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old old covered porch

W

Wstubbs

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Joined
Nov 7, 2023
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77
Location
Smithville MO
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Replacing the front porch decking. contractor isnt giving much info and giving a bit of push back when asking for an engineer's letter or stamped plans.. luckily the homeowner is being awesome and getting an engineer's advice. 120 year old house.. not sure how that overhang is going to affect the home. there is also a little evidence of shifting/ sagging on the overhang and the porch decking... luckily i dont have to deal with the annoying contractor who has done it for 40 years and never had to have an engineered plan.. blah blah
 

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Sorry, should have specified. they are replacing the column supports. and with the application, the contractor only specified temporary supports. the owner wants to re spin or refurbish the old columns
 
Ya, that’s what I was thinking on my first few looks at it.
My colleague tends to error on the side of caution. And I am fairly new at this.. so I do to. I wouldn’t have asked for it if the contractor would have actually given me detailed plans.. instead of “replacing existing decking and supports”
 
Yeah this may not require engineer,but they can evaluate every aspect of the 120-year-old home, give precise blueprints, and ensure that the work satisfies safety and structural regulations.
 
chenxin2894 said:
Yeah this may not require engineer,but they can evaluate every aspect of the 120-year-old home, give precise blueprints, and ensure that the work satisfies safety and structural regulations.
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Would you recommend requiring every house having porch repairs have this done, the every aspect part? And what regulations - those when it was built (probably none) or those for new today? And all because of replacing the structural flooring of a porch a couple of feet above grade?

Having lived in and worked on two 100+ year old houses, and now a recent build (1994) I'll take the 100+ year old ones as better built any day.
 
Mr. Inspector said:
What overhang? Does the floor overhang or you are talking about the roof overhang? I don't see anything wrong with the porch roof overhang.
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I could drive by and take a few photos. There is def some sagging.. can’t quite tell from google street view. But yea I’m speaking on the roof overhang. How it is attached to the house and the condition they are in is our biggest concern
 
If there's a permit for the floor, how does that get to existing roof to remain? Property maintenance code? Street view sure makes it look straight.

If you don't trust builder, it might make sense to look at framing and foundations when old decking is removed.

And tell the owner about composite columns. Cost less, are stronger, and will last much on longer than wood. Can't tell difference from street other than no rot or peeling like the wood columns on the street.
 
Sometimes an engineer will "offer" to write a letter rather than draft plans. Engineer consults with homeowner and says "yup, looks good, no problem." Building department says "yup, looks good, just need some plans." Owner says, "What? I already paid an engineer and they said it's good. Now you want me to pay someone else to draw plans and have the engineer stamp it? That's crazy."

I think a good contractor or designer could absolutely draw up a quick plan using prescriptive provisions, and in that case, no engineer required. Lack of prescriptive design would require an engineer. If the building department would accept a letter from an engineer, that might be cheaper and easier.
 
Joe.B said:
Would you say plans are required?
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To replace existing flooring with new flooring of the same type? No plans required for that anyplace I lived.

If there's a property maintenance issue with another part of the building, address that.

I don't think we have heard all of the relevant issues.
 
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chenxin2894 said:
Yeah this may not require engineer,but they can evaluate every aspect of the 120-year-old home, give precise blueprints, and ensure that the work satisfies safety and structural regulations.
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If the contractor would provide an As-Built Sketch to document what has withstood the test of time for 120 years, shouldn't the Prescriptive tables and guidance in the IRC allow you a basis to evaluate the Repair / Replacement?
 
If the FF is not greater than 30” above the adjacent grade within 3’, no permit could be required to build it from scratch.
 
ICE said:
If the FF is not greater than 30” above the adjacent grade within 3’, no permit could be required to build it from scratch.
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Sounded like they were replacing Structural Elements. Even though the porch has withstood the test of time, it would be nice to make sure it was and continues to be fixed in place and not become a big Wing that would lift up with a big gust of wind. ICE me thinks you are pretty long in the tooth with experience and understand the problems they have with decks lifting and taking off, same as this porch roof.
 
Genduct said:
ICE me thinks you are pretty long in the tooth with experience
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Well Sir, no more than you. I remember when it was mostly cousins that built decks and uncles built the houses. That’s would be Arvene the carpenter, Larry the drywall and painter with pops handling the plumbing and electrical.
 
ICE said:
Well Sir, no more than you. I remember when it was mostly cousins that built decks and uncles built the houses. That’s would be Arvene the carpenter, Larry the drywall and painter with pops handling the plumbing and electrical.
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I can see now why your tag line is OH WELL
 
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ICE said:
If you are insinuating that the industry has an inflated opinion of itself, I agree wholeheartedly.
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The idea of agreeing with someone from California is somewhat confusing for me.
Unless you are from San Diego where the Common sense people live
 
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