Our condo's walls are rotting!

Factual Questions
1

My wife and I moved into our condo in 1998. The condo was about 10 years old when we moved in. We got the place cheap because there was a lot of work needing to be redone - we repainted and recarpeted everything and replaced all the appliances and many of the lighting fixtures and things when we moved in. When we moved in we noticed some apparant water damage on one windowsill, but didn’t think much of it.

The room where that windowsill is became my workshop, and the window in question was almost completely blocked off by a stack of storage crates.

In 2001 I discovered that yellowjacket wasps had a next in the outside wall just under the window. They were using a small gap in the exterior siding to get in and out. I sprayed the hole with wasp killer and then sealed the gap with silicone and haven’t seen them since. Possibly unrelated, although now I’m thinking it might indicate rotting or damage inside the wall.

Earlier this year the occupant of the condo above us died. When the condo was cleared out and refinished for new occupants, they completely tore out and replaced much of the balcony and exterior. Apparantly there had been a persistent problem with water leaking into the condo around the balcony, which is directly above the window where we have water damage.

We have had an unusually wet and humid summer. My wife has been complaining for months about a mildewy smell around my workshop. Recently I completely cleared out the shop, throwing out things I hadn’t used in years and consolidating a lot of what was left. While I had everything cleared away from the walls and windows I decided to see if I could find the source of the odor.

When I opened the window shade on the sindow in question, I found a suprisingly large amound of some kind of dry dirt or sawdust-like-material on the windoesill and in the cracks around the window. I also found a number of dessicated corpses of some kind of grub-like insect. After cleaning all this up I found a deep crack along the top of the window, which I could insert a screwdriver blade into and knock loose more “dirt”. The windowsill was also cracked and spongy-feeling in spots, and a piece of it broke off when prodded. The walls around and above the window don’t sound any more hollow than the walls elsewhere when tapped, but the whole condo is pretty cheaply made and the walls everywhere seem thin and hollow.

I’m thinking that there’s probably some fairly severe water damage inside the wall. I’m also thinking that the condo association won’t pay to have any repairs done, since they’re only liable for repairs to the exterior of the building.

Is there any way for me to determine what the extent of the damage is, short of tearing the wall open? How much is this likely to cost to repair? My wife and I are planning on moving out of the condo within a few years, and the problem of water leaking into the wall seems to have been stopped, so my inclination is to simply caulk and putty over the existing damage.

2

IANA termite person, but it sounds like you have subterranian termites or some other wood destroying insect at work. Get the opinion of a professional, post haste. Good luck.

3

I am not a termite person either, but at least in this part of the country if you sell your home their mortgage people will require a clean termite letter. So it’s not something you can really just hope nobody notices when it comes time to sell.

4

We had the condo inspected for terminte damage before we moved in. They found none then, but that was 7 years ago. We are going to have an insect damage specialist come in and check to see if it’s termites. I doubt that it is - the damage has been there for years and hasn’t spread beyond the one localized area.

5

Read your condo association bylaws, with a loawyer if you have to. They should indicate what the association has to take care of. Typically with a condo you’re only buying the space inside the building, and not any part of the building itself. Sometimes this means you’ve bought “Paint and floor-in” (meaning drywall, studs, sheathing & siding are the association’s bidniss) other times youv’e bought “drywall and floors-in” meaning everything structural (studs, sheathing & siding) are the asdsociation’s responsibility. Your bylaws will clarify this. I’ve never heard of a condo owner being responsible for any structural members of a residence building.

If the cause of the damge is bugs or fungus/dry rot insurance is likely to NOT be of much help. If the cause of the damage is due to a leak? You’re probably still not getting any help because the damage is not sudden and accidental in nature, and appears to be due to poor workmanship. Insurance typically doesn’t cover either of those, but check anyway. IIRC the association has to file a claim for the damages if you tell 'em to. The insurance company will either pay up and get the repairs done, or they’ll tell you to pound sand–nothing to lose. I don’t envy you.

If you can prove the damage is due to poor workmanship, you may have recourse through the builder, either voluntarily or through a lawsuit.

This could potentially be a big old can of worms, but that ponding sensation in your backside isn’t from sitting on brick walls.

6

"loawyer"s of course are available only in Hawaii. If you’re someplace else, consider an attorney.

7

I’m thinking carpenter ants. What part of North America are you in?

8

Central NJ, where we do get carpenter ants, although I’ve never seen any in the condo.

My wife will be speaking to the condo association Monday to find out just what they’re reposnsible for repairing. According to the bylaws the condo association is reponsible for “maintenance and repair of the exterior surfaces and finishes”, while the condo owner is responsible for “maintenance, repairs, and replacements of plumbing fixtures and systems, windows, doors, electrical wiring and receptacles, … wallpaper, paint, paneling, floor covering, …”. It sounds like we’re solely responsible to damage to the window and drywall, but the responsibility for repairing structural damage between the drywall and exterior surfaces is not clearly spelled out.

9

When I owned a condo we had leakage problems caused by a poor roof. The walls around my daughter’s window became spongy and, directly below, the walls/window in the dining room became moist and stained. I had huge water stains on the ceilings. I ended up in a huge fight with the association - they said that a spilled soda in my bedroom somehow migrated through the concrete floor, across about 10’ of ceiling space, and stained the DR ceiling. I can’t put enough roll eye smilies here.

They “repaired” the roof, but balked at repairing my ceilings and walls. Our condo agreement stated that the association was responsible for all outside maintenance and repairs. Because the damage was caused by their roof they were obliged to repair the interior damage.

I would think, and IANAL of course, the association is responsible for the repairs that will have to be done. It’s exterior walls - not your responsibility.

10

Update-

My wife spoke with the condo association yesterday. Turns out they were already aware of the damage, and have schedueled to open up and rebuild the wall next month. Seems this is a development-wide problem, caused by bad workmanship. The only thing we’ll be responsible for is replacing the windowsill, dywall, and repainting the inside.

11

Woah! A condo association that’s repairing a building without a major hassle to the occupants? Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off the floor!

That’s just great news.

12

Yikes.

Reminds me of one of my friends, who lived for a short time in a place that apparently had had water damage going on inside the walls for some time. One day she woke up and there was a mushroom growing out of her wall. She thought this was pretty weird, but had to get to work and decided to wait till she got home to check on it. Got home in the evening, and two new mushrooms had cropped up beside the first. When she went to pull them off, a big chunk of wall came of with them. Inside the wall it was absolutely stuffed with a spongy black fungus. Ewwwwww.

She moved soon after.

13

Typically, and the laws vary from state to state, when you buy a condo, you are purchasing a space in space. That is, within the space that your building occupies, you own a specific amount of space. You can think of it as an invisible box (simplifying the layout of your apartment), hanging in space. And, typically, as has been alluded to above, that space begins at the paint on your walls and ceilings, and, in essence, your floors. And anything beyond that is a common element, and the responsibility of the association. Of course, your declaration should make this abundantly clear. And, they must conform to the state’s laws. However, another matter might be the insurance policy that your association carries. If, for example, your building has been damaged by water, the company may have to pay for the repairs unless the water was driven in by wind. Some policies are written that way. There are, of course, attorneys who specialize in condo law, and if you want to be confident in your status there, I’d suggest consulting one.