News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters resident Bill Turner and his wife, Lorrie, have been living in a portion of their townhome at Hayden Homes’ Village at Cold Springs since water damage from roof leakage occurred last winter.
It was a very tough winter all across Sisters Country. Heavy snowfall and intense cold combined in a perfect storm to cause extensive property damage as ice dams caused roof leakage and snow collapsed outbuildings and fences.
As local homeowners welcome warm weather and sunshine, many are still trying to recover from the damage winter left behind. Residents of the townhomes at Village at Cold Springs at the west end of Sisters have been particularly hard hit - and they are growing frustrated with developer Hayden Homes in trying to get their homes restored.
"I've been living in my master closet for four months," Sean Palagyi told The Nugget.
Palagyi, a COCC professor, lives in one of the townhomes at Village at Cold Springs. His bedroom and several other rooms are still torn up from water damage caused when the roof leaked. His neighbors, Bill and Lorrie Turner, Christine Burton, and Mike Pepples have all reported similar conditions.
Their homeowners association is responsible for the roofs and the building envelopes on the townhomes. The HOA is run by The Management Trust on behalf of Hayden Homes, which has not yet transferred control of the HOA to homeowners. The residents are frustrated with what they see as construction deficiencies that caused the damage they have experienced, and delays and sparse communication about how they will be made whole.
Representatives of Hayden Homes and The Mangement Trust did not respond to email and phone messages from The Nugget seeking comment for this story. In a May 22 email, Sara Beddow, vice president of community management for The Management Trust wrote to residents: "Based on the inspection report, we have identified some areas that need to be addressed from both an original construction and a maintenance standpoint. We are in the process of developing a plan to address those areas. We'll be in touch with further details the first week of June with the hope of meeting in person with you the following week to discuss how best to address these issues."
The residents say they've heard that before.
"We feel like we've been put off and put off," Bill Turner said.
Christine Burton said she's consistently been told "one more week, one more week - and nothing's happening."
"I've made calls to Hayden Homes directly and it's gotten absolutely nowhere," said Mike Pepples.
A group of 11 residents commissioned CS Construction of Bend to write a report on the condition of their homes. Jerry Milstead, a 40-year veteran of the commercial construction industry participated in inspections of the affected properties.
"What we did was look at design drawings and then look at the buildings and see what was not done according to the design drawings, basically," Milstead said.
The item most at issue is the apparent absence of ice shield on the roofs of the units.
Sean Palagyi made a Better Business Bureau complaint regarding the lack of ice shield, and Hayden Homes responded that, "Your home was constructed in accordance with all building codes and requirements that applied on the date of construction... Neither the City of (Sisters) nor (Deschutes County) required the installation of an ice barrier when your home was constructed in 2013."
As far as the residents are concerned, Hayden is dodging the issue. Plans are clearly stamped "ice shield required for severe climate."
"It doesn't matter what the code says," Milstead argues. "If the architect draws it, you put it in the way the architect and engineers had it."
"If they had just put the ice guard down when they built the houses in the first place, we wouldn't be sitting here with the problems of today," Palagyi said.
The homeowners acknowledge that last winter was exceptionally bad, and leakage has been a problem for homeowners across the region. But they emphasize the scale of the damage to their individual units and to the development as a whole.
"It was just complete intrusion of water everywhere," Burton said.
The walls of many rooms in her home remain torn out.
In response to Palagyi's complaint, Hayden noted that, "During severe cold weather and snow storms, snow may build up on the roof and cause ice dams. Ice dams are naturally occurring due to extreme weather as snow ... melts over a roof surface that exceeds 32°F. As the melting snow flows down the roof and it reaches the portion of the roof that is below 32°F (the eave), it freezes and begins to cause ice buildup, especially at gutters and valleys. The ice dam then traps water which is then forced through the shingles and into the attic and living space.
"While this can be a very disconcerting situation, it is the responsibility of the HOA and homeowner to maintain and clear any snow and ice from the roofs to prevent ice dams. Ice dams will not occur if the snow is removed promptly, and are not covered under the Hayden Homes warranty. Insulation is not required on the underside of the roof. The attic insulation is blown in and is at a depth that meets or exceeds code."
While single-family homeowners are responsible for removing snow from their roofs, in the case of the townhomes, that responsibility falls to the HOA. The homeowners told The Nugget that they had little luck getting action on removal.
"They didn't come to clear the snow off," Burton said. "We were calling and begging them."
The homeowners say their quality of life has been significantly impacted. Turner, Burton, and Palagyi are using only a portion of their homes. Pepples has gone ahead and had repair work done, but the retired airline pilot is worried about leaving his home to travel - which is why he purchased a townhome in the first place.
"I cannot leave my house now because I'm afraid I'll have more leaks," he said. "It's totally disrupted my plans for retirement."
Turner said he and Lorrie are concerned about what happens next - or if they try to sell.
"We're certainly worried about the future of our home," Bill said.
Burton says that she has talked to an attorney twice about the situation, but the homeowners don't really want to lawyer up and take legal action. They simply want to be made whole.
The report commissioned by the homeowners concludes, "A harsh winter like this past one is hard to build for. However, paying closer attention to standard construction practices, being consistent, and following the construction plans and city-approved drawings would have helped reduce or eliminate the damage caused by ice dams."
The homeowners' priority is simple: They want their homes retrofitted so that they won't have to go through what they experienced last winter again.
"I want them to tear off the roof and put ice shield down the way they said they were going to do in their plans," said Palagyi.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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