The new owner of this apartment building noticed a few worrisome flaws in the brick veneer surface of this small apartment building. CSES was retained to make an assessment of the areas of concern, and provide recommendations. Our examination did not reveal any significant structural problems. The heavy brick faced […] Read more »
Confrontation Over Retaining Wall
Property line issues can wreak havoc with neighborly relations. This is a case in point. Most of us get on with our neighbors, mostly because we don’t have financial disputes with them. In this case, a basically cordial relationship between neighbors is threatening to turn into a raging confrontation over […] Read more »
Beam Far Too Small For The Load
This young man is quite proud of his house, which he purchased on a few months prior. You can see what he wanted repaired, and the sagging of the structural beam over the garage door is obvious. As it happens, the beam was far too small for the load it […] Read more »
Property In Danger Of Sliding Downhill?
There are those who can afford to live on the edge. In this case, the edge of a steep hillside, overlooking Puget Sound. Many of those also enjoy a large, flat lawn from which to enjoy the view. These two things are compatible, normally, only with some intensive engineering of […] Read more »
Deck Dry Rot Deterioration
It’s nice to have a view. This fellow’s deck was beginning to deteriorate, with unprotected wood splitting and cracking, and in some places showing dry rot deterioration. The deck was built by a previous homeowner, and most like was done without a permit. It sits on sleepers laid directly on […] Read more »
Damage Done By Plumber
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 »
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 »
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 »