What we repair · Building Envelope
Stucco, Sealants and Keeping Water Out
The envelope is what stops water reaching the structure. Most concrete deterioration began as an envelope failure years earlier.
We will turn it into a buildable scope, a phasing plan and a realistic range — so the board can decide with numbers rather than adjectives.
Not us
We do not perform the inspection. An engineer does
30/25
Years to first milestone — 25 within 3 miles of coast
Occupied
Buildings stay occupied while we work
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Repairing concrete without repairing the envelope
A board spends a large sum on concrete restoration, does not address the failed sealants and cracked stucco that let the water in, and is back in the same position within a decade. It is the most expensive sequencing mistake available in this work and it is extremely common.
The sequencing mistake is easy to make because concrete restoration is the item the engineer's report emphasizes and the item the membership can see. Envelope work is less visible, less urgent-sounding, and easy to defer to a later funding year — at which point the concrete that was just repaired begins taking water again from the same failed joints and cracked stucco that caused it.
What the envelope actually involves
- Stucco delamination, which is often far more extensive than it appears.
- Sealant joints, which have a service life of years, not decades.
- Window and door perimeters, a very common water path.
- Through-wall penetrations that were never properly detailed.
- Coatings, which are protection rather than decoration.
Why sealants are a reserve item
Sealant joints have a service life measured in years rather than decades, and almost no association budgets for replacing them before they fail. They are not glamorous, they produce no visible improvement, and the failure is invisible until water has already been getting behind the envelope for some time.
A joint replacement program every several years costs a fraction of the concrete restoration that failed joints eventually cause. It belongs in the reserve study as its own line, and it is one of the few places on a building where preventive spending is unambiguously cheaper than the alternative.
How we handle it
- 01Survey the envelope with the engineer, not just the concrete.
- 02Sound stucco to find delamination beyond the visible cracking.
- 03Replace sealants rather than overbanding them.
- 04Detail window and door perimeters properly.
- 05Apply the specified coating system as a system, not a paint job.
Sealants are a maintenance item with a finite life, and almost no association budgets for them until they fail. A joint program every several years costs a fraction of the concrete restoration it prevents, and it belongs in the reserve study.
Said plainly
Where we stop
If the budget will only cover concrete or envelope but not both, we will tell you the envelope work protects the concrete work — and that doing concrete alone means doing it again.
FAQ
Common questions
- Is stucco repair structural?
- Not usually, and it protects the structure. Failing to do it is how the concrete deteriorated in the first place.
- How long do sealants last?
- Years rather than decades. They are a maintenance item that almost nobody budgets for until they fail.
- Is coating just paint?
- A specified coating system is protection. Applying ordinary paint over a failed envelope achieves nothing.
- Can we do concrete now and envelope later?
- You can, and you will likely repeat the concrete work. We will say so plainly.
The requirements
Milestone Inspections
Florida introduced statewide milestone inspections in 2022 following the Surfside collapse. If you are on a condominium or co-op board of a building three stories or taller, this applies to you.
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Phase 1 and Phase 2
Phase 1 is a visual inspection. If it finds substantial structural deterioration, Phase 2 follows — and that is the point at which boards start calling contractors.
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Structural Integrity Reserve Studies
A structural integrity reserve study identifies the major components and what it will cost to maintain them — and unlike the old reserve regime, funding for those items is no longer something a membership can vote to waive.
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Funding the Work
Once the scope exists, the board's problem stops being construction and becomes funding. There are three routes and they suit different associations.
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Choosing the Team
A board is assembling a team: an engineer, a contractor, an attorney and possibly a lender. How that team is structured matters as much as who is in it.
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More what we repair
Concrete Restoration
Salt reaches the reinforcement, the steel rusts, rust expands, and the concrete cracks off. It is the single most common finding in coastal Florida recertification and the hardest to price honestly.
Read more →
Balcony Repairs
Balconies are the most common structural finding and the most disruptive repair, because every one belongs to somebody who is living behind it.
Read more →
Waterproofing & Decks
Elevated decks, walkways and pool surrounds sit on structure, and when their waterproofing fails the structure below is what pays for it.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.