10020056 - Letter Mr. Albert Salvador
Building Official
4/28/2011
Mr. Salvador,
I want to thank you again for talking with me yesterday and offering to send a letter to Armstrong on my behalf.
Since being in a rather stressful state when i visited with you and Gary Stream yesterday, I have calmed down
somewhat and recall some concerns that may be a part of the city approval process you had asked me about.
After the tar and gravel was taken off my flat roof, a dry rot repair was done on one of the ceiling beams. This repair
was approved by an inspector. However, I later noticed from inside the garage that the top of the 4"x 4" stud that
sllould be nailed to the repaired beam and holding it up appears to be missing, and the space is just filled with foam.
The remainder of the 4"x 4"that is supposed to hold up the beam is either missing or damaged by dry rot. This
would not have been seen from the roof top, but I remember pointing out the foam seepage in that area to
Mr. Stream when he offered to come to the site and address my concerns. He made no effort to examine that area
any further. I had the understanding that all repairs had to be made before the project was approved. Also, when the
dry rot repair was done, the replacement wood was improperly aligned causing a partial separation of the eaves from
the fascia. I believe this instability of the fascia and eaves could cause problems in the future and should have been
corrected before the final inspection was done as well. I pointed out another area in the garage by the water heater
where the reshingled area on the sloped roof had foam coming through and had actually splattered on the
kitchen/garage door. This area should have been covered with plywood and shingles—not foam.
I just went up on the roof and measured the depth of one of the several ponding areas. The foam and topping is only
1" in depth. It is supposed to be 1 I/2" + or— '/4 inch according to the contract. That's probably why the room has
been so cold this winter. Also, a Building Department document that was given to me reads "IMPORTANT: 1. Flat
roofs must have a minimum of'/4" per foot slope and demonstrate that there is no ponding." I'm very disappointed
that no effort was made to assure these criteria were met during the final inspection.
One more thing. After the tear-off, there was an open space all along the edge of the sloped roof that meets the flat
roo£ I noticed when I looked in the attic that foam was sprayed all along the length of this area. I'm afraid the foam
has made contact with several electricallines that run up the wall and through that opening to the kitchen. That
wouldn't conform with code, would it? Shouldn't that area have been covered with wood? Since that wasn't
inspected, it will force me to go in the attic, crawl many feet around the furnace ducts and inspect that area myself.
I don't mean to burden you with this information. They are just matters I was asked about yesterday, but I was too
upset to think clearly. I tried to be diligent about everything concerning the process for getting a new roof for my
iamily room, and tnat is why I sought intormation from the �uilding Department before I even settled on the type oi`
roof or contractor. During one of those visitations when I said I was thinking about a foam roof, one of the fellows
there in the building department told me to go with Armstrong. I did not ask for a referral, but since it was given, it
gave me confidence that Armstrong was a reputable company. My experience has been quite the opposite. I have
no doubt the deceit and disrespect I was shown was due to my status as a senior and single female. The debauchery
Pve experienced with them will probably shorten my life with all the stress they've given me!
So many thanks again for whatever you can do in a correspondence to Armstrong. Like I mentioned yesterday, I
believe they think I called for a final inspection and are using the final approval partly to boost their contention that
everything was done properly, there are no remaining issues and they deserve to be paid. Whereas, I do have more
issues to be addressed with them regarding workmanship, contract obligations and conduct. I will be contacting
them again regarding these issues.
Annette McSheffrey
7610 Squirewood Way �
Cupertino, CA 95014 �
408-255-9828
amcsheffrey@ eai-thlink.net