Mouldy Vancouver condo blamed on reno firm

A Vancouver father says his family is stuck living in a condo plagued with mould, after the construction firm rainscreening their building failed to deal with leaking water.

Kristian Gordos, who lives in False Creek with his partner and two young daughters, says New City Contracting began rainscreening work outside the building in April 2013. 

In Sept. 2013, he noticed water coming up through his living room floorboards and contacted the building's strata as well as the construction company, which accepted responsibility.

"They did a patch on the outside and supposedly helped and everything got dried up, but it never got explored any further and I don't think it was cleaned up properly," said Gordos.

The living room floor seemed to be fixed, but in January this year, Gordos says, water began coming into the master bedroom.

Gordos claims the company provided rags to soak up the excess water, but there was mould everywhere. He says the firm never followed any mould remediation protocol, but instead cleaned up what was visible and said it would all be OK.

An environmental assessment carried out on March 25 showed there was mould in the living room, children's bedroom and master bedroom.

While emails provided by Gordos shows the company took responsibility for the early problems, the latest email from the firm explains it no longer has any responsibility for the flooding, nor the mould.

"I just can't understand how something like this can happen. I am frustrated about being pushed around by the construction company when they tell me everything is fine, when it is clearly not."

'Building has history of leaks'

New City Contracting has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Construction Project Manager​ Christy Shields claims there was mould in Gordos' suite and many others in the building before the work started.

"It has had multiple leaks over the history of the building. We are here to stop those leaks and stop them from happening in the future," she said.

Shields says the condo owner had documentation that leaks were happening as far back as 2011 and denies the mould is connected to her firm's rainscreening work.

"There is no evidence in the reports that have been done that the mould that is present is a result from any water ingress."

Gordos has tried to make an insurance claim for the water and mould damage, but was told they were not covered because there was external work being done at the time.

New City Contracting's insurance company won't pay out, because the firm denies responsibility.