Measuring Sway / Story Drift in Residential Construction

[Steve1415]

Good afternoon all,

We have come across a situation where some existing high density homes (think townhome but without the party wall, rather a ~4-6 gap between individual homes) are experiencing enough movement in the wind that the homeowner's have complained. I'm curious to know if anyone has any experience with a similar situation. I've done some searching to see if there is any equipment or are any companies out there that can provide some sort of real-time monitoring of the movement of a structure, with little luck. Monitoring would help us better understand the magnitude of the movement and develop potential solutions. Any recommendations are welcome.

 

[atrizzy]

How's the wall situation for the homes? Lots and more or slim to nil?

 

[oldestguy]

I'd look into the electronic equipment used for measuring blasting induced vibrations. Something that can record the readings over a lengthy time period. That may at least be a start. Also, the gear used for measuring depth to bedrock along with a shock at various distaces from the geophone does give a chart with about a minute's worth of data.

 

[Tahoebrian5]

Data logging equipment used for motorcycle or auto racing may be worth looking into. These typically measure how the suspension travels (among other data) over the course of a lap or race and usually the equipment has software to complement it. You could set up several channels to measure at a few points and also measure wind speed and have it all display on a common time line.