New apartment tenants struggle with soggy mold

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New apartment tenants struggle with soggy mold

Corvallis Gazette Times - Corvallis,OR*

By Gwyneth Gibby

Gazette-Times reporter

http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/10/24/news/community/5aaa02

_tenants.txt

The Shadow Hills Apartments on Western Boulevard are only three

years old, but problems with the construction of the buildings are

bringing misery to some tenants in the form of water and mold.

An investigation by construction consultants earlier this year

revealed that water was getting under the siding and causing damage

to the four-story building, particularly where the exterior walkways

meet the walls. The roof over one section of the apartment complex

was also leaking.

But legal wrangling among the building's owner, original contractor

and architects delayed the start of repairs until the end of

September — when the weather in Corvallis made its seasonal shift

from sunny to soaking wet.

As the autumn rain arrived, a contractor removed most sections of

siding and part of the roof, leaving some tenants — most of whom are

Oregon State University students — with rain-soaked carpeting and

light fixtures filled with rainwater.

OSU student Matt Teske said he woke in the early morning hours of

Oct. 11 to discover rain pouring into his top-floor apartment. Teske

said when he notified Pinion Property Management, he was given

several five-gallon buckets to catch the rain.

" I stayed up all night, emptying bucket after bucket, " Teske

said. " My bedroom light globe filled with water. "

That same day, the Corvallis Fire Department responded when his

neighbor's smoke alarm was triggered by water coming through her

ceiling, which was sagging down, according to Teske.

" Found four (apartments) with water running into the lights and

smoke detectors, " the fire department report reads.

Firefighters cleared the tenants out of the apartments, then left

when the contractor working at the complex said tenants could move

to a motel.

" When you don't have working smoke detectors and water around

electrical fixtures, it's just common sense " to get out, said Mark

, one of the firefighters who responded to the scene.

Teske went to his parents' house in Oregon City that night, but

returned because his possessions — including a TV, DVD player and

sound system — were still being rained on.

Teske said Pinion managers offered him a couple of other apartments

in other buildings the firm manages, but he declined because they

did not seem safe.

" They pretty much looked like you would get murdered there, " he said.

On Tuesday, nearly two weeks later, Teske was still looking for

another place to live.

A ground-floor tenant, who asked not to be named, displayed her

cracked front window frame where water had poured into her apartment

onto a sofa. Plastic had been tacked over the window from the

outside to prevent more leaks, but the crack was still there. She

said she filled out a form in the Pinion office three weeks ago, but

no one has come to look at it.

Pinion, of Pinion Property Management, said Tuesday that he did

not want to make a statement about the situation at Shadow Hills

until he had spoken to the building's owner, Fred Haruda.

It is not clear when the problems with the building came to Haruda's

attention. According to Pinnell Busch Inc. of Portland, a

construction consulting company, Haruda hired the company in the

spring of this year to assess the problems at the apartment complex

and figure out how to fix them.

" We did an investigation on this building, " said Greg Mockford,

project manager for Pinnell Busch. " We put the original contractor

and architect on notice: There is a problem and we want you to fix

it. "

Mockford said he could not be explicit about what the flaws were

because lawsuits would likely be filed over the matter.

One defect — the walkways slope toward the buildings, so water

drains toward the walls rather than away from them — was pointed out

by employees of All Star Construction, the contractor hired to do

the repairs.

The defects in the buildings are long-standing, according to tenants.

Landis and her boyfriend, Adam Fowler, who have been living

at Shadow Hills for about a year and a half, said they had mold in

their third-floor apartment almost from the beginning.

" It was in the windows and the door, " Landis said.

Landis and Fowler asked to move into another apartment and now live

on the ground floor, where they have found no leaks or mold.

According to city records, another tenant complained about lack of

weatherproofing in January of this year. The tenant sent letters to

Pinion on Jan. 30 and Feb. 26, without result, according to city

records.

An inspection by the city five months later, on May 18, found that a

blue tarp had been installed instead of a ceiling in the tenant's

bathroom. City records show the ceiling was repaired and the case

closed on June 13.

Other tenants said they had no problems inside their apartments.

None of the tenants interviewed said they had been informed about

what repairs were being done, why they were being done or how long

it would take.

Mockford said work is progressing and the roof would be sealed by

the end of this week. Once the weather has improved in the spring,

the siding and walkways will be replaced.

Doing such extensive repairs while the buildings are occupied is not

uncommon, according to Mockford.

" It's not an easy thing to do, " he said, " but it's doable. "