Deck Maintenance: Based on the Bay Watch III Declaration and By-Laws, the decks on each unit are defined as “Limited Common Area” and therefore, the maintenance and repair of the decks are the responsibility of the unit owner. Two recent events have brought to our attention that there are several details in this current policy that need to be further explained.
Deck Surface Replacement: We have seen several incidents where carpets on the decks have resulted in “water wick up” into the bottom siding board causing it to rot. This rot is both unsightly and dangerous to the interior of the walls since water can get to the inside through this rotted area. You may have noticed that the Association has replaced
the bottom portion of the siding with AZAK board in the Common Areas of all buildings in order to avoid any damage in this maintenance situation. Because of this problem with carpets on the decks, the Association strongly recommends that when an owner is replacing the surface on your deck that you install an epoxy surface rather than carpet. Many owners have already made this change and the “Water wick up” issue is avoided. While many decks have epoxy coatings alone, in other cases, either throw rugs (away from the siding) or Dry-Dek rubberized surfaces have been placed over the epoxy coatings and that also seems to be an acceptable solution.
Siding Damage: The siding of the buildings, whether on the deck or on the side of the building is Common Area and therefore the maintenance and repair is the responsibility of the Association. Should you have any siding rot due to “water wick up” from carpet installed prior to this notice, the Association will be responsible for that repair. That will change going forward. Since it is now clear that carpet is causing the rot on the bottom siding board, if an owner chooses to install a new carpet rather than an epoxy covering, the responsibility for the future repair of the siding will become an owner responsibility. To be clear, the Association will be responsible for any necessary siding repair when the new coating is installed, but future siding repair where new carpet is installed will be owner responsibility. The siding repair will be handled by the Association contractors to assure consistency of look and quality but the cost will be billed to the unit owner.
Reporting Unit Damage: It is often difficult to properly inspect every deck, so if you believe that you have siding rot that needs repair please contact the Property Manager report the situation.
Conclusion: Over time we have learned that deck carpeting is the causal agent in the “Water wick up” situation that causes siding rot on our buildings. In order to mitigate that issue, the Board of Director is strongly recommending that whenever a new surface is required on the decks, that an epoxy surface is installed rather than carpet. An owner may still install carpet but then takes on the responsibility and the cost of any further damage to the siding. Hopefully, our Bay Watch III Owners will take action, as they have always done in the past, and do what is necessary to protect our investment.
Rules & Regulations: The Association has added this to it’s list of rules and regulations. This rule will be discussed, adopted and effective at the next open Board meeting on September 22, 2012 at 8am in the HHIRA clubhouse. You may provide written comments to the Board prior to then or bring them to the Board meeting.