![]() ![]() In general, the state doesn't want building inspectors, builders, or owners making decisions about structural issues not prescribed in the residential building code. Where I live, the structural engineer who stamped the design drawings (any LVL would be required to be designed by an engineer) is required to sign an affidavit at the end of the project saying the building had been built according to the drawings. If possible don't bypass the original line of responsibility it could make the mess even worse. Who designed the structure? Was no engineer required to stamp the drawings? The engineer of record should always be the first person to review changes in the design. I wanted to get some views from you guys about the butchering job on the LVL. The garage was an addition and he also did a 10 x 10 bump out on the back of the house to expand our kitchen. We are marching forward and trying to repair his mess and get on with living in this house. This nightmare has cost us so much in lawyer fees and the GC is a liar. Out plan is to get an expert opinion here in out city for future court documentation. I am glad that we took many pictures and we have hours of video of the mess before it was covered up. We did pay the GC 23,000.00 the day the framer started, but our GC never paid him. Our builder was fired by us for doing shoddy work and the framer never got paid by the GC, so he has leined us. This did pass inspection because by the time he saw it, the framer had covered it up with the exterior cedar. Wow what a mess! The garage doors were flipped, the single is on the right side and the double on the left. If no inspector, start looking for a structural engineer. I can't imagine that he'd accept the cuts. So, if you have a building dept/inspector, call and find out when he is in and take the pictures to him and ask him what needs to be done. We had to do some slightly convoluted plumbing and heating to avoid a couple of LVLs, and I remember DH watching the plumbers to be sure they didn't cut the LVLs. A couple of times they made us get a drawing from a structural engineer (not an easy person to find for residential home owners, we found). Things weren't busy there, and DH always went with the attitude that he wanted to do things right, so they were pleasant about it. We were owner-builders and several times when DH had a structural question he went over to our local building dept and asked them (they didn't seem to like returning phone calls), but he always referenced the code book which we had a copy of. He certainly owes you written evidence that the beam is adequate since the contract documents show something considerably stronger.ĭon't depend on the inspector catching everything-ours gave rather quick cursory inspections and didn't catch a major structural mistake the framers made that DH discovered later. I guess you could ask to see the design calculations he or some lumberyard did or the loading per lin ft and the manufacturer's chart he used. If a builder is allowed to design an LVL beam in your state and you agreed to let him do it, you will probably not be able to get a straight answer regarding this matter. Only a structural engineer would be able to help you with that issue and he would need to know all loads especially snow (and how it might drift on the roof). The issue is how straight the head will be in 10 years. ![]() The builder is taking advantage of the fact that the garage door does not sit under the opening but behind it and can therefore tolerate almost any amount of deflection and still work. This beam is probably not going to fail but it might sag. Modulus of Elasticity (E) of a material is the ratio of tensile stress to tensile strain and is a measure of stiffness but it is not affected by the size of the beam like the Moment of Inertia (I) would be. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |