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Recent content by ChiefInspectorJeff

  1. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Structural Inspection of Residential

    Quote (ChiefInspectorJeff) Now on to the matter of houses being engineered.In many cases it is not possible to do without steel, which a contractor won't use. What steel are you talking about? If straps, contractors have no issue with installing straps. If tension rods, same...
  2. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Structural Inspection of Residential

    My opinion is that the designer should do the inspections. In lieu of that the insurance companies should have inspectors. The government inspection process is too corrupt, which is why I left the field after 16 years. The contractors own the commissioners who control the major who controls the...
  3. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Six Story Wood Frame Construction: Tips & Resources

    I love wood! In the fireplace or in a tree[pc] Inspector Jeff
  4. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Six Story Wood Frame Construction: Tips & Resources

    Scary.Too many places to make mistakes and obviously ill suited for the use.Complex details that won't get done. Inspector Jeff
  5. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Six Story Wood Frame Construction: Tips & Resources

    Here's my tip: memories are short,sprinklers fail, fire dept.s have short ladders. A death trap in the making and pushed by the wood industries. Fire rated wood might help but that stuff is problematic. Inspector Jeff
  6. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Redundancy of Structural Systems in the Context of Structural Safety

    I think if most things were built to codes and engineering standards and were maintained the problems would go away. Florida had proposed that Architects inspect their own jobs. Now this would pose a problem in the real world, but would make a big difference in safety. Government inspectors have...
  7. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Attaching Interior Shear Wall Bottom Plate to Post-Tensioned Slab on Grade

    Pour a stem wall with vertical dowels and embed into that if the slab is proposed and not poured.Them you finish up to a surface. Inspector Jeff
  8. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Balcony Collapse in Berkley, CA

    MacGruber, Yes, it is messy but uses a few bolts and hold downs and some blocking. Would not the M be resisted by the HD7A tying into the dead load of the tributary floor and roof? The bolts into the wall might need bearing plates to spread the load. Wouldn't the braced frame railing resolve...
  9. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Deck Collapse in North Carolina

    Here are 2 solutions. 1.Insurance companies employ inspectors. 2.Homeowners hire inspectors who work for an agency that employes Lawyers. Otherwise the corruption will continue, through government officials coerced to pass illegal thing just to keep their jobs. I put up with it for 17 years.If...
  10. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Balcony Collapse in Berkley, CA

    I guess the point is moot if galvanized steel and venting is used. The blocking between the floor joist would not connect to them so they could act as the web of a T beam with the flange being 2- 3/4" plywood.Is this possible? Inspector...
  11. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Balcony Collapse in Berkley, CA

    I don't see why it would not work. The balcony rail will be fabricated from steel tube stock and be anchored to the host structure and to the wood deck end members with lag bolts or threaded rods. The railing would be a cantilevered braced frame attached to the host stud pack which is attached...
  12. ChiefInspectorJeff

    11/32" T1-11 siding

    You have to remember that it is not that thick as the lap joint and the grooves are thinner, maybe 1/2 the nominal thickness. You can use drywall on the inside wall to help with shear using a combined SWS. Or metal brace strapping. He might be right! Inspector Jeff
  13. ChiefInspectorJeff

    How best to hang my porch swing?

    Add ceiling joist or trussed rafters designed for the load. Also See if the truss engineering was for a ceiling dead load. Inspector Jeff
  14. ChiefInspectorJeff

    Bottom plate failures at SWS tension chords

    During inspections and plan review I have noticed the engineer allows 8" -12" from the corner holddown anchor bolts to the 2-2x4 chord of a wood SWS. It seems the moment on the plate which is acting as a cantilever is much higher than designed for.Also the shear is higher than a 2x4 can take(...

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