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(WSVN) - Anxiety is running high for some right now, particularly those who live in beachside condos. How do you know if your building has trouble? And what should you look for? Karen Hensel is here with this 7 Investigates.
Driving through Miami Beach, we could quickly see buildings under repair — signs most of us probably never even noticed before last week.
We saw crushed concrete from one repair, buildings undergoing testing, balconies being rebuilt.
Yaniv Levi, general contractor: “You have rebar going down from the slab up into the wall, and obviously, there was signs of corrosion where they had to remove it and rebuild it.”
We showed some of the pictures to Yaniv Levi, a longtime general contractor in South Florida.
Karen Hensel: “So, that’s pretty significant?”
Yaniv Levi: “That’s a significant repair, yes.”
Since the Surfside collapse, his company, Coast to Coast, has taken dozens of calls from condo associations now hoping to give their residents peace of mind. He has six projects underway in Surfside alone within walking distance of the collapse.
Karen Hensel: “You actually did proposals over the last 10 years for Champlain Towers?”
Yaniv Levi: “Yes, I have. These are one of the jobs where, ‘Hey, we bid that three to four times. I’m not so reluctant to knowing that this job is going to be issued immediately.'”
Yaniv is currently working on the Blue and Green Diamond Condo on Miami Beach. He says owners are being extremely proactive on their repairs and agreed to walk us through what to look for.
Yaniv Levi: “Here’s a perfect example of stress cracks or structural cracks that were identified by a professional, and these were all routed and sealed. You see the cracking, you see all this calcification? These are signs of water intrusion obviously coming from the structure above.”
Karen Hensel: “As I am getting out of my car at a condo, what do I start looking for in the garage? The elevator? My balcony?”
Yaniv Levi: “If you are looking at a structure looking up, you want to make sure you don’t have signs of rust/corrosion on the building, so you’ll have yellow stains. Also, you want to look at the window systems. Make sure you don’t have white streaks. If you have white streaks, a lot of times, it’s signs of paint failure. When it rains, it comes down on the building and on your balcony if you have a metal rail cap. For example, if this was your balcony, you want to rub your hand on it to see if there is a chalky feel. If there’s a chalky feel, normally, that’s a sign of a paint failure, as well.”
Yaniv and others said their biggest advice is to be active with your condo association and know the long-term plan.
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