One of our biggest clients is a structural contractor who does a large amount of this type of repair work. As mentioned above, there are many many many shitty companies that do this type of work though, especially in my area. We have come across work for the other companies and always turn it...
Most things stand, but a lot of older lower slope hip roofs definitely have sags or separation of the rafters along the hip-nailer.
The folded plate action with the sheathing helps hips last a lot longer than valleys just due to the fact that the wood framing is being compressed at the...
Didn't know someone sold printed copies of those, but very cool. Happy to help. I prefer digital because even in those older codes you can still search the PDFs. The NYC codes from the before times are the best.
Are younger engineers learning LRFD and actually using it? Yes we learned LRFD in college, but the firm I first worked at everyone used ASD so I still do now. The LRFD-only steel manual (from early 90's?) was a great paperweight. My professor in 2010 said ASD is old news, but here we are in 2025...
Very minor. I believe AISC lets you ignore any eccentricity as long as it's not an "extended" connection. A simple knife plate that's a few inches long with a single row of bolts isn't going to be an issue.
We use OneDrive for same reasons as pham said. I have had a recent issue that is renaming word docs to temporary name/ folder while in them, but otherwise easy to use.
Very few people we work with still use Dropbox I've noticed. Mostly old timers. Smaller archs use Google Drive usually since...
I have a 21ft long W12x26 in my kitchen on two steel columns and the price of the steel vs 18" LVL's was cheaper for the steel. Engineered lumber is expensive these days.
The cost difference is usually in the installation because not all contractors want to work with steel beams. Also they can...
Whenever I have to check something old I usually start by checking one of the older NYC codes. They are so simple and well written I am envious of the simpler code days (as we discussed in that other thread).
Looks like the 1922 code has a whole chapter on plaster so that would be my...
You would be correct.
Had a big apartment building years ago with this issue. They only noticed it because they did work on a balcony and realized the outer 2 screws barely hit the 2x rim and the inner two screws were only in the trex. Had to shut down like 50 balconies for a while until they...
Agreed. And I remember what a pain it was for everyone in my old office to change their mindset for wind at the time. Especially because NJ and NY and NYC all have different codes referencing different standards. Why must they change the snow ugh.
Absolutely. I worked with a lot of old timer engineers and some would use an old BOCA code or blanket 20 psf wind like NYC did. They've been thru so many code changes that they don't care to worry about all the different changes every 3 years. Jack the wind speeds but add a 0.6 factor...
NYC code was 20 psf wind for all buildings up to 100 ft tall. Just a nice flat wind pressure. No wasted time going thru the code just to come up 18.7 psf or something like that. The code guys must get paid by the page because half of ASCE7 feels like wind chapters now.
For people who use ram structural system know the struggle of installing an update and then your previously working model now has 25 slab edge warnings.
Enercalc has had some issues in the past but I love that program. Chris is always quick to respond and address potential bugs.
I've just...
I just use what steel beam size works in this scenario since most of the time in new construction we'll have a 2x top plate and can use the top flange hangers. It's different in a retrofit type situation of course.
If you're worried about it being loaded only on one side just run a quick...
Cut sheetrock up a few feet and install ledgers all around. Usually they are single story ranches so they are light anyway.
Definitely rare in NJ to lift without being in a flood zone (or environmental problem). Do you usually raise houses a full story up or put them back down low?
