NatalieS3 (Illinois)
Posts: 6
Posts: 6
Posted:
I am on the Board of a self-managed condo assn. I'm secretary and have served consecutive terms since 2006. It's small: 19 units. Four floors. Conversion was in 2000. I moved into the building in 2004. Currently there are five members on the Board.
When I moved in, I was told the year before was the first assessment increase. It was a special assessment to pay for what I was told was a new roof. I learned later that it wasn't actually a new roof, it was a "modified roof". Don't ask me what that is. Not long after I moved in, the building began having problems with the roof...namely water infiltrating in various places. I still don't understand it, but somehow the HOA got screwed over on the warranty. It worked out that the warranty wasn't what they thought, and, essentially, everything that went wrong had to be paid for directly out of the HOA operating budget. Maybe three years ago, the situation started getting a lot worse. There have been serious tuck pointing problems too. We have easily spent $20-30k on roof repairs and tuck pointing to date. One day, a leak started in more than one place in a top-floor unit. No amount of trips by the roofer to attempt repairs resolved it for more than a handful of days. I had a few different roofers come in to give proposals. One said there had to be a new roof. Two said the roof was fine and only tuck pointing was needed. One roofer who had very good ratings on yelp proposed removing a section of roof, replace rotted planks, put on a new membrane and re-surface the area. He quoted a price of $6,500. The Board was in favor of going the cheapest route possible. They were going to vote for the lowest bid for TP. My gut told me a lot more than TP was needed. I wanted to spend a little more money to get the section replacement. A few months passed and we were still on the fence. Then the leak got worse. I pushed heavily for the section replacement and managed to persuade the others. Only by then, the roofer said the damage was more extensive and would involve greater repair, so the cost went up about $2k. The roofer would only give a one-year warranty, which troubled me. Still, I saw no other good alternative. No way would the Board approve a new roof and I knew TP wasn't going to be enough. So we had the section repair done. The unit owners got the restoration work done and the leak stopped. As the months progressed and no water came in, I was going around feeling pretty smart. Until a year passed (after the warranty expired). Then a leak started in the unit next door, not far from where the other had been. Our new roofer came back and did some patching. Things were OK for about a month, then the leak started again. The roofer came back and did more patching. The unit stayed dry for less than a month this time, and the old leak in the next door apartment came back. The roofer kept coming back to do more patching, each time resolving the leaks for shorter and shorter intervals. Toward Christmas, a strong odor of mildew was apparent in both units. Then the leak in one unit developed in other places in the kitchen, then in the dining room. The water coming into the kitchen would sometimes flow as if it was coming from a faucet. By this time the owner was beside herself and ready to make war on the HOA. Now it was into Jan. and the roofer said he couldn't do anything more until spring.
Since then, things have continued to devolve. It's like a never-ending episode of Twilight Zone. The unit owner with the worst leaking had to be re-located at a cost of $1k per month to HOA. The bedroom in the next door unit had to be sealed off and their kids are sleeping in the living room. We had to get mold re mediators in. They ripped out the entire kitchen and part of the dining room. The tore out the closet and section of wall in the bedroom of the other unit. The mold contamination was extensive. It cost thousands of dollars and nothing has been comped to us from insurance yet. We've had many roofers out to look at things and give proposals. Things are now such a mess, no one knows what to do and hostilities are brewing. A unit owner suggested we get a roof consultant in to advise. More time delay and more expense. His report took almost a week to arrive. He says a whole new roof is needed; for the immediate, he advises the only alternative is to put on a "sacrificial roof" that MAY stop leakage for possibly a year, but can't be guaranteed. He reviewed all the proposals we have gathered and he adamantly advises against any of them. One proposal is similar to the work that was done two years ago: the roofer would tear out a large section of roof where the damage is, replace rotted wood, replace insulation, replace rubber membrane and replace surface. He quotes a cost of $1,150 with a 3yr warranty. But the consultant says the proposal is inadequate. He gave us names of two roofers he recommends. They have been called. The Board wants to get input from these two before anything else is done. More delay. I know the proposals will run into the multi-thousands. Additionally, a recommended TP proposes all parapets be replaced at a cost of $15k. The Board wants to have the roof replaced fully one year from now, no later. We could remove maybe $10-20k from reserves. The rest would have to come either from an assessment increase or a bank loan. The necessary assessments would come to approx. $5k per unit. Monthly, it would be about $500 more per month for each owner. No way can anyone come up with this, nor agree to it. The Board said they would look for a loan only as a last resort, and only if it can be fully repaid in no more than one year. This solves nothing. No way can the HOA repay the whole loan in a year. Everyone agrees that the least amount of money should be expended for a one-year sacrificial roof. I have tried to think of another way, but I come up with nothing. I am tempted to push for the $1,150 area replacement so the displaced unit owner can move back into her home. But the consultant says no, no, no to that. The rest of the Board is afraid to go against his advice, and my credibility is shot for pushing the previous area repair that was $8500 and lasted only a year.
I lay awake at night, worrying about what we're going to do. I fret about during the day. I'm having bad dreams about the building and collapsing roofs. My stomach is in knots and hurts constantly these days. I've been avoiding my displaced neighbor like the plague. I dread talking to her because I know she's super mad and will ask what's going on. I have no idea what to tell her. I'm not having much fun these days.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
When I moved in, I was told the year before was the first assessment increase. It was a special assessment to pay for what I was told was a new roof. I learned later that it wasn't actually a new roof, it was a "modified roof". Don't ask me what that is. Not long after I moved in, the building began having problems with the roof...namely water infiltrating in various places. I still don't understand it, but somehow the HOA got screwed over on the warranty. It worked out that the warranty wasn't what they thought, and, essentially, everything that went wrong had to be paid for directly out of the HOA operating budget. Maybe three years ago, the situation started getting a lot worse. There have been serious tuck pointing problems too. We have easily spent $20-30k on roof repairs and tuck pointing to date. One day, a leak started in more than one place in a top-floor unit. No amount of trips by the roofer to attempt repairs resolved it for more than a handful of days. I had a few different roofers come in to give proposals. One said there had to be a new roof. Two said the roof was fine and only tuck pointing was needed. One roofer who had very good ratings on yelp proposed removing a section of roof, replace rotted planks, put on a new membrane and re-surface the area. He quoted a price of $6,500. The Board was in favor of going the cheapest route possible. They were going to vote for the lowest bid for TP. My gut told me a lot more than TP was needed. I wanted to spend a little more money to get the section replacement. A few months passed and we were still on the fence. Then the leak got worse. I pushed heavily for the section replacement and managed to persuade the others. Only by then, the roofer said the damage was more extensive and would involve greater repair, so the cost went up about $2k. The roofer would only give a one-year warranty, which troubled me. Still, I saw no other good alternative. No way would the Board approve a new roof and I knew TP wasn't going to be enough. So we had the section repair done. The unit owners got the restoration work done and the leak stopped. As the months progressed and no water came in, I was going around feeling pretty smart. Until a year passed (after the warranty expired). Then a leak started in the unit next door, not far from where the other had been. Our new roofer came back and did some patching. Things were OK for about a month, then the leak started again. The roofer came back and did more patching. The unit stayed dry for less than a month this time, and the old leak in the next door apartment came back. The roofer kept coming back to do more patching, each time resolving the leaks for shorter and shorter intervals. Toward Christmas, a strong odor of mildew was apparent in both units. Then the leak in one unit developed in other places in the kitchen, then in the dining room. The water coming into the kitchen would sometimes flow as if it was coming from a faucet. By this time the owner was beside herself and ready to make war on the HOA. Now it was into Jan. and the roofer said he couldn't do anything more until spring.
Since then, things have continued to devolve. It's like a never-ending episode of Twilight Zone. The unit owner with the worst leaking had to be re-located at a cost of $1k per month to HOA. The bedroom in the next door unit had to be sealed off and their kids are sleeping in the living room. We had to get mold re mediators in. They ripped out the entire kitchen and part of the dining room. The tore out the closet and section of wall in the bedroom of the other unit. The mold contamination was extensive. It cost thousands of dollars and nothing has been comped to us from insurance yet. We've had many roofers out to look at things and give proposals. Things are now such a mess, no one knows what to do and hostilities are brewing. A unit owner suggested we get a roof consultant in to advise. More time delay and more expense. His report took almost a week to arrive. He says a whole new roof is needed; for the immediate, he advises the only alternative is to put on a "sacrificial roof" that MAY stop leakage for possibly a year, but can't be guaranteed. He reviewed all the proposals we have gathered and he adamantly advises against any of them. One proposal is similar to the work that was done two years ago: the roofer would tear out a large section of roof where the damage is, replace rotted wood, replace insulation, replace rubber membrane and replace surface. He quotes a cost of $1,150 with a 3yr warranty. But the consultant says the proposal is inadequate. He gave us names of two roofers he recommends. They have been called. The Board wants to get input from these two before anything else is done. More delay. I know the proposals will run into the multi-thousands. Additionally, a recommended TP proposes all parapets be replaced at a cost of $15k. The Board wants to have the roof replaced fully one year from now, no later. We could remove maybe $10-20k from reserves. The rest would have to come either from an assessment increase or a bank loan. The necessary assessments would come to approx. $5k per unit. Monthly, it would be about $500 more per month for each owner. No way can anyone come up with this, nor agree to it. The Board said they would look for a loan only as a last resort, and only if it can be fully repaid in no more than one year. This solves nothing. No way can the HOA repay the whole loan in a year. Everyone agrees that the least amount of money should be expended for a one-year sacrificial roof. I have tried to think of another way, but I come up with nothing. I am tempted to push for the $1,150 area replacement so the displaced unit owner can move back into her home. But the consultant says no, no, no to that. The rest of the Board is afraid to go against his advice, and my credibility is shot for pushing the previous area repair that was $8500 and lasted only a year.
I lay awake at night, worrying about what we're going to do. I fret about during the day. I'm having bad dreams about the building and collapsing roofs. My stomach is in knots and hurts constantly these days. I've been avoiding my displaced neighbor like the plague. I dread talking to her because I know she's super mad and will ask what's going on. I have no idea what to tell her. I'm not having much fun these days.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?