Ahh, the beauty of Chicago Porches

[William J. Decker]

Did a water intrusion inspection on a 3 x 3 split faced block condo building. Typical problems. But get a load of the issues on the back porch! I could not even believe this.

1) Corner posts overly notched. May be just a Chicago thing, but they want no notches, through bolting with, at least, 5/8" bolts and brackets under the beams.
2) See this? It was under a landing on the porch.
3) They didn't have long enough joists, so they distered the joists and connected them with screws!
4) The metal hangers were a) undersized, b) secured (when they were secured) with screws and c) no screws in the actual joists.

Every day, at least one more WTF moment.

[Brian E. Kelly]

That should be Criminal Will.

[William J. Decker]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

That should be Criminal Will.

According to the condo board pres, this was AFTER it had already been fixed.

[Bob Elliott]

Not bad actually since at least they left some of the wood on your splice.
Not sure if the no shear strength screw or the no grip nail is worse however.
These are from last weekend.
The enclosed porch at rear used to expand sq footage at the rear of these places often makes it tough to see the issues

Good thing the city learned from what happened with the Wrightwood porch collapse deaths.
I make it a point to check porches at every property I visit and in this case the guy built it himself.Can you tell?
[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[William J. Decker]

Bob, that stairway is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Nailed ledger board?

I don't blame the code inspectors, so much, as I blame the idiot who built it. The law looks at it like that as well.

[Bob Elliott]

Originally Posted by wdecker

Bob, that stairway is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Nailed ledger board?

I don't blame the code inspectors, so much, as I blame the idiot who built it. The law looks at it like that as well.

My clients friend used me and I found rotted post there which ended up costing $8,000 to rebuild not far from you.
He was informed this is a top priority and that the enclosed section may cost more since there are hidden defects.

[Linas Dapkus]

Originally Posted by wdecker

Bob, that stairway is a catastrophe waiting to happen. Nailed ledger board?

I don't blame the code inspectors, so much, as I blame the idiot who built it. The law looks at it like that as well.

I've seen them nailed. Some had the Tapcon screw upgrade.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by belliott

Not bad actually since at least they left some of the wood on your splice.
Not sure if the no shear strength screw or the no grip nail is worse however.
These are from last weekend.
The enclosed porch at rear used to expand sq footage at the rear of these places often makes it tough to see the issues

Good thing the city learned from what happened with the Wrightwood porch collapse deaths.
I make it a point to check porches at every property I visit and in this case the guy built it himself.Can you tell?
[ATTACH]Attachment 45186[/ATTACH]

Did they now??

"Perhaps the most well-known was the Wrightwood porch collapse in 2003 that caused 13 deaths and injuries to 29 other young adults. That case ended with a global settlement of $16.6 million and involved lawyers from 14 firms."