kimpeterxy: UNPROTECTED

Monday, 12 November 2012

UNPROTECTED

On a recent condo building, one of the many problems I found involved a pattern of leaving things UNPROTECTED.

Common sense has to reign in home building.? It doesn't matter if its a backyard shed or a muliple-floor building.

COMMON SENSE HAS TO REIGN.

Take, for instance, these AC units.

They are right at the edge, in fact residing inside, the rear parking lot.

They are UNPROTECTED.

They need to be protected by some form of BOLLARD.

A bollard is anything that might block access, or prevent a fall.? It can include a post sticking up, a guardrail around a deck, a very heavy flower pot around various government buildings, etc.

Back in the 80s we Washingtonians were surprised to see those huge flower pots and bollards going up all around government buildings.? Some thought them ugly, others of us wondered why.

Nobody was thinking truck or car bomb.? But the intelligence folks were.? These are the bollards on the 2nd Street entrance leading toward the US Capitol Building.? They are there for protection.? Elsewhere the huge flower pots, more appealing visually, are present.? Again, PROTECTION.

BUT FOR A BUILDER TO PUT AC UNITS LIKE THIS, RIGHT WHERE THEY CAN BE EASILY BUMPED BY THE FRONT OF A CAR, IS SILLY.

Certainly there are two things above that should not have been done this way on the roof.

First, the AC compressor for the fourth, and highest, unit has it's fuse box laying flat on the roof surface.? This is an electrical device.? See how these same boxes are installed in the other photo above?? Vertical, and secured to a wall.? This is an electric device!? Laying on the roof like this water can get inside!

Second, the AC lines all enter through the roof surface as well.? The thermal image to the left is beside this chase where they go down into the unit.? That wet spot is a short distance from the photo above.? Certainly water is getting in through that excellently-sealed spot on the roof!

Both of these things are left UNPROTECTED from water.

My recommendation:? look to see if things that should be PROTECTED really are!? For if not, sooner or later, whether the code protects or not, UNPROTECTED spots will almost certainly lead to disaster.? Think carefully.

Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC??