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WestCoastXPlant · Guest

Does anyone know of a local structural engineer? I need to find someone by Monday, 8/17

Thanks.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

Alexander Newman - 508-652-8500

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

http://www.exponent.com/alexander_newman/

Fart smeller this guy is.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

If he's not available, let me know I can refer you to a bunch of others. If you can tell me the nature and location of the issue I can be better suited to find the right match.

melonrightcoast · Joined: 22 Feb 2009 Posts: 236 Location: metrowest

WestCoastXPlant:

did you find a house to your liking ... that isn't in danger of being condemned (curious about the urgent need for the structural engineer)?
_________________
melonrightcoast ... are you?

star2 · Guest

John could you recommend a structure engineer with experience in wood destroying insects? I'd like to identify both accessible and hidden damages (probably invasive). Thanks.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

Mark Jarvinen

http://license.reg.state.ma.us/pubLic/pubLicenseQ.asp?board_code=EN&type_class=ST&license_number=000038491&color=loca&lb=EN

I got this number off of whitepages.com 781-447-2465

I believe he's still at:

Boston Building Consultants

Boston Building Consultants
332 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210

Phone: 617.542.3933

http://www.bbcboston.com/services.html

What you're talking about is called "fatigue". It is very hard to calculate. Basically, if you have a floor joist that is 2"x10" and the bottom 2" of the 2x10 is rotted, you basically have a 2x8... and then have to run the numbers about that.

This guy was fantastic, we opened up stuff and he was able to find reasonable solutions to a number of issues. He's a good guy too.

star2 · Guest

Thanks a lot John. After reading your post, I am not quite sure if a structure engineer is what I need right now. Here is my situation: I just bought a house last month. The inspector missed a lot of wood destroying insect damage in the attic. He went there but marked the joists and rafts as "function as originally intended." A couple days ago I found about 10 joists and some rafts in the attic are damaged (looks like caused carpenter ants; most galleries seem to be old) and there is fresh sawdust in a corner. I'll have a pest control guy coming. I am very afraid that same kind of damage has been done to joists/beams on basement floor and second floor (they are covered). What is my best way to proceed?

star2 · Guest

The pest control guy just looked at it. He said it was powder post beetles. They came with the wood. The pest control guy found more joists and rafters are damaged but the damage is not that bad for a 57 year old house. I think the inspector should have noted it.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

My house was built in 1997 so I spent most of my time at the home inspection talking with my realtor and not hovering over the inspector. Anyway, there were several rotted wooden sills. Because the house was so young I think the inspector didn't really inspect the sills as it would be an anomoly to have rotted sills on a 9 year old home... Anyway we had a contractor come in to give us a price for patching the sills and replacing the bad ones. It came to $4,600. I took the estimate and we called the home inspection company, the owner of the inspection company came out personally inspected, apologized and sent us a check for $4,600.

I think you might need a structural engineer to come out and assess the damage and write up a report as to what would need to be done to make it structurally sound, then take that report and have a contractor price it and any other scope necessary to finish the work beyond what the stuctural engineer notes, so you can get an order of magnitude as to the costs and then forward that to the home inspection company and try to settle what you can from it. Think of it this way, the reason why you got the inspection was to ascertain any flaws so you could renegotiate and settle the issue with the seller. If you were empowered with accurate information you could have renegotiated the repairs with the seller so you were harmed by the bad inspection.

The flip side is that all older homes do have some degree of fatigue and they aren't perfect. If fatigue was apparent as an overall condition and that is the nature of the surrounding area because it is an older housing stock, the prevailing approach may be that inspectors might be able to miss more than say if it was a much younger home. It's kind of like if you bought a car with 5K miles on it versus one with $200k miles on it. If in this instance case law sided against the home inspection company, nobody would sign off on older homes where they could be exposed to unreasonable risk. Nonetheless, home inspections are required by mortgage companies and as a minimum, a home should be structurally sound so I'd move forward and buy 8 hours or so from a structual engineer; a 2 hour inspection and a 6 hour report. That might run like $900.

You could call the home inspection company and tell them that you found some rot and are going to bring in a structural engineer and if it is found that there are structural issues you want them to pay for the engineer and the work necessary to make the home structurally sound. They might decide to come look themselves and repair all damaged members as it may just be cheaper for them to do so than to deal with a long drawn out process where they may be obviously at fault and risk their company's reputation...

star2 · Guest

Thanks John. I am sure the insect damage is not normal for the house because the house looks to be in good shape and the inspector didn't find any major issue. With the pest control guy, I looked at the limited exposed wood in basement and they seem to be fine. He also said the fresh sawdust is from drilling when the previous owner had someone do the wiring.

I think the damage in the attic is so obvious and the inspection company can't deny. The contract says they are supposed to report previous visible insect damages. So they should pay for the engineer and work to repair. I'll need to find a way to assure that the basement floor and second floor don't have the same kind of damage. I can make some openings on basement ceiling but for the second floor, I am not sure how to do that. Probably I’ll contact the inspection company first see what they say. I was thinking about going with a lawyer but contacting the inspection company is the right thing to do as the first step.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

You need a one page writeup from the pest control guy that describes the extent of the terminte damage and make an estimate as to how old the damage was. If you can help them with making a Word File that had photographs attached that would be even better. This brings credibility to your claim that the damage was present at the time of the inspection and it gives a scope for the structural engineer to evaluate when they do their walk through.

star2 · Guest

Thanks John for the suggestion. I'll make take some pictures and contact the pest control company, the inspection company and structural engineer.

Guest · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 7:42 pm GMT Post subject:

I had two pest control guys looked at it. And a third guy looked at a few pictures. It is powder post beetles (or old house borer, kind of beetles). A lot of joists and rafters in attic were damaged. The guy from the inspection company says it is not a structural problem. He said if damage is less than 25% then it is OK and compared it with drilling a hole to run wire, but I don't believe such a rule. He tried to offer me refund of home inspection fee. I rejected it. I told him I am going to have a structural engineer look at it and wanted them to pay for it. He declined it at first but later said he wants me to call him when I get a quote for a structural engineer.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

Where you drill into a floor joist is important. Typically the top half is in compression and the bottom half is in tension and the middle line is called the "neutral axis".

On this diagram you can see that line XY is the neutral axis.

http://chestofbooks.com/architecture/Safe-Building/images/Floor-Beams-And-Girders-100204.jpg

Typically electricians or plumbers drill holes at the center of the floor joists if they a penetration.

Scroll about 2/3's down on this link:

http://www.johnguest.com.au/linkpages/SPFinstADV.html