems. And when the fixes didn't work, Kootenia turned the couple's claim

over to Federated Insurance, which paid the repair bill in full -- no haggling.

That's $174,860 -- not unusual when homes are rebuilt.

The Longs can talk about their experience; some homeowners can't or won't.

Many have been restricted after suing their builders and settling.

For the Longs, as with many others, it was gut-wrenching to watch their house

being torn apart and reconstructed.

" You're a wreck, " Debbie Long said of the process, in which she, her husband

and daughter, then 2, were sickened by construction dust and perhaps mold.

In many cases, the issue is playing out in the courts. Federated Insurance

argued before the Minnesota Court of Appeals that Cincinnati Insurance,

Kootenia's current carrier, should pay some of Kootenia's repair bills.

Minneapolis attorney Dave Hammargren said who pays for damage is an open legal

question. " It'll be good for homeowners to have some certainty on the [coverage]

issue when they negotiate with the builder's insurance company, " he said.

The Longs first noticed water leaking around windows they think were not

sealed properly, and there was a persistent black spot below a sliding glass

door. Also, the basement flooded when a sump pump failed.

When a neighbor tested her house for moisture, the Longs did the same. The

test revealed water in the walls, a lot in places. When a stucco section was

pulled off, the area was black with mold.

" That was a total shock, " Debbie Long said. " I didn't know what mold and water

could do. "

Kootenia paid a contractor to replace the walls and a caulking crew to seal

openings where water might intrude. Debbie Long said her family has had no water

problems since the repairs were made three years ago.

Glubka's research showed that half of stucco homes built in Woodbury before

1999 had water problems, and 20 percent cost $100,000 or more to repair. The

Longs' house was built in 1996.

In 1999, Glubka made it his mission to learn why houses were failing and how

to build them better. Changes were made to state building code, and Glubka added

his own.

But homes built since 2000 have continued to fail.

His research shows that a tiny fraction of non-stucco houses have had

problems, a conclusion disputed by the stucco industry, which has drafted new

building practices and proposed changes in the state building code. Steve

Pedracine, director of the Minnesota Lath and Plaster Bureau, said rainwater

that enters walls is a major problem.

The Longs and others have stayed with stucco but used different wall

assemblies.

" We've had more awareness in the stucco homes, " said state building official

Tom Joachim. " In the other homes, you may not notice it as quick. "

Minnesota is revising its building code again, and flashing -- material such

as sheet metal that steers water away from and out of the house -- is a big

focus. The current building code is vague, Joachim said. " It just says the

building should be flashed. "

" For the hundreds of thousands of homes that are built, the percentage [with

water problems] is small, " State investigator Mike Happ said. " But it's

devastating to the families. "

In some cases, houses went up too fast, and details were missed, Happ said.

" Everybody's got to take a deep breath and just watch what they're doing. "

Donna Halvorsen • 612-673-1709

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