Created back in early 2017, the ‘Construction Fails’ subreddit has grown to a community of 19.8k members.
Anyone hoping to join the community should know not to spam the sub with any promotions for products or services. There’s also to be no trolling (memes are still fine, but they have to be tasteful), and any photos or videos or fatal accidents are absolutely not allowed. The mod team also asks members to be kind and civil towards each other.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that we at Bored Panda have seen this sort of reckless attitude towards building safety. A while back, we spoke to the team of structural inspectors at Alpha Structural, Inc., who shared their thoughts about safety, shoddy repair and building jobs, and contractors.
“There are many factors that can affect the repair of a home such as budget constraints, timing, accessibility of workspace, etc. For the most part, we would put the responsibility on the contractors that were hired to do the work,” they said.
#8 Neighbors Attempting To Reinforce Their Stone Wall With….spray Foam Insulation
“Most homeowners are not aware of the repair ‘methods’ used, especially when the work is under the home. For example, we’ve seen brick foundations that have been ‘retrofitted’ by bolting the framing to the brick walls. However, this doesn’t serve any purpose as the bricks can’t hold these bolts. Many times, the homeowner had no idea that there was any problem performing this type of retrofit on a brick foundation. Without trying to sound cliché, we can say the old maxim, ‘you get what you pay for’ holds true when selecting a contractor to repair, or upgrade your home’s foundation,” the Alpha Structural team explained to Bored Panda.
“I would say one of the worst homes we inspected was back in 1992. We went to a 3 story hillside home located in Playa del Rey. The condition of the soil supporting the home was so bad that, during our assessment, we found that the home was cracking and actually moving,” Ben Reinhart, from Alpha Structural, told Bored Panda.
“We are not alarmists in any sense but this was the first time we had to evacuate. Temporary shoring was put in the next morning to prevent the home from collapsing. The complexity of the repair required, getting a large rig on a steep hillside to excavate a 55’ deepened foundation, made this one of the worst and most challenging in our long history. Let’s just say if we were on a reality TV show, this episode would’ve been a season finale,” he shared the experience.
“Basic maintenance will keep your home strong for a long time to come. Our advice would be to clean out gutters, ensure you have downspouts that direct water away from your foundation and see that the hardscape (walkways, patios, etc.) and landscape grade away from the home,” the structural inspectors shared how to take care of your home.
