House Collapsed On Me Today

[eddiememphis]

Well, not completely.

I was finishing up a mold test at this place this morning. I was standing at the front door, getting ready to leave and there was a large crashing sound that shook the building.

The front porch came down followed by a half ton of bricks. The renter and I said, "What the fuck was that..." when there was another loud noise and some more came down. The third time the house shook we decided to leave out the back door in case the roof fell in.

Walking around to the front, it looks like the parapet finally had decided it had enough and fell over. Odd time to do it, 10:00 am, no wind. The fire department was there in no time with 4 trucks. They bounced around on the roof, called it safe, pushed some more bricks down and left.

There was a lot of old water damage inside the house and the renter said the owner had a new roof put on a year ago.

I have been in some pretty shitty places, having over 600 inspections under my belt, but this is the first time one has tried to kill me.



Before. Zoom in and you can see the numerous cracks in the mortar above the steps.

[SideShow Bob]

Damn !
Talk about what ifs……. If you would have stepped out 3 seconds earlier…….

[MarkCO]

Not uncommon for the parapets on old buildings to fail. I've been to Lamar 3 times for the same thing in the last year, and several in the Denver Metro.

[Tim K]

Neato. Makes for a good story.

Glad you weren’t hurt!

[Doc45]

Pardon my ignorance but wouldn't something like that require a building inspector to check it out and decide if the dwelling is safe to occupy?

[Gman]

[eddiememphis]

Pardon my ignorance but wouldn't something like that require a building inspector to check it out and decide if the dwelling is safe to occupy?

An engineer would be better. At least that is what I would do if I owned it. If I was renting there, last night would have been my last.

It looks like it was just the front that failed but there was a lot of evidence of water intrusion on the interior side of the exterior walls. What little I could see of the exposed roof looks suspect.

The old lady next door said the woman that owns it is a "slum lord" and hasn't done any work to the place since 1983. She was one of a dozen neighbors that came out to see what the noise was, along with a couple guys that stopped their cars.

It doesn't look like much damage from my lousy pictures but it was LOUD! I was three feet from where they came down. I thought a dump truck had unloaded a couple yards of bricks on the porch roof.

When I got my equipment out, everything inside was covered with dust. I'm sure there was asbestos in that dust- the place was built around 1900.

[eddiememphis]

Talk about what ifs……. If you would have stepped out 3 seconds earlier…….

That was my thought as well.

It may not have killed me but I am certain I would have met my health insurance deductible.

[CapLock]

I could clean up and relay those brick. Approx 15,000.

[Doc45]

Thanks, glad no one was injured!