Hi Joanne,

 

Your caulking has cracked due to normal shrinkage of the studs in your walls. This typically occurs during the heating season and is excluded from warranty by Tarion under section 13(2) of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act. I have attached a link here that will bring you to the Act.

http://www.tarion.com/About-Tarion/Documents/The%20ACT/ACT_082010.pdf

 

Look under 13 (2) (d) for the following Exclusion from Warranty for “normal shrinkage of materials caused by drying after construction;”

 

The exclusions from warranty are also listed on page 12 of the Construction Performance Guidelines as follows:
CONDITIONS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY

It is important for homeowners to note what is not covered by the statutory warranty. The Act sets

out the following exclusions from warranty coverage:

• Defects in materials, design and work supplied by the homeowner;

• Secondary damage caused by defects under warranty, such as property damage and

personal injury;

• Normal wear and tear;

• Normal shrinkage of materials caused by drying after construction;

• Damage caused by dampness or condensation due to failure by the homeowner to maintain

adequate ventilation or proper operation of moisture-producing devices such as humidifiers;

• Damage caused by the homeowner or visitors;

• Alterations, deletions or additions made by the homeowner;

• Settling of land around the building or along utility lines, other than beneath the footings of

the building;

• Damage resulting from acts of God;

• Contractual warranties which lie outside the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act; Damage caused by insects or rodents, except where construction does not meet

specifications of the Ontario Building Code;

• Damage caused by municipal services or other utilities;

• Surface defects in work and materials specified and accepted in writing by the

homeowner at the date of possession
Damage caused by insects or rodents, except where construction does not meet

specifications of the Ontario Building Code;

• Damage caused by municipal services or other utilities;

• Surface defects in work and materials specified and accepted in writing by the

homeowner at the date of possession

 

The Tarion Construction Performance Guideline also addresses the issue of normal shrinkage as it applies to cabinets and the wall cabinet junction issue in Article 11.1.

Here’s a link to that article

http://www.tarion.com/services/pdg_detail.aspx?rid=173

 

Gary replaced your caulking in September as a courtesy. It is normal home owner maintenance to maintain caulking.

 

Regards,

Wendy Skyba

 

 

 

 

FYI,

 

 

Hi Ramona,

 

I beg to differ.  Gary did the caulking in September 22, 2011 as part of my one-year Tarion issue.  Pratt’s deficiency # 6700.

 

Joanne Irwin

 

 

Good Morning Joanne,

 

The Pratt Service Dept. had Gary do the caulking at your kitchen counter as a courtesy at Year end. This is not a warrantable issue and as per Tarion falls under normal homeowner maintenance. It does crack due to normal shrinkage and expansion of materials.

 

So we will not be scheduling Gary for this.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Good Morning,

 

In  September 2011, in agreement with my one-year Tarion Report, Gary removed and reapplied the caulking on my kitchen counter – the whole back wall.

 

Over the last couple of months, I’ve noticed that once again more than one-half of this new caulking is, and continues to split.  (see photos).

 

In this regard, I have 2 questions please –

 

1.  What is causing this caulking to split again?

 

2.  When can Gary come out to recaulk this area?

 

Thank you,

Joanne

 

 

 

Dec 18, 2011

 

January 8, 2012

 

January 17, 2012