The Shipwright Apartments
​Restoration and Remodel

Shipwright Apartments 2018 - 2020

The Shipwright Apartments is our fourth restoration project in Vallejo, currently still in progress. Our award-winning Empress Theatre project was completed in 2002. The Administration Buildings at Touro University on Mare Island spanned from 2002 to 2005. The award-winning restoration of the Duchess of Windsor Apartments, the most historic apartment complex in Vallejo at 524 Georgia Street, was completed in 2006.
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Shipwright Apartments was once an elegant Craftsman-era home, lovingly built in 1910 by shipwright James H. Smith for his family. It had fallen into shocking disrepair after decades of neglect by an absentee landlord. We purchased it in 2017.We encountered all of the classic challenges with a building that had been long neglected and was the victim of poorly planned and executed prior remodeling. One major problem that caused many others was water intrusion. The property adjacent at 828 Georgia Street had a downspout that dumped its runoff directly into our west alley and into the foundation and ground floor of our building, as did a downspout on our building. The prior owner of our building had  tried a sump pump. Since the current owner of 828 Georgia Street would not correct their problem, we faced a dilemma. Water intrusion from downspouts on both properties caused:

1. Black mold
2. Dry rot of walls, floor system
3. Undermining of foundation
4. Ground-floor unit flooding
5. Appliances failures 
6. Structural settling

Temporarily we piped out the excess water overground. A more permanent solution consisted of the following:

1. A water proofing system of water seal on the inside face of the existing retaining foundation wall.
2. Epoxy injection of cracks in existing retaining foundation wall.
3. Pouring an additional concrete wall on the inside of the retaining wall, sandwiching the waterproof system between the two concrete walls.
4. Removing the existing cracked slab and pouring a new slab over a Steigo waterproof membrane system.
5. Adding a drain pipe underground connected directly to downspouts to drain the roof into the storm drain system.
6. Providing a French drain around the building that prevents water from building up hydrostatic pressure on the foundation walls.
7. Provide a new sump well behind retaining wall below floor level and install new sump pump.

Before

After