El Segundo Deck Leak Repair & Waterproofing Case Study

Project type: Residential
Location: El Segundo, CA
Timeline: 21 days
Services performed: Interior mold remediation, interior and exterior water damage repair, waterproofing, roof repair, deck repair

The Problem

For years, the homeowner had been chasing the same leak. Every heavy rain, water found its way into the second-floor primary bedroom. Past repairs had gone after the obvious suspects, sealing the window and the balcony above the room, but the leak always came back.

The reason those fixes didn’t hold is simple: they treated the symptom, not the source. With another rainy season on the way, the homeowner came to Absolute Maintenance & Consulting looking for a fix that would actually last.

What We Found

The water wasn’t coming from the window or the balcony at all. Our inspection traced it to the exterior deck, where an aging, worn-down waterproof surface was letting moisture slip beneath the coating in several spots.

The old waterproofing had also been cut and damaged in a few places, which only made things worse. It’s a type of installation we see often, but it was never built to hold up over the long haul.

From there, the picture got bigger. We found several more points where water was getting in: through the exterior walls, over the parapets, and along the wood where the rooflines meet the walls.

How We Fixed It

Restoring the Deck’s Waterproofing

We started at the deck. After removing and prepping the deteriorated surface, we installed a full three-coat Tufflex waterproofing system:

• A primer
• A waterproof polyurethane membrane
• A durable aliphatic urethane topcoat, built to stand up to both water and years of UV exposure

Along the way, we repaired blisters and damaged sections in the existing coating, including the spots where the old waterproofing had already failed. As we opened things up, we checked the substrate underneath for hidden damage and made the repairs needed to give the new system a solid, sound surface to bond to. Prep like this decides whether deck waterproofing holds.

Sealing the Parapets and Rooflines

Next, we turned to the parts of the building envelope most exposed to weather: the exterior parapet walls, the roofline wood transitions, and the other vulnerable areas where moisture had been sneaking in.

Instead of tearing out and replacing the existing parapet cap, we coated over the top of the parapets with a professional waterproof layer. That creates one continuous barrier against rain, UV, and moisture, protects the stucco underneath, and slows down the weather-related wear that would otherwise keep chipping away at it.

Fixing What We Found Along the Way

As with most projects like this, the work uncovered a few things that had to be fixed before the new waterproofing could do its job.

Improper deck slope. The upper deck wasn’t sloped correctly, so water sat on the surface instead of draining off. On top of that, sections of the plywood, lath, and cement had lost their structural integrity and couldn’t be reused. We rebuilt and regraded the deck to the proper slope, so water now runs away from the building instead of pooling and setting up the next leak.

Deteriorated roof edge framing. We also found water intrusion along the upper roof edge, where long-term moisture had rotted the wood framing. We removed and replaced the damaged wood, then sealed it to restore the roof edge and close off one more path for water.

Fixing these underlying problems, not just laying down new waterproofing, is what turns a repair into a lasting solution. The new system now sits on a stable, properly draining structure built to keep water out for the long term.

Interior Mold Remediation

Because the leak had gone unaddressed for so long, moisture had worked its way into the interior walls around the bedroom window. With the exterior source finally shut off, we could turn to the damage it left behind and get the room back to a healthy, finished space.

We began with professional mold remediation:

• Set up containment to prevent cross-contamination
• Ran HEPA air filtration to capture airborne particles
• Removed mold-impacted materials where needed
• Cleaned and sanitized every affected surface
• Applied antimicrobial sealants and encapsulants to help hold future mold growth at bay

Interior Restoration

Once remediation was done and the area was verified dry, we rebuilt the finishes: new drywall where it was needed, taping and mudding the joints, matching the existing wall texture, sanding, and painting to blend in with the rest of the room. When we were finished, there was no sign the wall had ever been opened up.

By handling both the exterior water intrusion and the interior damage it caused, we returned the home to a clean, dry, fully restored condition, and set it up to stay that way.

The Outcome

We found the true source of a leak that had gone unsolved for years, made the repairs the building actually needed, and protected it with a complete waterproofing system built to last.