EVERETT – The Snohomish County parking garage in downtown Everett is still leaking and damaging paint jobs to the tune of thousands of dollars.
Drivers in December filed claims against the county after finding white spots and streaks on hoods, roofs and fenders of vehicles parked inside the garage.
The problem isn’t new.
This is the third winter that claims have been filed. The $29 million garage opened in 2004 and holds 1,200 cars for the county government campus and the Everett Events Center. It was built by national contractor Mortenson Co., which also built the $175 million county campus.
Though the roof of the garage itself is sealed, cars track in snow and other moisture that pools on the car decks, county officials said.
That water finds its way into cracks in the car decks. The cracks occurred naturally as the concrete cured.
As the water travels through the cracks, it picks up a substance, possibly lime, which is a key ingredient in concrete. Whatever the substance is, officials said, it discolors paint when the water falls on the vehicles on decks below.
In May, county officials said they planned to fill 17 cracks that appeared between car decks. At that point, the county had received at least $15,000 in damage claims for at least 25 vehicles since the garage opened.
A number of the cracks were filled last year, county engineer Owen Carter said.
Even so, eight more claims were filed for damage that reportedly occurred Nov. 7 through Dec. 1. Five of the claims total more than $10,000, including rental car costs; the other claims did not cite estimated damage.
Most of the reported dates of damage coincided with the snowstorm at the end of November.
“Since then, we’ve been talking with Mortenson, the contractor, and have talked to a couple of consulting engineers who do work on garages and are trying to get some input on how best to resolve this,” Carter said. “We’re still working on the plan. We’re looking at what are the best solutions for fixing this.”
Until then, garage staff are monitoring water that pools up and blocking off parking stalls where the damaging water might drip onto vehicles, Carter said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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