You can get away with a sloppy handshake but with a carelessly built house? Not so much. Eventually, its qualities will deteriorate to the point when the only thing holding it together is pure luck. And you better call in the construction engineers before that runs out, too.
Alpha Structural, Inc. presents itself as the only company in Los Angeles County licensed to engineer and build any type of foundation or hillside repair. For its 25th birthday, the organization has decided to share some of the craziest structural construction fails they've found over the years, making many internet users question the sanity of some contractors. "Besides having a stellar reputation, we're called out to inspect and propose solutions to many structural issues," a spokesperson of Alpha Structural, In. told Bored Panda. "Specializing in advanced hillside foundation repair methods we mainly are called to inspect when there are issues such as sloping floors, failed retaining walls, etc."
"A very common engineering fail we see is mid-century hillside homes that are sinking. They were often built with shallow footings that are prone to sink over time. Additionally, there is a lot of expansive soil in Los Angeles which, due to its high clay content, expands and contracts. This leads to corners or sides of a home that sink."
Since the company has already inspected tens of thousands of properties, it's hard to catch its engineers off guard. "I would say we're more likely to be surprised by what's under the home than the structure itself! Although, while we are not alarmist in any way, every once in a while we will come across a structure that we are surprised is still standing."
According to Alpha Structural, Inc., everyone living in the area can take measures to make their building a safe place. "We always recommend earthquake retrofitting your home," they added. "It's no surprise seismic activity is prevalent in Los Angeles, so taking the time to retrofit your home is key. Also, most foundation problems are caused because of no drainage, or poor drainage around the home. The most cost-effective solution to preserve your foundation is to make sure your yard slopes away from the structure and that your gutters and downspouts are cleaned and route the water away.
However, it's easy to get carried away. "People tend to overreact when it comes to their home. Things such as hairline cracks and minor sticking of doors can cause quite a panic in most homeowners. Plenty of information about our services can be found on our website!"
Continue scrolling to check out what epic fails these guys find daily and upvote your favorite entries!
More info: alphastructural.com | Facebook
#42
A big concrete block, random wood members and plywood. That should do.
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33points
#43
Did a structural assessment for this home and the lady was wondering why her home was sloping 7 inches. Some classic LA settlement.
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33points
#45
This was a very interesting hillside home that was sliding down the hill. They needed an engineered wall to keep the house from cracking down the slope.
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33points
#46
This one is subtle but the property is shifting like crazy! The back wall is bowing quite a bit and in the top right, where the stilts connect to the overhang, you can see the waviness of the connections and how unstable it really is.
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31points
#47
A few more inches down and that would have made a nice half-pipe for skateboarding. Image below shows the cause of this dip!
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30points
#48
This was found under a house. Somebody undermined the entire footing then stopped the excavation and left.
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28points
#49
This is a sump pump. It should be isolated in a plastic or concrete basin to collect water. This was installed into dirt. Fail.
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28points
#50
Water was constantly getting into the wall. This is the ugly result!
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27points
#53
Seems that they mixed every piece of rubble after a demolition and made a wall with it.
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25points
#54
"I tried fixing it myself but I thought I'd give the experts a call"
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25points
#55
A pier with the footing sinking 7 inches down on the right. There were 6 others just like it under this property.
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25points
#58
This may look like a cool, industrial ceiling pattern in a DTLA villa, but it's actually water intrusion coming through the cracks above.
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24points
#59
This was a failed retaining wall that we're fixing up. It actually wraps around the front (which you'll see below) and the pressure underneath and farther up the hill caused it to fall over and collapse into the street and into the neighbors yard. What occurred was called a "surcharge" and it's when the pressure from the structure puts too much tension into the surrounding soil that it slowly gets pushed outwards.
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22points
#60
This is a deck that extended past the garage doors below it. Needless to say, it had some insane wood-rot underneath! In the photo to the right, you can see the once sturdy deck was held together by a massive framing bolt. Now it's free floating.
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21points