Crummy coping
causes catastrophe
in Alexandria, Virginia
April, 2016-This really hurts. This is a big stucco addition we did 4 years ago in Alexandria, VA.
The leaking coping has caused the
stucco to fail, as well as rot the
framing underneath.
My beautiful natural color
stucco is ruined, when it should
last for centuries.
This is 3 stories up so this is the best picture I can get. Underneath this coping is bare wood framing. which I am sure is severely rotted after 4 years of leaky coping. You can follow the black water stain up to the source of the leak. Note the wall is saturated, and is badly cracked all the way to the ground.
I cut some old coping to illustrate what is going on. The coping going up the wall barely overlaps the level coping at the bottom. Water runs freely into the gap.
More about crummy coping here
This isn't home improvement, this is home destruction. This is easy enough to do right by cutting the bottom coping a few inches long and bending it up the wall, the sleeving the top piece over the bottom. This shoddy work was done by a roofing contractor that blamed me for their incompetence and stupidity.
Keene's cement
A super hard plaster that is water resistant and scrubbable.
I am scrubbing this wall as hard as I can wiyh a wet pot scrubber. Not even a scratch. Keene's cement can be used for shower finishes. More about Keene's cement here....
