Project Overview
- Service Type
- SB 721 Inspection · Structural Repair · Waterproofing
- Location
- Carmichael, CA
- Property Type
- Apartment building (24 units, built 1978)
- Timeline
- 1-day inspection · 11 working days reconstruction
- Completed
- July 2026
Project at a Glance
The Problem
The owner had signed off on a deck repair in early 2025 — a coating contractor, a fast price, no permit and no report. By the following spring the same decks felt soft underfoot and tenants had started calling the office about it.
Day one told us why. A new elastomeric coating had been applied directly over the original plywood with no substrate repair beneath it. On nine of the twelve decks the plywood was delaminating and the ledger blocking had gone to punk wood. The coating had not stopped the water; it had sealed what was already there inside the assembly.
SB 721 requires the inspection to be performed by a licensed architect, a civil or structural engineer, or a general contractor holding an A, B or C-5 license with at least five years of relevant experience — and it requires a written report the owner keeps for two inspection cycles. No report existed from the earlier work, so on paper nothing had ever been done. Our SB 721 inspection service covers the inspection, the permitted repair and the report under one license.
The Solution
We started over. Coatings and decking came off all twelve decks and the substrate was assessed sheet by sheet. Nine needed new plywood and ledger blocking; three were sound and received only a properly detailed membrane. Two ledgers had corroded fasteners, replaced with hot-dip galvanized hardware and new flashing at the wall line.
Every deck was permitted through Sacramento County and inspected at the framing stage before anything was covered up. The owner now holds the written SB 721 report — with photographs of each deck opened up — which is the document that establishes the six-year cycle and the only proof that the work happened.
- SB 721 inspection of all 12 decks (no sampling)
- Removal of the failed coating & decking
- Plywood substrate & ledger blocking replacement (9 decks)
- Hot-dip galvanized fasteners & new ledger flashing
- Westcoat ALX waterproofing system
- County permits, framing inspection & written SB 721 report
How the Project Ran
-
Re-inspection (Day 1)
All twelve decks probed and opened at the ledger; nine returned moisture readings above 25% beneath a coating less than two years old.
-
Permits & demolition (Days 2–4)
Repair scope permitted through Sacramento County; coatings and decking removed down to framing on the affected decks.
-
Substrate rebuild (Days 5–9)
Plywood and ledger blocking replaced on nine decks with galvanized hardware and new flashing; framing inspection passed on the first visit.
-
Waterproofing & report (Days 10–11)
Westcoat ALX applied across all twelve decks; written SB 721 report issued with photo documentation of every opening.
Materials Used
- Pressure-treated ledger blocking replacement blocking at the wall line
- CDX plywood sheathing new deck substrate on nine decks
- Hot-dip galvanized fasteners & flashing ledger connections and wall-line detail
- Westcoat ALX system multi-layer walking-deck waterproofing
Before & After
Nine decks rebuilt to sound substrate — and the property's first documented SB 721 report on file.
I had already paid once. What I did not have was a piece of paper saying the work was done, and it turned out there was not much work to speak of. This time I have the report and the permits.
Questions About This Project
How do I know whether a past repair was done properly?
Ask for the written report and the permit. Structural repair on an elevated element is permitted work, and SB 721 requires a report the owner retains for two cycles. If neither exists, there is no record that anything beyond a coating happened — and a coating is not a repair.
Does a new coating mean the deck is sound?
No. The coating is the final layer of an assembly and can only perform if the substrate under it is dry and structurally sound. A membrane installed over wet plywood traps moisture and usually accelerates the decay it was meant to stop.
Can you inspect work another contractor did?
Yes. A re-inspection follows the same process as a first inspection, with openings placed where the previous scope claimed to have worked. If the work was good, you end up with documentation you did not have. If it was not, you find out before the framing does.
