Why would you pay thousands for repairs, or even hundreds of thousands for a re-clad, and then not know if your house still leaks? That wouldn’t make sense – and there is an alternative.
Only Moisture Detection Company can prove that their specialist repairs to monolithic clad homes have stopped the leaks.
Moisture Probe Readings Showing Results Before and After Repairs
Correct the leaks that decay your timber, with proven methods and repairs to monolithic clad houses.
Most monolithic plaster clad houses were built with untreated, or poorly treated timber. This was fixed directly to the framing with no cavity for draining and drying leaks. Poor construction and risky design features allowed water in behind the framing.
Water + no cavity + poor or no treatment = timber decay
If repairs to monolithic clad homes fail to find or stop the leaks, then the decay continues. Even many re-clads continue to leak – and they still have untreated timber and still decay.
The various types of monolithic cladding each have their own set of typical defects and best ways to address them. Just patching the cracks, re-sealing or painting isn’t usually the answer – in fact repainting just makes it harder for the water from the leak to dry out.
With over twenty years specialist experience in repairing and improving plaster clad homes, Moisture Detection has developed a range of repair methods to resolve the root leaky home problems and make your house dry again.
Our repairs fix key defects such as:
Peace of mind for monolithic clad homes owners
At any time for the life of the house, we can prove that the repair has worked and find out if leak has started again.
That is real peace of mind for plaster clad home owners and proof to future buyers that there are no leaks.
We find the leaks, fix them, prove that the repair has worked, and can then monitor the repair with Moisture Detection Probes.
Many homes were built with the cladding buried into, or just too close to the ground. This allows moisture to soak up the cladding like blotting paper, wetting the framing. Because the cladding is fixed hard against the framing, there is no ventilation and the timber stays wet -and goes rotten.
Our moisture probes show which parts of the house are damp or decayed because of this fault.
Pre-purchase inspectors always report any high ground line issues as a leaky home risk and sales often fall through because of this.
Moisture Detection Company Drying skirts break the connection between the cladding and the ground while simultaneously ventilating the bottom cavity to allow moisture to dry out.
Probably the most common leaks we see in plaster clad homes are from the windows. Most of the cladding manufacturers relied on PVC strips to keep out the water and now, 20 years or more later, they are failing.
Our moisture probe installations usually find at least one window leak causing moisture and decay which needs to be resolved before the damage gets worse.
Pre-purchase inspectors will find the leak and report that windows without adequate flashings are a high leaky home weathertightness risk.
Moisture Detection Company have retrofitted hundreds of coloursteel window flashings which fit up behind the window flange and safely direct water out of the house. These are neatly plastered into the jamb and incorporate an obvious out-turn at the ends.
The Taylor or Klass fascia style guttering was a spectacular failure installed on tens of thousands of homes. When the guttering overflows, the water runs back into the wall, where it can cause very serious decay problems. There are often other gutter installation defects causing other leaks.
If you can’t afford to replace your guttering then a low cost option is to have high volume overflows installed at critical locations so that overflows go out of the house instead of into the walls.
Decay and Fungal Growth – Faulty Gutters
Hi-Flow Overflow to Protect Walls
One of the big contributors to the leaky home scandal was the failure of flashings. This was due to the increasing complexity of houses, the decreasing skill level of the designers and builders, and an over-reliance on sealants, instead of steel and lead, to keep out the water.
Building regulations now recognise that sealants are not sufficient however tens of thousands of homes are left with leaks that are just getting worse. Leaks are happening around roof connections, deck connections, scuppers, internal gutters, chimneys…..
Just one badly formed flashing can result in massive damage (see this webpage for examples of how bad hidden damage can be).
The leaks from bad flashings can’t hide from Moisture Detection Probes. Then, if resealing is not going to be sufficient, a custom flashing is made to ensure weathertightness.
Pre-purchase inspectors look for, and report on, flashings that are missing, or don’t look properly constructed. House sales fall through because of these defects which can be resolved before going to market.
The most important repairs to monolithic clad homes are treating the timber.
The single biggest defect that causes the most damage in monolithic plaster clad homes, is the defective timber.
Badly treated H1, and untreated kiln dried timber used from 1992 to 2004 should never have been used. If it stays wet, it goes rotten behind the cladding and gib.
Only Moisture Detection can repair this defect by treating the timber in place – simply, cost effectively and without disrupting the occupants. Stop existing decay and protect timber from future leaks.
Please visit our RotStop page for more information.
RotStop Treatment is injected through small holes in the cladding
Please visit our RotStop page for more information.
Buyers, Pre-Purchase Inspectors and Banks can walk away from your home if leaks and critical design and construction defects aren’t corrected.
Many of the construction techniques used during the leaky homes era are now called ‘Risk Features” and a pre-purchase inspection report will list everythingl that can be seen as well as many that just might be there. Your buyers either walk or drop their offer price.
Identifying and correcting as many of these defects as possible before going to market lets you sell for a fair market price, without buyers walking away.
