Information on our Building

Newport Mews was built in 1982 and contains 24 private units. When the building was completed, it won several awards for design and ingenuity. The courtyard glass work and gazebo have been instrumental in attracting residents to the building. Following 1982 came many years of Councils who lacked the knowledge or foresight to see that lack of detailing and areas of poor quality construction was leading the building into the “leaky condo crisis”. Fortunately the building was constructed with regular plywood (not pressed particle board) and lacked the Tyvek wrapping which has presented many problems for newer buildings. The only major maintenance performed on the building was a new roof which was installed in the summer of 1992. Following that most of the monies in the annual budgets was consumed with doing repairs to balconies as the management company of the time recommended remedial repair work when problems presented themselves. The Council of 1997 became aware of a building envelope problem approximately half way through their term and spent considerable time exploring avenues to determine (a) the extent of the problem and (b) how to correct the problem. A preliminary Engineer’s Report determined that the rot was extensive but could be repaired for $750,000! It was based on core samples (that were later determined to be inadequate) and incorporating the new “rain- screen” technology to replace the existing building envelope. There were also weakness in the theory by which the water ingress was occurring and concern about the unproven “water-screen” technology which the City of Vancouver was now insisting upon. Continuing media exposure of the problem (we weren’t in this alone) provided a greater insight and general acceptance of the problem. It was the 1998 Council that was left with the daunting task to determine the best course of action. The Spring of 1998 saw many meetings as the Council knew that it was going to be a financial burden to every owner and that everyone had to “buy into” the entire project in order for it to be successful. At the same time it was decided to start fresh with a new Property Management Company and an exhaustive search resulted in the appointment of Cypress Properties to this function. All the research and study resulted in awarding Moleski Joint Ventures with repairing the water damage and installing measures to prevent future damage. Their work was overseen by McCuaig and Associates Engineering. Jack McCuaig reported at the AGM in February, 1999 that although some water damage was found in some areas of the building, it had not affected the structural integrity; mainly due to the fact that the water ingress problem had been found early and repaired promptly. He also noted that the quality of work (that had been completed to February 1999) had been done satisfactory and that Moleski has a “better than average” working relationship with the engineer and the work is being tracked as it occurs. 1998 and 1999 were dedicated to repairing water damage (caused over a 16 year period). By the end of 1999 the building was fully restored, complete with a new appearance. Every owner was greatly involved in the process which resulted in a more modern look for our building as well as preventing future building envelope failures. Upon completion in 1999 we received an Engineer’s Report that states all areas of the structure were inspected and scrutinized during the repairs and that the building was basically sound. With the completion of the water damage repairs, the future councils were given a mandate to have the buildling inspected annually to ensure there is no further water ingress. This has been done every year since. In addition, the following maintenance and capital projects have been completed: + Annual building inspections by Contractor. + Routine inspections of flashings & decks. + Fence around perimeter strengthened & painted. + Building was painted in 2004. + Chimney’s & dryer vents cleaned in 2007. + Roof was replaced in 2008. + Courtyard tiles were repaired in 2009

A Brief History of our Building

Click on the links below to open up PDF documents relating to our building including the Engineer’s Report that was completed before and after the building envelope was repaired/replaced.

Other Useful Information:

Property Values - BC Assessment

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