An engineering firm contracted to do significant repairs on Harmon Cove Towers (HCT) is fighting back against allegations that the company caused structural problems that have led to leaks and water damage in dozens of upscale condos in the development.
As detailed two weeks ago in the Secaucus Reporter, several HCT residents say they’ve begun to experience leaks in their ceilings and walls ever since a façade restoration project wrapped up earlier this year. As is typically the case in condo developments, the residents paid for the restoration work through assessment fees charged by the condo association. They have since complained to local elected officials about the issue.
The HCT condo association board hired Falcon Engineering in late 2004 to oversee a $6 million façade restoration project that would repair balconies and re-point (in other words, realign the mortar of) bricks at the 562-unit development.
Falcon Engineering says that the problems in the building are unrelated to its work.
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“There are no significant problems that we’ve been made aware of with any of the work that they contracted us to do,” Pyznar said.
The complaints
Residents have maintained that ceiling and wall leaks started to occur because of Falcon Engineering’s work.
“In January, we had the first reported, formal grievance about the façade,” said HCT condo association board member Jim Econopouly three weeks ago. “By March, there were 16 grievances. And the main issue was water intrusion.”
Residents said in interviews with the Reporter earlier this month that after the façade renovations got underway, their ceilings started leaking, causing wet floors and carpets and damp furniture. In extreme cases, walls began separating from each other. An April 29, 2010 letter from HCT attorney Steven Berkowitz to Falcon Engineering stated: “HCT has a water infiltration problem, as evidenced by the 133-plus units that have experienced water damages.”
The letter was written to pressure Falcon to fix the problems the condo association believes is related to the company’s work.
Recognized the problems
However, Pyznar of Falcon Engineering said these problems were not related to the firm’s contract with HCT, and that his firm would have liked to do more to fix other problems in the buildings.
“It was not a comprehensive façade restoration project,” Pyznar said recently. “They had a very limited budget given the size of the building. The urgency of the project was structural. The balconies were falling apart. Pieces of concrete were falling from the balconies. Floor bands that go around the building were falling apart. What we call the eyebrows [of the building], they were falling apart. Falcon actually put in writing several times to the board that we recommend that it be a much more comprehensive project.”
Pyznar detailed a laundry list of work the company suggested HCT have done – work he said the condo association board “opted not to do.”
For example, Falcon Engineering recommended that HCT replace the “through wall flashing” that exists on every floor level all the way around the building and helps to drain away absorbed water, according to Pyznar. If that couldn’t be done, the firm suggested that a sealant be applied to the exterior walls of the building “at a minimum.”
Falcon, Pyznar said, also urged that new windows and balcony doors be installed. The ones that currently exist at HCT are the same ones that were installed when the development was built, he said.
He estimated that the old doors and windows are “probably causing a majority of the leaks right now.”
The firm also recommended that sills be added to balconies to help drain water away from the building. Falcon, he said, was not hired to re-slope – or re-pitch – the balconies, which also could have helped with some of the leaks.
The sticking point, Pyznar said, was money. A more comprehensive façade restoration project would have added several million dollars to the project, which the condo association board said HCT couldn’t afford, Pyznar said.
Last week, the Reporter was unable to reach the only HCT board member who was part of the condo association when Falcon was first hired.
Lawsuit on horizon?
Pyznar said he understands residents’ frustrations.
“If I was a resident who wasn’t educated on the history, I would say, ‘We spent millions of dollars, and look, my building’s leaking.’ But in reality, you didn’t spend millions of dollars on making the building leak-proof,” he said.
Angry residents are exploring the possibility of filing a lawsuit against either the condo board or Falcon.
In the meantime, Falcon is completing its “punch list” items related to work the firm was contracted to do. Punch list items refer to minor corrections that have to be made after any construction or renovation project.
Said Pyznar: “We are committed to seeing this project through.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.