Marc Pevar
606 Ridge Avenue
Kennett Square, PA 19348
To: ********** ***********
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
On ********** a truck loaded with lumber impacted the house located at **********. The truck was traveling ********** on **********. It crossed **********, continued across a parking lot, went through pipe-railing mounted on a retaining wall, that is sixteen to eighteen inches higher than the 1stfloor of the house, impacted an SUV. The SUV fell approximately 4’ from the parking lot onto the lawn between the retaining wall and the house and ended up resting on its side, parallel to the house.
The truck continued forward and penetrated the first floor north wall of the house. It entered by passing through a fireplace brick chimney and interior fireplace structure. Once inside the wall, the truck impacted the flooring system, and stopped without impacting the stairwell corridor wall.
Additionally, there is a second building that is connected to the house. The second building is rented as commercial office space. That building is connected to the house by means of a suspended storage room. Energy from the impact to the house was transferred through the suspended storage room into the structure of the adjoining building. Both the connecting storage room and the connected building were severely damaged. The evidence of this damage is the cracks in exterior stucco, chimney brick and its 1stfloor ceiling near the chimney and point of connection to the suspended storage room. Additionally, the impact moved the attached building, so that it is nolonger correctly aligned on its supporting foundations.
The impact of the truck on the house was similar to the damage caused to buildings as a consequence of horizontal shaking of buildings by some earthquakes. Technical studies show that brick wall bearing structures are particularly vulnerable to total structural failure when subjected to such sudden horizontal earthquate vibrations. In fact, this house and its attached structure show evidence that they were similarly damaged as if there was an earthquake.
Unlike wooden structures that can sway in response to horizontal vibration, modular brick structures tend to collapse when the mortar joints break, changing the building from a unified mass of bricks into a disjointed pile of separate individual units. The resultant damage is not unlike the shattering of a glass bottle by a hammer blow. In this case, the bricks and structural parts are still standing, but many of the physical bonds between the parts are shattered, so the parts are not mechanically bonded to each other.
These general observations are based on visible cracks, measurements, and photographic evidence, The truck smashed through a bearing wall of three rows of brick, and a solidly built brick chimney. Inside the building, the truck's kinetic energy horizontally displaced the 1stand 2ndfloor joists and hardwood floors. Those floor joists transmitted the energy through solid wood support beams to the rear wall of the house. The rear outside wall is also built of three layers of brick, which was significantly displaced, cracked, and deformed. Many brick-mortar joints where sheared apart.
The energy from the impact radiated through all three stories, cracking ceramic tiles and plaster even on the 3rdfloor, damaging the roof structure, and even the front porch columns were displaced. The attached wood frame additon was displaced horizontally from its foundations. In a word, the truck totalled the building. This report describes and analyzes the damages to these built areas.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND STRUCTURAL DESIGN
The house is a historic two-story Victorian-style house with a finished third-story within the roof attic space.
The original exterior walls are load-bearing double-wythe brick, built on a stone basement foundation wall. The 3” x8” oak floor joists are supported and surrounded by the inner wythe of 4-1/4” x 2-1/8” x 8-5/8” hard red brick. There is wooden cross bracing between the joists. The flooring is ¾” thick tongue and grove hard wood, varying from 2-5/8 to 3-7/8 width, nailed directly into the floor joists.
The mid-span structural support in the basement has oak beams supported by wood columns set on short piers. The hard wood plank flooring is nailed to oak floor joists. The 2nd and 3rdfloor design appears to be similar to the 1stfloor, but instead of wooden columns and beams, there are interior bearing wooden walls supported by the hard wood flooring. The roof trusses are built-in-place, and bear on the exterior brick walls and on 3rdfloor interior bearing points.
The interior walls of the house are plaster, built with wooden lath, scratch, brown and finish coats, covered with paint or wall paper. Some floors are vinyl, others are ceramic tile, but most are hardwood.
The northeast corner of the house has a wood frame addition, from which the suspended storage room attaches to the adjoining building. The extent of the original structure is the area bounded by brick walls. Those walls all use brick and mortar of the same size and color. The exterior finish of the addition is wooden shingles.
Additionally the house has distinctive historical character, both in its outward appearance and its materials. The house’s shape, its wood trim, front porch decorative wood column shape and haunched roof connections, the dormers and multiple roof lines all produce a general Victorian era appearance. The house materials also reflect its era, using full-dimensional solid joists, bridging, studs, exterior painted wooden windows, doors, headers and sills. On the interior, the baseboard is built-up of component pieces, tall and thick. The stair railing baluster and stair trim also reflect the period design, as do the high ceilings and hardwood flooring.
DETAILS OF DAMAGE
From a distance, the hole in the wall, now covered with a blue tarp, is the largest sign of damage from this accident.
A closer inspection of the exterior shows the following kinds of damage around the entire perimeter of the house.
The entire wooden addition is displaced from its foundation, moved to the north and the east. The exterior north wall is bulged horizontally at a point more or less in line with the original eastward-most north-south brick wall. From that point, the addition is broken so that its exterior wall is no longer in one plane. At the vertical breaking point, exterior wood shingles are broken from foundation to eave. Around this vertical axis, on either side, individual wooden shingles are split vertically and some are bulged.
At the front of the house, the northward displacement of the addition at the foundation is approximately 1-1/4”, and the eastward displacement of the wooden addition from its foundation is approximately 1”. Additionally, a portion of the roof drip edge has fallen off, and the glass in two windows is shattered. Inside the addition, along the exterior north wall, two wall panels have separated, indicating “stretching” of the wall.
The side of the addition is displaced more than two inches, and the rear south-east corner is displaced more than one inch.
Inside the addition, the home’s original existing brick wall is exposed to view. That wall shows pervasive horizontal and vertical hairline cracking, and the door from the addition into the house binds in its jamb and will not close fully, because the jamb is no longer plumb or true. That brick wall is bulged into the main house, displaced in a vertically curved manner toward the south. On the other side of this brick wall, the plaster wall is cracked and is also bulged 1-1/4” inch toward the south, with the greatest bulge at 32 inches above the finished floor.
Also visible from within the addition, on the house's original eastern wall, is an area of totally loose and displaced brick. This area of displaced brick starts 22” from the northeast corner, where 42” of brick broke apart, starting from the foundation level below the floor joist, and continuing 4 courses of brick above the finish floor, in a triangular pattern, widest at the bottom, narrowest at the top.
All brick walls, excepting along the porch south of the main door have hairline cracks in brick and mortar, some loose mortar, spalled and spalling brick.
FINDINGS:
Almost all of the structure, exterior and interior, was damaged either by the impact or by water damage caused by roof leaks created by the impact.
The most extensive region of exterior damage is from the foundation upward approximately 3’. Particularly in this region, the exterior walls appear to have stresses still within them, as evidenced by the spalling and displaced mortar.
These stresses from the truck's impact leave the walls weakened, and less able to resist wind loads and vibrations from the heavy traffic on the ********* Road and ********** Road, both of which carry heavy truck traffic.
These damages leave the building susceptible to accelerated damage from traffic vibrations, high or rhythmic winds.
Additionally, there is damage inside the building itself. There is a potential for latent damage to plumbing, heating, electrical systems, that can result in leaks or fires.
If the house is reconstructed, it will be difficult to restore the original historic appearance of the exterior walls, thus lowering the value of the house.
It will be difficult, if not impossible, to remove and replace the brick wall above the foundation, where the greatest damage is evident. If such repair is done, it will be also difficult to match the color and aging characteristics of the new brick and mortar to the old.
Inside the house, the basement columns, beams and plaster walls that are displaced and/or bulged also need to be restored to their original position, including repair of ceramic tiles and wood flooring.
ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:
Exterior – in the brick, vertical and horizontal cracks and spalling around the entire house, starting at the foundation level and extending approximately 5’ above the 1stfloor finish floor level. The most concentrated area of damage is opposite the floor joists, extending a foot or so above the floor joists. Near the point of impact, there are loose bricks and segments of mortar that are loose. Some locations on the south wall of the house have spalling of the brick that appears to be progressive and on-going, suggesting that there are still imposed stresses within the wall system and individual bricks. It is as if the force of the impact continues to manifest itself slowly, causing new visible damage.
Displaced front porch column
Cracks in retaining wall, missing steel fencing
Cracked materials (brick, mortar, wood, stucco)
Spalled brick, stucco, paint
Loose bricks, mortar, wooden trim and siding
Signs of damage, interior as cited in the attached list of photos (direct versus indirect evidence of damage)
Collapsed floor system
Displaced basement columns – the tops tilt toward the south and east. (first row of 3 columns are displaced, the 2ndrow are not displaced)
Broken 1stfloor joist and flooring – note that the change in color of the bottom of the joists, where they overhang the beam, indicates that the beam has moved to the south approximately 1-1/2 inches. This displacement is consistent with the displacement of the 3 columns that support the beam that supports the joists.
Above the displaced beam, the 2ndand 3rdfloor hardwood floor planks are vertically displaced, approximately 5/8”
Throughout the house there are cracks in plaster walls and ceiling, with the largest cracks on the 2ndfloor above and to the east of the point of impact. In that 2ndfloor blue-walled bedroom, at the north-east exterior corner there is a 1 inch vertical displacement, giving the appearance that the wall went down.
The adjoining 2ndfloor hall bathroom wall and floor tiles are cracked, its door binds.
Consequential damage to plaster, paint and wall paper from water entering through damaged roofing system.
SUMMARY:
The buildings are essentially ruined as a consequence of the truck impact. The mortar joints are substantially broken, leaving large areas of brick walls standing in place, but with no mechanical connection between them.
Similarly, the plaster work is damaged, and shows signs of continuing progressive deterioration. Additionally, the buildings are beside very heavily traveled roads that are used by fully loaded tractor trailers moving produce to and from a major cold storage facility. The vibration of this traffic will accelerate the deterioration of the brick walls. As the walls deteriorate, the floor joists and roof rafters will continue to move. These movements will result in shingle and plaster and paint and tile displacement and damage.
Thus, the material and trade work that need to be removed and replaced include but are not limited to the following:
1. Brick
2. Framing, rough carpentry
3. Fascia and decorative exterior woodwork.
4. Interior wall, flooring and ceiling systems
5. Replacement of electrical, plumbing and heating systems
6. Roof
7. Windows
8. Gutters and spouts
9. Interior trim
10.Cabinetry
11.Ceramic tile
12. Drywall and plaster
13. Retaining wall railing
14. Stucco
15. Foundations
15. Adjoining building repairs – stucco
The first step to produce accurate quotations for the cost to demolish and reconstruct is to create scale drawings. Based on the drawings and the observed damages from the truck impact, an engineer and architect will work together to determine the scope of demolition, and the process for reconstruction to maintain the historical character of the buildings. After the scope of work is defined, and detailed specifications are created for all of the trades listed above, then contractors will be able to quote the costs accurately.
In my experience as a general contractor, total demolition and rebuilding is typically less costly than piecemeal demolition and partial reconstruction. For this reason, I recommend total demolition and reconstruction of the two structures.
Respectfully,
Marc Pevar
PRELIMINARY IMAGE REVIEW
Marc Pevar
1435 Fresno Road
Wilmington, DE 19803
*********
TO: ***********
Dear **********:
These are notes of various images of the damage to your house and the adjoining building, including interpretation and analysis as appropriate. I took some of the pictures, others are pictures that you provided. All of the images are identified by their electronic file sequence numbers.
“POV” stands for “Point of View” from which this or that photo was taken. Consolidated images from SA**********, which contained duplicates.
Image 302 - notice brick and mortar from impact – color difference and missing mortar show a pattern of impact damage, spalling of face of brick, brighter red color.
Image 306 - truck also impacted an SUV, which ended up between the retaining wall and the house, lying on its side, against the house, causing damage specific to the SUV incident. Note right front porch column and base are displaced, pipe rail is broken and bent.
Image 309 – see details. The right front porch column and its base are dislocated, the pipe rail is shown bent and broken, brick on front of house and on brick porch all show color changed areas suggestive of spalled brick. CHECK and measure for level and spalling.
Image 310 - Truck’s load of lumber shifted against the vertical bulkhead at the front of the trailer, bricks on truck cab roof. Note adjoining building chimney, apparent spalling.
Image 311 – note brick chimney on attached structure. Any signs of leaking there, or of spalling?
Image 373 – check for displacement between the stairs and the corridor wall. Appears bulged and curved.
Image 311 – study the space between the house corner and the vertical edge of the porch roof. That roof appears to be dislocated sideways, 2 to 3 inches, if you compare the space at the top to the space at the bottom.
Image 320 – note detail of brick and floor system. The joists fully bear on the interior with of brick, even the spaces between the joists are filled with brick. See 2ndbatch of images, #400 – shows a header to carry the floor joists across the hearth and chimney area. Note that the floor joist beyond snapped, whereas the joists on the header moved downward together – thereby moving the interior bearing wall up.
Image 329 – SUV hood resting against the porch. The rear is not touching the house. Speculative: the SUV front end damaged the porch. Possible party to the litigation. License: *********.
Image 330 – perspective shows how the parking lot is higher than the 1stfloor of the house, how the truck entered the house at a downward angle.
Images 337 and 338 show damage to the truck.
Image 343 – the wet road, the descent from ********* Road, POV from parking lot.
Image 344, 345 – rear view, toward NW, cracked plaster, spalled brick, addition dislocated from foundations. The attached “bridge” had to push into the adjoining structure.
Image 347 – closeup, spalled brick, missing mortar
Images 348, 349 – apparent spalling at chimney, high house wall at front left corner and side right area.
Images 351, 352 – addition is displaced, foundation cracked, brick spalled at foundation level.
Image 357 – closeup of hole in wall, left side, brick is pulverized.
Image 360 – closeup parking lot asphalt, surface punctured – was this caused by the tow truck? Regardless, it is damage needing to be repaired.
Image 366 – base cabinetry dislocated, counter dislocated, pot knocked over, stove top cluttered with fallen objects.
Image 367 – brick around stove damaged, see also 377
Image 368 – refrigerator doors open at odd angles
Image 372 – Living room, interior POV looking out toward tarp, furniture disarray.
Image 373 – corridor between stairs and living room wall, floor damaged, wall appears not to be true. Note baseboard and flooring dislocated.
Image 376 – living room from interior POV, note damage to plaster wall.
Image 377 – in kitchen, shows wall paneling cracked, ties in with Image 367
Image 383 – in basement, pool table, deer head – see how the joists are all angled. Measure the joists. Note the heat pipes broken, the potable water pipes bent
Image 385 – basement, note potable water pipes bent, hot water heat pipes separated.
Image 388 – rear wall of living room, interior, shows slope of floor, disarray, damage to plaster walls.
Image 389 – living room chaos – where did the truck impact in relation to the height of the 1stfloor system? Did the truck come in ABOVE the floor or in-line with the floor? Does horizontal displacement account for spalling and damage on the far side of the house?
END 1st batch of SA**********'s images
Image 399 – living room, floor is removed, showing hot water heaters in basement.
Image 404 – basement hot water heaters, piping snapped off, see image 399
Image 408 – corridor flooring bowed, between stairs and living room wall
Images 412 and 415– basement, damage to piping system
Images 420 and 421 – basement POV, 1stfloor joists, both at angle and displaced away from the point of impact. Note this is consistent with the bearing columns all being out of plumb. Note that the joists
Image 421 – joists hung from beam at stairs
Images 422, 423, 424 – cracked plaster in stairwell area
Image 431 – interior, living room area with flooring removed, shows wooden bridging between the floor joists.
Images 434 and 435 – brick construction at chimney, total section.
END 2ndbatch of SA’s images.
3rd batch of images – Image 437 – shows temporary wooden barrier at retaining wall, tarp at hole in wall.
This is a preliminary report only of the images listed.
Respectfully,
Marc Pevar