An update on the hillside retaining project we previously talked about. You may recall, our client contacted us because she was losing parts of her yard to landslides during heavy rains. We design a retaining system to stop the process. It involved driving about 80 pipe piles, held back by […] Read more »
Lakeside Cabin Design
CSES provided design services for this beautiful lakeside cabin. It’s a simple plan, but with lots of perks for the owner. Some issues involved the water table near the lake, wind and earthquake loads, and avoiding any interior posts, as well as providing as much view as possible. Read more »
New 8 Foot Basement Ceiling
I met the contractor on site for some final questions and clarifications, and to solve one knotty problem involving the construction of the porch. Not raining for once! The clients are happy with their new high ceilings in the lower floor – “we no longer call it the basement! It’s […] Read more »
Roof Structure Strengthened
This client purchased a beautiful view home in Bellevue, and retained us to help with some improvements. He wants to remove a wall separating living room and dining areas, and relocate some windows to improve the view. Part of our work involved strengthening of some less-than-adequate roof framing. We also […] Read more »
Hillside Failure Remediation Part 2
This engineer visited the site again, to continue our structural observations, and to witness further installations of piles and tiebacks, and to help solve a few construction problems caused by the unfortunate site conditions, including poor soil, in concert with recent rather heavy rains. The piles were installed using a […] Read more »
Upstairs Kitchen Revised
This homeowner was frustrated and worried, because he had hired a plumber to install an upstairs kitchen, and felt that the wall framing was unnecessarily butchered during the installation of plumbing. This fellow is a typical diy-er, spending money for plumbers and such only when necessary, and trying to do […] Read more »
Retirement Villa Structural Inspection
I was called by my favorite Real Estate Agent to help a buyer decide if this is the right house. They are concerned that this definite fixer might have serious problems with basic structure. And, although many parts of the house need maintaining or repairing, I discovered that the basic […] Read more »
Hillside Failure Remediation
I was called out on a site visit to take a look at a backyard slope. Behind the house was a beautifully finished backyard, with multiple terraces down to a deck overlooking a ravine. This fall, mudslides carried quite a bit of soil away from the deck supports. What soil […] Read more »
Inspection For Home Sale
CSES Engineering was retained to inspect and provide an opinion to a potential buyer of an upscale home in North Seattle. The home is relatively new, and is situated on the edge of a steep slope. Poor erosion control during the original construction led eventually to undermining of the foundation. […] Read more »
Basement For New Baby
This client’s home is located in a fine neighborhood in Seattle, and they wanted to improve their basement, in time for a new baby! CSES provided structural design, and the project is now almost complete. Along the way, we helped to solve a number of problems with the existing construction […] Read more »