Failed Building Products

I'm always amazed when Clients insist upon using a building product even though they have no experience with building homes. An experienced Builder knows the history of failed products. He has to warrant your home and the Client has to live with their poor choices. Do your homework and select a Builder your trust, then listen to his opinion carefully, he's trying to help you. 

Below is a partial list of failed building products.

A (WIKI) CONSTRUCTION DEFECT TIMELINE: GREAT FAILURES IN BUILDING HISTORY

By Dan Morrison

For a feature article about construction defects in Builder magazine's September 2013 issue, we are building a timeline of famous construction defect disasters. The list below is what I came up with quickly, and I will ask some of my egghead industry friends for more disasters. In the meantime, please add your famous FUBARS in building history in the comments section.

1930s

Paint peels off walls after wall cavities are filled with a new product -- insulation. Because insulated walls are colder, moisture from leaky wall assemblies (windows, etc) couldn't dry to the inside as easily, so it pushed its way outward, taking the paint with it.

Result: Paint peeled off in sheets, first "insulation is evil" cries break the airwaves.

Solution: vapor retarders, like kraft-faced insulation (this was a mis-solution -- not a word, I know -- as seen below...)

1960s

Aluminum Wiring Sparks House Fires. Beginning in 1964, aluminum wire replaced more costly copper wire in an estimated 2 million homes, sparking fires in a number of them. This page from the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors explains why, but basically aluminum has a greater resistance to electric current flow than copper and created overheating at splices, outlets, and light fixtures—points of connection often hidden within the walls of homes.

Solution: Complete replacement of the system costs upward of $8,000. Less expensive options include replacing the fixture connections with copper pigtails and installing new receptacles and switches (labeled CO/ALR) designed for use with aluminum. Forty years later, the presence of aluminum wiring must be revealed during any transfer of title.

1970s

Plastic pipe falls short on longevity.  From the late 1970s through early 1990s, manufacturers touted polybutylene as an inexpensive plumbing solution that would last forever. But pipes and fittings failed in hundreds of thousands of houses within a decade of being installed, as chlorinated water degraded the resin.

Result: Suppliers eventually lost national class-action suits that resulted in settlements in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Solution: At least 330,000 houses were re-plumbed. The U.S. and Canada stopped accepting polybutylene plumbing as code.

Vapor retarders graduate to impermeable plastic vapor barriers, causing rot by trapping moisture in walls after widespread adoption of a new product -- air conditioners. Vapor control helped resolve the paint issue, but when air conditioners changed the physics of moisture and heat flow, vapor barriers trapped all the exterior humidity inside cold walls

Result: mold

Solution: removal of plastic vapor barriers

Sickly Formaldehyde Foam Insulation. Amid the energy crisis of the 1970s, about half a million homes used urea-formaldehyde foam insulation (UFFI) to improve thermal insulation in walls. The greater R-values came with an unexpected side effect, however, as the formaldehyde vapors released from the curing foam began to make people sick. The CPSC banned its use in early 1982 for causing “chemical sensitivity,” though they lifted the ban in 1983.

Solution: UFFI poses no risk once cured, but remains highly stigmatized. The high levels of formaldehyde likely were related to poor mixing and installation techniques. However, many states still require disclosure during the sale of a house if it contains UFFI.

1980s

Asbestos litigation gives insulation suppliers headaches. Asbestos, once a widely used fireproofing agent, was determined to be a human carcinogen.

Result: Hundreds of thousands of personal injury claims and lawsuits related to asbestos exposure, filed in the 1970s through the 1990s, forced two major insulation suppliers, Johns Manville and Owens Corning, into bankruptcy in 1982 and 2000, respectively.

Solution: Both companies ended up funding multimillion-dollar Trusts that are still managing claims today. In 1989, the EPA banned most products containing asbestos.

Hardboard siding fails. Millions of homes and other structures built using defective Masonite hardboard siding began showing signs of early deterioration.

Result: Buckling and moldy siding allowed water into walls, which bowed studs and caused mold inside -- and millions of dollars of damage to homes and businesses.

Solution: Replaced siding and ceased production of that particular formula.

FRT Plywood Chars Prematurely. Fire retardant treated plywood is a chemically treated roof sheathing used to limit the spread of fire between attached units, first approved for use in 1979. The treated plywood would chemically “char” to a state that resists rapid fire spread and reduces volatile vapors in the event of a fire. No one expected that the charring mechanism would kick in at temperatures lower than fire conditions, such as in poorly ventilated attics during summer months. In just two to five years, premature charring began to result in the loss of roofing shingles, sagging of sheathing between rafters, unsafe roof conditions, and in some cases complete roof failure. Rate of degradation depended on the supplier, treatment methods, and attic heat levels, but by mid-1988 it was evident that widespread, serious failures were occurring, especially in townhouse applications.

Solution: The NAHB estimated in 1989 that replacement costs could total more than $2 billion.

1990s

Condos rot in Vancouver. Face-sealed cladding systems applied to multifamily units built in the 1990s trap water from leaky windows, bad flashing, and clumsy roof details.

Result: Rotting walls, floors, and balconies.

Solutions: Drained cladding systems, plastic vapor barriers, more insulation, tighter assemblies to control air leakage, and substitution of materials that are more moisture tolerant (plywood rather than OSB).

Mushrooms grow on siding in the Northwest. Starting in 1995, siding contractors in Portland, Vancouver, and other Northwest cities began seeing mushroom-like growths on the bottom edge of LP Inner-Seal, a composite siding made from OSB. The problem mushroomed (sorry) to other parts of North America. [UPDATED 7/12 TO REFLECT CORRECT NAME OF SIDING. WE REGRET THE ERROR --DM]

EIFS scare begins in Massachusetts and moves to North and South Carolina and other states. Almost the exact same thing happened at almost the exact same time.

Result: Exterior sheathing rots.

Solution: Drained cladding systems.

SIP roofs rot in Juneua, Alaska. Approximately 20 multifamily buildings built before 1996 were damaged. Leaky joints in the panels trapped moist air from inside under the roof cladding.

Result: Rotten plywood panels.

Solution: Over-venting SIP roofs.

Brick homes rot in Ohio, Indiana, and other states. Brick absorbs water when it rains, and when the sun comes out, the brick dries. But where it dries to was the key cog in the fiasco that—on top of  some ill-advised expansions  into new markets—sent Zaring Homes into bankruptcy in 1999. The moisture is pushed inward. Had there been enough drainage space behind the brick, this would have been fine. But mortar bridged the gap and water worked its way into the framing, where it found a plastic vapor barrier and an air conditioned inside. Beazer experienced a similar problem in Indianapolis.

Result: Standing water in wall cavities, mold, rot, and bankruptcy for a builder of 1,500 homes per year.

Solution: Drainage space behind brick, weep holes in the bottom course, and mortar droppings that do not bridge the gap.

More: Solar-Driven Moisture in Brick Veneer

Crumbling Synthetic Slate Roofs. In the late 1980s to early 1990s, fiber-cement synthetic roofing manufacturers began using cellulose-fiber reinforcement as a substitute for asbestos. Within five years of installation, however, property owners reported partial or complete failure of the product. Despite being coated with sealants, some fiber-cement products were not sufficiently water-resistant for use in outdoor settings. Moisture moved readily into the cellulose fibers, causing them to swell, and forced cracks in the cement, which cannot expand.

Solution: Manufacturers have either discontinued or re-engineered their fiber-cement roofing product lines, but not before facing several class action lawsuits. Many manufacturers had offered 20- to 25-year warranties on the product, which failed in less than five years.

2000s

Chinese drywall causes a stench.Drywall imported from China last decade, and installed in an estimated 100,000 homes in the U.S., turned out to be a stinker.

Result: It emitted sulfurous gas that gave off a rotten egg smell and corroded wiring, air conditioning units, and electronic appliances. It also caused homeowners to be sick.

Solution: Several builders ended up either tearing out the drywall, or paying (along with their insurers and suppliers) for repairs to settle claims and class-action litigation. The debacle spurred the Drywall Safety Act of 2012, which requires labeling to make sheets of wallboard traceable to the original manufacturer and sets sulfur limits as determined by an industry association.

Mold crisis hits Texas. It was caused by overall shoddy workmanship during a huge housing boom -- poor detailing on roofs, gutters, windows, doors, foundations, and plumbing.

Result: Mold claims in Texas grew from $420 million in 2000 to just over $2 billion in 2002.

Solution: Better rain water management, such as sloped grade, gutters that work, and rain screen siding assemblies.

A "perfect storm" of stucco problems develops in Woodbury, Minn.  An explanation from Dr. Joe Lsitiburek: "We are seeing problems with stucco claddings in field of the wall—away from windows and other architectural features. And the buildings affected are not shacks. The problems are not limited to 'traditional hard-coat stucco,' but also are prevalent with a version of hard-coat stucco—a cladding type that I refer to as 'lumpy stucco'—more formally known as 'manufactured stone veneer.' Think of it as rocks embedded into the exterior surface of the stucco—hence the 'lumpy” term.' "

A lot of little things caused big trouble, he continues:

Changes in the properties of building papers and water resistant barriers.

Change from plywood sheathings to OSB sheathings (less water tolerance).

Higher levels of thermal resistance (more insulation).

Use of interior plastic vapor barriers (water trapping layer).

Changes in the properties of stucco renderings.

Result: Rotting walls.

Solution: A bond break layer of building paper between the stucco and the first layer building paper (i.e. two layers of building paper).

These are all I can remember off the top of my head. What defect debacles am I missing? Surely there were problems during the post-war housing boom of the late 1940s and 1950s?

Bad puns cheerfully encouraged.

Learn more about markets featured in this article: Indianapolis, IN.

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Keywords:

Subject:

Construction Building Envelope Drainage Exteriors Fire Safety History HVAC Insulation Lead-Safe Practices Moisture Barriers Mold Residential Construction Stone Veneers Brick Construction Management Construction Safety Drywall Engineered Wood

State:

Alaska Indiana North Carolina Ohio South Carolina Texas

Location:

Indianapolis-Carmel, IN

Organization:

LP Building Products National Association of Home Builders

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33 CommentsRSS|Subscribe

Patrick E478 days ago

How about Kitec Plumbing in NV, AZ, CA .... more than 25K homes in NV alone had to be replumbed.

Reply 0

Patrick E478 days ago

Kitec Plumbing

Reply 0

John Clark492 days ago

I find mold issues to be an interesting topic. I assume mold has been around long before we started building homes. I would also guess mold must have been severe when we occupied damp dwellings. How did mold leap into the forefront of so many conversations, is it just media hype or is this a real issue. I know I have witnessed homes with black mold growing on sheet rock under sinks and around tubs. How was this issue handled prior to our current program of mold eradication? Can anyone offer a little more insight to educate me so I can honestly educate my customers. 

John Clark 

www.ubuildnet.com

Reply 1 reply0

Daniel Morrison491 days ago

John, 

Yes, mold has been around for a long time. Mold and other fungi are not bad, in fact, if you like beer and penicillin, mold and their cousins are good. 

Mold is indeed, a problem when people live in damp dwellings, as you suggest. Stone castles would be a great example of mildew-ey houses that are under-performers. In the modern world, mold has become more of a problem as we have tightened houses in order to make them more energy efficient. 

The products and materials that we build houses from are also a lot less moisture tolerant than they used to be – solid timbers can absorb and release a lot more moisture than OSB and plywood can. Lath and plaster can absorb and release much more moisture than paper-faced drywall can. 

Not that drywall and plywood are bad, just that they are part of a larger puzzle that also includes housing booms and bubbas building houses. Leaky pipes, bad flashing, and plastic vapor barriers are more puzzle pieces. 

How houses get constructed matters. Bubba ain’t gonna cut it as houses get tighter. 

For a more in-depth look at mold in houses, read the article that Joe Lstiburek and I put together called ‘The Mold Explosion, Why Now?’ here: 

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/published-articles/pa-mold-explosion-why-now/view 

Reply 0

thekbhome1544 days ago

Dont forget the stucco nightmare in Florida for the 2000's :-D

Reply 0

DeLuxe Contractorforms569 days ago

Lead-based paint in the US - Most homes built before 1960 were heavily contain in leaded paint including some homes built as late as 1978. The Lead-based paint is considered to be a harmful pollutant making it the "number one environmental threat to the health of children in the US" and was banned for residential use in the US in 1978. Due to the seriousness of the situation EPA signed a new regulated (Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) regarding the renovation of child-occupied buildings built pre-1978 on April 22, 2008. The rule (Federal Register July 15, 2009) became effective April 22, 2010. This is aimed to protect the public from lead paint hazards associated with renovation, repair and painting activities. Since these activities can create hazardous lead dust when surfaces with lead paint, even from many decades ago, are disturbed. The rule requires workers to be certified and trained in the use of lead-safe work practices, and requires renovation, repair, and painting firms to be EPA certified. Learn about how the RRP rule applies to you Consumers, Operators of Child Care Facilities – Property Managers – Do It Yourselfer @ http://www2.epa/gov/lead/renovation-repair-and-painting-program. Check out EPA Lead-Safe Workbook a great recordkeeping software program offered by DeLuxeContractorForms.com (http:///www.deluxecontractorforms.com) Construction Software Forms – created and designed by residential builder. Must have MS Excel License version - FREE 14 day trial available (no credit card required).

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Jim W582 days ago

Dan, what makes you think that ANY of the shoddy workmanship issues that caused the mold problems in Texas have been addressed? Thanks to the recession, a large percentage of the tradesmen in the industry who were responsible for the problems have left the industry and are being replaced with even lower skilled (and cheaper) labor. This issue is going to repeat itself, especially as the buildings get tighter per code. In my 30 plus years of working there, I have seen little or no improvement in the quality of the construction work, especially in the residential market. 

Here's another one that I am familiar with in Texas: building slab-on grade structures over highly expansive clay soils without stripping the highly permeable topsoil. The result is heaving buildings that have to be retrofitted with drilled piers. Typical foundation repair for a 2000sf house: 20 piers @ $1000/pier. You still have to repair the cracked brick & drywall, the warped door frames, the (badly) cracked slab, etc.

Reply 0

Clayton DeKorne584 days ago

Here's another one: Premature failure of fiberglass roof shingles (cf. http://www.jlconline.com/roofing/choosing-an-asphalt-shingle--organic-vs--fiberglass.aspx)

Reply 0

John Koester590 days ago

As Gary mentioned, they all have moisture intrusion as a constant. It’s amazing how we can point to what’s causing the problem, but we continue to do the same things that caused them in the past. We sealed up buildings in the past to save energy, yet at the same time, we did nothing to provide for getting the moisture out of the building envelope. Now we are back to sealing up the building envelope, and we still, in many cases, are not doing anything to get the moisture out. 

We also seem stuck on one potential solution for moisture problems, waterproofing. There is nothing wrong with waterproofing; in fact, there are many great waterproofing products on the market. However, if we really want to protect the building envelope, we need a two-fisted approach – waterproofing plus drainage. An effective drainage plane and weep system, along with the proper waterproofing products, will create a sustainable building envelope. 

We also need to take a look at the products we use, the designs we accept, and the people that put all this into play if we want to avoid problems in the future. In reading the comments others have posted here, I noticed things such as the failure to include slope-to-drain; the failure to provide a path for moisture that penetrates through products (like masonry) that we know will allow moisture to enter the building envelope, etc. There are also many designed details that actually amplify the moisture intrusion problem, and there are currently many building practices that need to be changed to fit the new materials and processes now in use in the building industry. 

We must change the way we protect the building envelope if we don’t want to keep repeating the failures of the past. The time for change is now if we don’t want to repeat the failures of the past! 

Reply 1 reply0

Daniel Morrison587 days ago

A lot of the problems come down to moisture, and a lot of the itinerary moisture problems are the result of doing dumb stuff -- bad flashing, reverse-lapped house wrap, poorly sloped grade, leaky roofs, bad stucco jobs, etc.

Some of the problems on this list are just bad products -- Chinese drywall -- and others are the result of new products that didn't account for drainage and water management. Then others (finger-jointed I joists, skinny marble that bows, roofing products that break down prematurely) just seem to be products that were not ready for market. 

The time is certainly now to improve the water management of houses we build. 

Reply 0

Mark Morden590 days ago

Sarabond mortar additive for prefabricated brick panels in the 1970s and 1980s

Thin marble veneers that bowed out and lost strength. 1970s and onward. (Amoco Building in Chicago and Finlandia Hall in Helsinki.)

EIFS in general all over the country, particularly in the PacNW. That was part of the problem in Vancouver and also Seattle and Portland. 

Early generation PVC roofing membranes that would crack when frozen. 

I don't recall the material name, but there were prefabbed truss joists that relied on finger joints. The joints regularly failed. I don't know if it was something beyond the PacNW.

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Gary_at_PROSOCO594 days ago

Water in walls -- All of these failures have that in common. Many because of impermeable vapor barriers. Now that we understand this, it should be possible to make these kinds of trapped-water building envelope failures a thing of the past. Shouldn't it?

Reply 0

Daniel Morrison600 days ago

Thank you very much for all of the inout, you all.

If you can post links and give dates that would be a great help to building a comprehensive timeline.

Reply 0

Tom Kranz600 days ago

In central VA there was a lot of really bad synthetic slate roofing tiles sold and installed. After a few years it began to crack. 

Reply 1 reply0

Daniel Morrison600 days ago

Thanks for the imnput.

Can you post a link to info on the situation, please Tom?

I will try to update this with all of your suggestions as soon as I can.

Reply 0

Craig Savage601 days ago

Good idea Dan.

Formaldehyde foam insulation ruins thousands of contractors businesses during the "first" oil crisis. 

Reply 0

Bill Slease601 days ago

Re: Texas mold issues

Excluding mold coverage from Home Owner's policies stopped that legal bonanza on a dime.

Reply 0

Jim McCormack601 days ago

How about FRT Plywood Roofs and Polybutelyne Plastic Pipe in the 80's

Reply 1 reply0

Tom Kranz600 days ago

Jim, you got both my defects, FRT and the poly pipe. FRT we discovered in the late 80's, say around '88, right? and wasn't the poly pipe problem really the fittings rather than the pipe itself?

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Adam Stetten602 days ago

None of the above defects destroy the footings of the buildings they plague. 

In North Carolina and other states, foundation water-proofing pipes are allowed to be placed on top of the footing and laid flat, with no pitch what-so-ever. To worsen this situation, you are allowed to use corrugated, perforated pipe that essentially begs roots to destroy it given that the pipe will always be filled with thousands of miniature puddles. Even worse, the pipe is carelessly "flown-over" step-downs in the footing at which point any water inside the pipe simply plummets to the bottom of the footing. This situation is an epidemic and getting worse. In metro areas all the good lots are taken, and what is left requires the absolute best water-proofing interceptor trenches to protect from the onslaught of water. Anything short of sediment fabric wrapped around gravel and PVC with holes at 4 and 8 laid next to the footing(or under with respect to elevation) at 1-2% slope getting deeper and further away from the foundation towards daylight is useless at protection the most important part of the home.

Reply 1 reply0

Daniel Morrison600 days ago

Haven't heard of this, Adam. is there a news source you can post a link to?

Reply 0

Barbra Barbour602 days ago

How about the defective wallboard scandal of just a few years ago?

Reply 2 replies0

Tom Kranz600 days ago

Are we allowed to say Chinese wallboard??

Reply 0

Daniel Morrison600 days ago

Geez. I cannot believe that one got by. Hard to forget, but harder to remember?

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Bill Leys602 days ago

California condos and mass produced housing built by piece workers with cheap materials in the 2000-2010 era. Bad job sequencing, poorly installed systems and products...

Nevada, the fiasco with the straw buyers and takeovers of HOA's with Leon Benzer and Nancy Quon...

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Steven Gregersen602 days ago

Your general statements about millions of failures of Masonite Brand hardboard siding is very mis-leading. Most failures of siding products occur due to mis-application, improper coatings, and lack of homeowner maintenance not product failure. 

It continues to amazes me that the public installed the cheapest primed siding product on the exterior of their home, painted it with one coat the cheapest paint, didn't control mildew, placed mulch or soil against the siding, never properly wash or repainted it, and expected it to last 30 years. Estimated cost of that siding on a typical home in 1990 was $1,200.00. 

This same public bought a new vehicle, paid around $20,000, parked it in the garage, changed the oil every 3,000 miles, washed it every week, waxed it once a month and did not expect the vehicle to last 5 years. 

The sad thing abut all of this, properly installed, with proper flashing, the correct coatings, and homeowner maintenance you could expect your Masonite brand siding to last 25 years. 

If you would like to discuss this further I would be glad to listen.