Fire, Flood. Smoke, l'vlold, Reconstruction
RESTORATION
SPI!CIALISTS
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
HUB INTERNATIONAL
299 Ballardvale Street
Wilmington, MA 01887
Atten: Rick Ward
RE: THE FAIRWAYS at SHINING ROCK
CLUBHOUSE LANE
NORTHBRIDGE, MA 01534
ATTEN:JUDIUTHOFF
Rick & Judi:
Il i'
Attached please find my preliminary site visit report for The Fairways at Shining Rock in
Northbridge, MA.
This is a Condominium community built approximately 4 to 5 years ago by Pultey Homes.
This property experienced many "Ice Dams" this winter and the previous year which resulted in
water leak damage to some interiors. ..
I was asked to look at the roof and siding area's to determine any problems that may be evident
as far as the roofing/flashing/drip edge details on the units.
I also looked at some interior damages that were a result of the water leakage during variuos
"Ice Dams".
I have included pictures taken during my visit, which show various damages and problem area's
on the exterior roof's that I inspected.
I will be visiting the site again on Tuesday June 23, 2009 to inspect the attic and crawl space
area's for any insulation, ventilation or other problems that may be a adding to the "Ice Dam"
formations.

PAGE 2.
If you need any further information please contact me at the office or on my cell at 617-594-
4288.
Regards
Rick
Rick Perini, P.E., MBR
ARS SERVICES, INC.
NEWTON - BRANCH MANAGER
38 Crafts St.
Newton, MA 02458

RESTORATION
SIPI!!CIALISTS
June 22, 2009
Fire, Flood, Smoke, JVlold, Reconstruction
SITE VISIT REPORT
THE FAIRWAYS at SHINING ROCK
CLUBHOUSE LANE
NORTHBRIDGE, MA 01534
SITE VISIT DATE: JUNE 18, 2009
On June 18, 2009 my crew and I went to the site and met Rick Ward of HUB International
and Judi Uthoff of the Condominium Association.
I also met variuos owner's who educated me as to the variuos problems that they have
had at the site this past winter as well as in the year preceding resulting from "Ice Dams"
and the resultant water intrusion into the variuos units.
I also talked to Judi Uthoff who gave me a history and timeline of the problems in her unit
as well as some others.
OBSERVATIONS:
1) We inspected the roofs and roof to side wall intersections on units 8,24,102, 105,
115,128,130 and 136.
We observed that the step flashing is in some area's only 1 % inches up the sidewall
and that there is no moisture barrier of any kind on some of the exterior sheathing.
The siding has been applied directly to the chip board sheathing. What happens is that
when an "Ice Dam" forms in these locations and the ice dam builds up to a height
greater than 1 % inches, the water leech's into the wood sidewall because there is no
moisture barrier to shield the water or moisture from absorbing into the sheathing and
traveling down the interior and exterior walls as the case may be.
2) We observed that on 6 of the roofs we inspected that there were missing nails in
the ridge vent area's and that roof shingles were cracked and slightly loose. Some
metal trim was missing. had holes in them or were poorly applied.
3) In one case an area that was supposed to have been repaired by the contractor
earlier - there is no fascia board behind the metal so there is a large 12 inch void
where water can come in during rain from a certain direction.
38 Crafts st.
Newton, MA 02458
(617) 969-1119

4) In one location water intrusion was reported thru the ist floor powder room
window. Upon inspection it was noted that was no head flashing on the window
exterior, so water just comes in from the top of the exterior molding on the window.
5) In another location water intrusion was from a set of 1st floor rear windows. Upon
inspection it was noted that there is missing window flashing around these
windows.
6) On one roof we found a piece of roofing with sheathing attached that was
obviously cut out of some location on the roof and just left up on the roof. This is a
cause for concern because of the fact that this piece was cut out for a reason and
was the hole filled in or just roofed over. We could not locate any voids.
7) In the units we went into the interior damages were as follows.
a) Drywall damage to ceilings and walls
b) Paint staining due to water intrusion
RECOMMEDATIONS:
I WILL MAKE MY RECOMMENDATIONS ONCE I HAVE INSPECTED THE ATTIC'S AND
CRAWL SPACES ON TUESDAY JUNE 23, 2009.
I FEEL THIS PRELIMINARY REPORT PROFESSIONALLY REFLECTS MY OBSERVATIONS
THAT I VIEWED ON MY SITE VISIT.
IF YOU NEED ANY FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL ME AT THE OFFICE OR ON
MY CEL~ AT 617- 594-4288.
Regards
Rick Perini P.E., MBR
Branch Manager - Newton
38 Crafts st.
Newton, MA 02458
(617) 969-1119

interesting.................


NOTICE TO FAIRWAYS HOMEOWNERS
REGARDING FINAL INSURANCE REPORT
8/21/09
The Advisors recommend that all homeowners who have any open deficiency issues in
their units, put those issues into writing and send to Pulte Customer Relations.
Particularly those homeowners who experienced interior damage due to ice damming this
past winter need to document those issues in writing to Pulte. Please read pages 6-11 of
your Pulte Home Protection Plan as well as the HUD Addendum on page 45. Also,
please locate your Home Protection Plan Ten Year Limited Warranty Certificate of
Coverage (this is included in the papers you received at real estate closing). The
Certificate of Coverage contains your individual Warranty Enrollment number. You will
need this number in order to make a claim if Pulte refuses to correct the issue(s) itself.
Pulte put its name on the Home Protection Plan booklet; however it is actually the
warranty policy of Professional Warranty Service. You may find them on the internet at
www.pwsc.com
We have become aware of serious deficiencies with our roofs, inadequate insulation, and
missing or inadequate window flashings as a result of the insurance inspection completed
in June. As you know, the Pulte Board of Trustees refused to allow the Advisors a copy
of the final Insurance Inspection Report until after they had reviewed and negotiated it
with HUB International (our Master Policy Insurance Agent) and ARS Restoration (the
Insurance Inspection Company). On July 20, 2009, Pulte met with HUB International
and ARS Restoration Company at The Fairways. Attendees at this meeting were: David
Schreyack, VP Construction/Customer Relations, Pulte; Greg Gremo, General Manager,
Pulte Customer Relations, Rick Perini, Engineer with ARS Restoration; Richard Ward,
VP Risk Management Services, HUB International; and Aaron Geiser of Archer
Exteriors. The Advisors were NOT apprised of this meeting and happened to see the
group walking around the neighborhood with ladders and asked what was going on.
A Preliminary Insurance Report was received in late June. The Board of Trustees
instructed the Advisors that this report should not be used as it would need to be reviewed
by the Board as these types of reports often contained “misunderstandings and errors”.
We are including the Preliminary Report at this time as it contains photos of the defective
roofs that were not forwarded to us by HUB International with its Final Report. There
should be no “misunderstanding or errors” when looking at the roof photos. The final
insurance report was not made available to us until 8/13/09. It did not contain any of the
photos. Photos were not received until 8/18/09. The photos received were of interiors of
units only and did not include roofing photos. The final insurance report and some of the
photos are posted to the website for your review.
Six roofs were inspected and all six roofs had significant problems. The roofing,
insulation, and flashing problems do not just affect those homeowners who suffered this
past winter with interior ice damming damage. It could affect all homeowners at The
Fairways and could cause our insurance premiums to increase if we do not take action to
remedy known deficiencies. The Advisors have taken action with the Board of Trustees
regarding common elements. Homeowners must take action themselves regarding
interior issues such as insufficient or missing insulation in attic spaces and things like
missing or insufficient flashing around windows, for example.
According to the Professional Warranty Service Corporation and Pulte Home Protection
Plan, individual homeowners may not request remediation of construction deficiencies
pertaining to common elements (Home Protection Plan, Section F, sub-paragraph 6, page
11). Any such "claims" must be made by an "authorized representative" of the
condominium association.
At this point in time, and for the next two months, the current Pulte Board of Trustees is
the only authorized representative of our association. On August 13, 2009, the Advisors
sent an email to The Fairways Board of Trustees (Pulte Board members Reid Blute, Brian
Lupien, and Mark Mastroianni) requesting that the Board officially, in writing, request
from Pulte Homes of New England, LLC the following:
(1) That Archer Exteriors, under the supervision of Pulte personnel, inspect and repair all
roofing deficiencies on all 17 buildings at The Fairways prior to the winter season (i.e.,
prior to the end of October 2009). The Advisors felt that if six out of six roofs were
defective, there was a high probability that problems existed on most of the Fairways
roofs. Since the homeowners will not take over the association until early-to-mid
October, the roofing issues must be acted upon now in order to be remedied prior to the
winter season.
(2) That Pulte hire the appropriate personnel to remedy the drainage deficiencies
previously detailed to Pulte Customer Service regarding units on the odd-numbered side
of Clubhouse Lane and the first building on Linkside Court (1-7).
The Board of Trustees sent a letter to Pulte Homes of New England, LLC and attached
our email to the letter that same day (8/13/09). We have not heard anything back from
Pulte or the Board as to what action will be taken or when. The Advisors will follow up
within the next week or so. Individual homeowners need to write a letter to Pulte
detailing any interior issues.
Attached is a sample letter to give you the basic idea of what to include in your individual
letters and whom to send it to. Please edit and tailor the letter to your particular set of
circumstances and mail “Certified Mail – Return Receipt Requested”. You need to do
this in order to legally document your request to Pulte to repair/replace/bring up to code
whatever is wrong in your unit. If you do not receive satisfaction from Pulte in
correcting deficiencies, the Professional Warranty Service requires a copy of your written
request to Pulte should you need to file a claim. As you are aware, Pulte has required all
of us to call the Customer Service number to report problems. Unless you have been
very good about keeping a record of the date, time, and person you reported the problem
to and when they responded to the call, you do not have anything in writing to document
having requested service. So the letter we’re asking you to write will legally document
all remaining open issues.
We will keep the community updated as we learn of actions to be taken by Pulte and the
schedule that work will be accomplished by.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact:
***eliminated for privacy reasons******

Progress!!

Yep, there seems to be progress up here. Sidewalks have been installed on Shining Rock Dr, with cracked portions replaced as well. Many of the concrete aprons on single famly driveways have been replaced. Work is bing done to install sidewalks on Fairway and Clubhouse (from Fairway to the trailer, at least). Looks like the owner is serious about moving things forward.

There are a couple of different versions of a clubhouse plan that have been presented to the Planning Board. As I recall, the latest version calls for building permits to be pulled by spring of 2011...........awfully long time from now. We've gone from a "temporary" clubhouse building that's somewhat small to a more permanent structure that doesn't have to be started for a couple of years. Not the first time it's been up to the owner/builder/developer to do the right thing.

Shining Rock will be something one day - just that no one really knows what it will be..........

What if your neighbor took pictures of your family?

Imagine the scene - nice warm evening - very still outside, with only the sound of crickets to break the silence. Great weather to enjoy sitting outside, as one of the residents was doing. Once it got dark, though, something interesting happened. The neighbor next door turned out their inside lights, then came out onto their deck and took pictures - not just 1, mind you, but several. It happened again a couple of weeks later. Now, I have some idea why the guy next door would take pictures of some other guy's wife while hiding in the dark, but it's not prudent to publish them here. What did the resident do? Asked the guy why he did it, asked for the pictures and asked them to stop. They refused to respond at all.

Wonder what the motivation was and where the pictures ended up? Unfortunately, while most would view their actions as reprehensible, it ain't illegal to hide in the dark and take pictures of someone else's family. Oh, and the HOA? No stance.

Why the rancor?

Jeez - just don't get the attitudes up here. The loudest, most profane, most accusatory voices are the ones that scream about "agendas" - others' agendas, not theirs. NIMBY's have an agenda to stop progress. "Friends on the Planning Board". Even PB members have been attacked - again, it's about YOUR agenda. The attackers don't have one - innocent as babes and pure as new snow.

The dynamic is pretty interesting - when the agenda mongers get loud enough and accusatory enough to incite the crowd, or when they call town officials or post online to destroy one's reputation while hiding behind some form of cover, you have to make a decision - risk public ridicule or trashing of your reputation or be quiet.

Why is it so necessary to take down anyone with an opposing view? Wonder what will happen when these folks are managing the HOA?

What's up with the engineer's inspections?

Curious to know what's happening with the engineer's inspections. The firm sent out by our insurance carrier issued a report saying there were lots of deficiencies in construction, some of which didn't meet building code. Then, it seems that the engineer recanted his findings after Pulte talked to him. Now, several guys have been on some of the roofs to inspect them.

Where does this leave us? Are the buildings okay? If this was the case, why did our Advisors, property manager and insurance carrier support bringing in an engineer (the property manager said the Board wasn't aware of the inspections). Do they know something we don"t? Is our insurance in jeopardy of tripling in cost or being cancelled? Why would the Advisors recommend and support going behind the Board's back? Did anyone check the credentials of this guy who recanted his own report?

This decision, coupled with the report, however accurate, could be much more harm than good for the residents.