Plumbers are not known for their careful consideration of the structural implications of what they remove from a floor. By which I mean, some have a tendency (regardless of the effect on the safety of the mutilated floor joists) to hack away whatever gets in the way of the plumbing […] Read more »
Open Basement Space
My previous blog notwithstanding, many people like their homes to be perfect. I can respect that, and in fact much of my design work is intended to facilitate that desire. The gentleman who owns this neat suburban home was looking to improve and finish his basement to be used by […] Read more »
Location Of New Posts And Bearing Walls
A number of contractors keep the CSES number at hand when they undertake a remodel which involves moving or relocating a wall or post. If the wall is a bearing wall, we can replace that with a new wood beam; however, then the post loads at the beam ends must […] Read more »
Earthquake Safety For Second Story Deck
Most of us love to barbeque on the deck on a warm summer evening, especially if the deck is high and the view is good. Modern decks are, in general, well constructed and safe, but even in newer homes, constructed to modern standards, there are decks which are just a […] Read more »
Poorly Located Deck Footings
This young couple recently bought a home, and wanted to stabilize an upper floor deck, which was sloping due to settlement of the supporting footings. The house is located adjacent to a fairly steep slope, and each time heavy rains occurred, the hillside supporting the footings shifted very slightly, so […] Read more »
Cracked Foundations In Seattle
Lots of Seattle homes have cracked foundations, especially the older homes, many of which are 100 years old or more. For many of those homes, these cracks are not a serious problem. The cause of the cracks is usually a combination of poor quality, unreinforced concrete, along with soil that […] Read more »
Hodge-Podge Of Additions & Remodels
Many of us love the older homes in and around Seattle, despite their often all-too-obvious flaws. Case in point, this engineer’s home is, in some ways, a hodge-podge of additions and remodels. There is almost nowhere where the walls are perfectly plumb, or the floors completely level. Even so, the […] Read more »
Bridge Safe For Fire Trucks
This is a fairly interesting piece of design we encountered. The owner of a home near Carnation has a 50 foot long bridge crossing a stream as a part of the driveway leading to his house. It’s a private bridge, not owned by the state, and as such, has not […] Read more »
Couple’s Home Had Nothing Wrong
We originally visited this fine family home, about a month ago, to help them with problems that a plumber had created in an upstairs bathroom. Plumbers do tend to hack away at floor and wall framing to fit their pipes, often to the detriment of the floor’s serviceability. At any […] Read more »
Deck To Support Solar Panels
This fellow wants to build a covered deck to support solar panels in his rear yard. He has an existing deck, but that was in pretty bad shape. We provided a design which included repairs where necessary, and added structure to form the roof that supports the panels. The sketch, […] Read more »