Dear Owners, 

As you may know there were numerous units that experienced some type of interior damage this winter – some from snow load stress, others from water intrusion. We attempted to minimize the extent of the damage by reducing the snow load and/or removing an ice dam as soon as a problem was reported. We’ve had a few owners request that our property manager perform the required repairs to the interior of their unit. This is beyond the scope of work of our property manager.  All interior repairs are the responsibility of the owner regardless of the origin of the damage (see Section 6 of the CC&Rs). The owner should make arrangements to have their unit repaired using a contractor of their choosing.

There are also questions about filing a claim against our HOA insurance. We have checked with our insurance agent. She told us our insurance policy does not cover damage from snow/ice dams unless there is a collapse of the roof (fortunately this did not happen).

I sincerely hope we have a more normal winter next year. For those of you who were not able to join the board meeting last week, following is a summary of what we are doing to address the impact of these last two winters.

Last year we spent quite a lot to repair heat tape, replace bad breakers, and repair gutters. We also added some heat tape, although not as much as we wanted to due to the early storms. Most of us understand that while intrusion of water can be a result of ice dams, it is not necessarily an indicator of a problem with a roof. However, due to the number of incidents we want to look at what we’ve seen over the past two years from a more holistic perspective, and formulate a strategic approach.

Accordingly, last year we found a roofing consultant to work with us to assess all aspects of our roofs and advise us on the best approach to take to minimize water intrusion. Due to an unforeseen conflict of interest, this effort was not successful. This year we have once again identified and engaged three companies that will each send us a proposal. We will move forward as quickly as possible to select one consultant and get their recommendations.

We have no idea what the experts will recommend, or how long it will take to implement  (assuming we can even find available labor). But be assured that we are making a concerted effort to detect and remedy any roof-related issues we may have in our community.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

— Sheila
    HOA President