{"id":14791,"date":"2016-08-09T09:44:59","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T16:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/?p=14791"},"modified":"2020-07-06T09:49:51","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T16:49:51","slug":"what-is-rainscreen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/2016\/08\/09\/what-is-rainscreen\/","title":{"rendered":"What is rainscreen?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rainscreen is a term that we often hear associated with older condos and townhouses. But what is rainscreen? First, some historical background.<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content-asset videofit\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Garbutt + Dumas What is Rainscreen\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RtIjY50FFy8?start=2&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h4>The &#8220;leaky condo&#8221; era<\/h4>\n<p>The mid-late 1990s was not a good time for many owners of condos and town homes in British Columbia. Buildings that were a decade or less old were being shrouded with scaffolding and tarps. Stratas and homeowners were being hit with special assessments for costly repairs that could reach into the millions of dollars. All to fix damage from rain brought on by a deficient building code, architectural taste and shoddy workmanship.\u00a0The construction boom that followed Expo \u201986 meant projects had to go up fast to meet demand. Developers and buyers favoured a \u201cCalifornia look\u201d with flat roofs, minimal overhang of eaves, acrylic stucco or smooth exterior walls. It was an inexpensive way to build homes quickly. A lack of sufficient skilled tradesmen to fill all the construction jobs also meant workmanship was sometimes lacking. Tight timelines meant it was sometimes hasty. Add those factors to a building code that neglected the soggy reality of Vancouver weather; it was recipe for disaster. Buildings started to leak. Windows and balconies failed. Mould and rot set in. The \u201cLeaky Condo\u201d era began. Residential structures were most affected. But some commercial and institutional buildings like schools and even the Vancouver police headquarters near Cambie Street also needed costly repairs. A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.qp.gov.bc.ca\/condo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">public inquiry<\/a> chaired by former premier Dave Barrett examined the crisis. It made several recommendations. They resulted in more protection for homeowners as well as amendments to provincial building codes and municipal building bylaws. Rainscreen technology was developed to address the faults that created leaky condos.<\/p>\n<h4>How rainscreen works<\/h4>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-46076 size-full alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/comm_rainscreen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"462\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/comm_rainscreen.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/comm_rainscreen-300x289.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A rainscreen wall has an extra exterior cladding that is separated from the building\u2019s wall by a cavity of pressurized air. Water that manages to penetrate the exterior surface\u00a0is drained away from the wall by flashings and vents. The moisture is directed back into the ground or into storm sewers. Any water that does remain evaporates before it can penetrate the inner wall.<\/p>\n<p>When purchasing a condo or town home that was built before the new regulations were enacted in 1999, it\u2019s prudent to enquire whether it was built or retrofitted with rainscreen technology. Be sure to read the minutes from the building\u2019s strata meetings to see if leakage has been a problem and whether it has been addressed. Have a professional\u00a0 building inspector review any engineering reports that may be available. He&#8217;ll\u00a0determine the quality of the building\u2019s construction and any subsequent repairs. Also, check the quality and installation workmanship of flashings around windows, doors and the roofline. These are areas that can still be susceptible to moisture incursion if they weren\u2019t designed, built or repaired properly. Any building that was retrofitted with rainscreen technology should have an extensive warranty. It will protect you from costly repairs for years to come.<\/p>\n<h4>How to recognize if a building has rainscreen technology<\/h4>\n<p>\u2022 Roof overhangs that extend beyond windows to protect seams from rain<br \/>\n\u2022 Metal flashings above windows, doors and air gaps to direct water away from walls<br \/>\n\u2022 Balconies and roofs that have at least a slight tilt away from the building so water can drain away<br \/>\n\u2022 Properly installed and connected exterior drainage pipes<br \/>\n\u2022 Exterior building material; brick is a natural rainscreen, but stucco can absorb water<br \/>\n\u2022 Look for horizontal air gaps on exterior walls and balconies<br \/>\nBuying a condo or townhouse that was built during the \u201cleaky condo\u201d era isn\u2019t as scary as it once was. Most of them have been rainscreened in the past 17 years.<\/p>\n<p>Many strata councils have also become more proactive about maintenance and repairs, especially since legislation enacted by the BC government in 2013 requires a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/mandatory-strata-property-depreciation-reports\/\">depreciation report<\/a> for every condo building. The report is prepared by a certified engineering company. It gives owners and future buyers a detailed breakdown of anticipated repairs or maintenance costs.<\/p>\n<p>Condos in older buildings can provide great value. The units are generally larger, so you&#8217;ll get more living space for your money. And as long as you do your due diligence on whether the building has been rainscreened or had a history of moisture problems, you can buy with peace of mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rainscreen is a term that we often hear associated with older condos and townhouses. But what is rainscreen? First, some historical background. The &#8220;leaky condo&#8221; era&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[891,890],"tags":[273,811],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":891,"label":"Buyers"},{"value":890,"label":"Videos"}],"post_tag":[{"value":273,"label":"Featured"},{"value":811,"label":"Video Blog"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"James Garbutt","author_link":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/author\/james\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":891,"name":"Buyers","slug":"buyers","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":891,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":156,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":891,"category_count":156,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Buyers","category_nicename":"buyers","category_parent":0},{"term_id":890,"name":"Videos","slug":"video-blog","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":890,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":218,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":890,"category_count":218,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Videos","category_nicename":"video-blog","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":273,"name":"Featured","slug":"featured","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":273,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":99,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":811,"name":"Video Blog","slug":"video-blog","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":811,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":126,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14791"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14791"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46075,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14791\/revisions\/46075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garbuttdumas.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}