Wet insulation/dry wall help!!!!

Cdessel

My boyfriend and I are in the process of purchasing a NEW house. First walk through is in October. The builder just installed insulation/plywood (drywall). As we walked through yesterday we noticed SEVERAL water stains throughout upstairs on the floor area and on the bottom of drywall. I told the superintendent my concern that our UPGRADED R-15 INSULATION may be wet. Today he had his crew take out the drywall with the stains and sure enough about 1 foot of the insulation was dripping wet with water just sitting there.

I'm going back tomorrow and need some advice before going PLEASE! There are 5 other places where the dry wall feels very damp, could there be more wet insulation underneath, even though no water stain on dry wall? Also with the puddles of water that were sitting on the floor on the 2nd story, could that have penetrated through the wood to the 1st floor ceiling insulation? They told us these leaks were from some air or wind pipes because the house isn't finished yet and it rained (could that be true?) the leaks were also in the closet where there are no windows?

I am desperate for advice, Should I tell the super that we want all the upstairs insulation replaced and the downstairs ceiling? Could there be more damage we don't see and it just hasn't penetrated through the walls yet? Could this cause future fungus or mold problem if not replaced properly?

Thank you!

Windows on Wash

The fact that you were the person to have to point this out is inquire about the removal of the wall disconcerting.

Construction, and especially dealing with weather, is far from perfect. That being said, it is all about how the contractor addressing any situations after the fact.

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daveb1

As well as removing all water damaged materials you must also find out where the water came from. The exterior shell should have been completed, water tight and inspected, and all plumbing and electrical hidden inside walls should have been completed and inspected before insulation and drywall was installed.

Cdessel

Hi Dave B, thanks for the post. They told me yesterday since the house wasn't finished the rain water got through the wind pipe, does that sound honest or like BS? I'm going to talk to them again in a few hours, should I address anything else?
Thanks!

daveb1

I am unfamiliar with the term wind pipe in reference to a house. I might know it by a different name (fresh air intake?). Perhaps you could let me know what it is after you ask them. What have they done to prevent water intrusion again? Was it a hard driving horizontal rain?

Gary in WA

Drywall will dry after wetting with no ill effects IF the paper backing was dried very soon after the wetting, not to mold. Forced air by portable fans or heat from the furnace reaching all backsides to dry the paper facing next to the studs (insulation removed). Fiberglass insulation wet at the bottom from an overhead water source should be replaced if allowed to puddle on the floor/bottom of drywall. This means the entire bay(s) where the bottom was wet have already been wet-clear to the top. All should be replaced due to mold growing there especially if a insulation paper-facer was used; http://www.inspectapedia.com/sickhou...rglassMold.htm

Pictures would be helpful for us to view and required in any settlement.......

Gary

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Cdessel

I will make sure to ask them tomorrow about the "wind pipe" and let you know. They did absolutely nothing to prevent rain from coming in again. In fact we went out there again today and the areas are even more covered in water and there was standing puddles of water upstairs in master due to it raining again last night. We live in Las Vegas, where it hardly rains, but shouldn't there still be procedures to follow if it does rain??
I wrote another complaint memo to superintendent and they said he would call me tomorrow to address everything. How do I know that everything in the house isn't wet, would it be unreasonable to ask them to take out at least 1 foot of drywall/insulation out in whole house and replace it?
Can I post pictures on this site, I took a bunch?

Thanks.

Cdessel

Tried to post pictures, says the file exceeds the 100KB limit. I can e-mail pictures to anyone who wants to see this. Let me know. Thanks.

Cdessel

Hi Gary, the drywall/insulation has been sitting there soaking wet for 3 days, there has been no attempt to dry anything! Would love to e-mail you pics of this shady work and get further opinions. Thanks.

daveb1

Is the drywall taped yet? It's a simple enough job to take down a few sheets and inspect behind if it's not taped.

Cdessel

Dave, not sure if it's taped yet, it's nailed down and the edges have metal enforcers around. They already did take a couple pieces of the dry wall down (the pieces that had water stains on them) that is how they found out the insulation was wet inside. But in most of the house the drywall feels wet but no water stains, so I think they need to tear up everything just to be sure the rest of the insulation isn't wet?
I can email you pictures?

Cdessel

They taped the inside of the house this morning, and they are telling me the roof was never sealed. Isn't that standard procedure to seal the roof before putting in the insulation/drywall inside?

They also said they are sending out an environmentalist out on Monday to inspect the moist areas of the house. What exactly does an environmentalist do?

Cdessel

the wet insulation

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Cdessel

Let me know what you guys think, the walls are wet like this throughout the whole 3000 sq feet. And the ceiling downstairs is wet.

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Gary in WA

I think you should talk to your Building Department and show them. The roof has to be on before insulating walls. This is unacceptable. Remove all insulation under effected area, and the drywall.

Gary

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