Bob – I thought of you the other day while I was out of the office. Someone showed me some pictures of floor trusses & a mud crawlspace.
I’ve heard you mention crawl spaces and moisture several times, so that’s why your name came to mind.
The pictures were taken of some floor trusses that were over a mud crawlspace – No vapor barrier, no gravel or slab, and no ventilation. There was less than a foot of clearance between the bottom chord of the floor trusses and the ground.
The floor truss bottom chords had rotten to the point that sone of them had literally broken in half. There were spots on the lumber where the mold was over an inch thick.
Naturally, the finger pointing has kicked into high gear. Don’t know who will end up footing the bill for the repairs. The trusses are apparently too far gone to be fixed – The whole floor system will have to be replaced.
The structure is only about 6 years old, if I understand correctly.
Thought you might like to know that someone has actually been paying attention to the stuff you post………
Someday we’ll look back on all this and plow into a parked car.
Replies
Its a shame it went that far , as the occupants should have known. Normally a house has a very strong mold odor , then the floor gets spongy. They also would have felt the floor getting springy in the later stages . There should have been mold inside the house as well. Must have been some very stupid or ignorant people living in the house. Then there is a class of renters that will let nearly anything happen because its not them they figgure. [some really high class folks]
Of course the builder needs to be put in jail.
Tim Mooney
Boss, those would have been some pictures really worth posting.
> and no ventilation. There was less than a foot of clearance between the bottom chord of the floor trusses and the ground.
Code out here requires at least one square foot of vent per 150 sq. ft. of crawl space, and a minimum clearance of 18" between joists and grade. And that's in bone-dry Los Angeles.
We all know stories about nutso PIA inspectors, but the good that codes and inspections do in preventing this kind of grief sure outweigh that by a lot. It sounds like this building is in a place that needs to institute a building and safety department.
-- J.S.
Just to answer/clarify a couple of points:
Tim Mooney - This was a commercial building of some sort, not a house. And it was a pretty large area, from what I understand.
Rez - The pictures aren't mine, and I never saw the building and wasn't involved in the project. A friend had the pictures at a conference I went to.
John Sprung - This was somewhere in St. Louis, if I understand correctly. (Got the info 2nd hand) There was an architect and a building department involved.You're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.
BH, thanks for the thought.
Tell 'em to check the roof decking in the attic, too. Usually when there's that much moisture and damage in the crawl space, there will be significant amounts of mold on the roof sheathing from condensation.
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"I may have said the same thing before... But my explanation, I am sure, will always be different." Oscar Wilde