Zero Lot Line Construction

[IsaacStructural]

This came up in a discussion the other day, I'm wondering, how are wooden homes built right next to each other with almost no gap between the exterior walls of adjacent homes? See the image linked below for an example of what I'm referring to.

Are the walls fully sided and then just tilted up? Or is there another technique that I'm missing.

How are these maintained? It seems impossible to inspect or paint in these spaces, but I guess water penetration would be minimal, because of the shielding from the adjacent building.

http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2079215/2133224/2150667/061017_ardh_sfRowEX.jpg

M.S. Structural Engineering
Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer (Illinois)

 

[StrucPatholgst]

Zero lot line? How about negative lot line. I inspected a building in DC last year where the upper 8 stories overhung an adjacent building and property line, and incorporated the adjacent building's facade into its own 4 story atrium lobby. Awesome.

 

[IsaacStructural]

600 N Fairbanks in Chicago does that as well.

http://www.schatzdevelopment.com/_img/prop/propex01.jpg

M.S. Structural Engineering
Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer (Illinois)

 

[MikeHalloran]

Most of the row houses in the example photo appear to have room to swing a hammer between them, except for the three on the left, for which I have no clue.

A wooden tilt-up is an interesting idea, but you'd have to make it pretty thick just to support itself during the tilt, or maybe use a temporary backbone until the perpendicular walls are up.

If an adjacent property is already built to or near the lot line, I'm sure they'd prefer to have your newer ZLL structure built with a brick or CMU firewall instead of wood frame, even if the local building code allows wood.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[hokie66]

The ones on the left in the picture are on a curve in the street, so I imagine the gap is similar for all. Was the gap actually measured, or just eyeballed?

Waterproofing and maintaining the walls of any structure requires being able to get to the outer surface.

 

[IsaacStructural]

This was just a Photo I pulled up, but I'm fairly sure I've seen it other locations, with a surprisingly narrow gap. Even if the gap is say 18" or 24" how could a person realistically get in there and repair/replace a piece of siding 10 feet over head? would be pretty difficult to climb a ladder in such a space, swinging a hammer seems questionable, maybe a nail gun..?

M.S. Structural Engineering
Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer (Illinois)

 

[cvg]

I live in a zero lot line subdivision. The east wall of the house is on the property line. I would have to hop the fence and go in my neighbors back yard to see the outside of the house. But minimum spacing for buildings is about 5 feet. Enough to barely do basic maintenance. These are all concrete block / stucco. Biggest issue I see is that in some cases, gutters actually discharge into the neighbors yard.