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REPORTONROOFANDSTRUCTURALCONDITIONSFOR2609SNELLINGCURVE <br />th <br />OnFridaythe6ofJulyCodeEnforcementOfficerGeraldProulxmadeaninspectionoftheaccessory <br />buildingat2609SnellingCurveattherequestoftheBuildingOfficialDonMunsonwithregardstoits <br />structuralstability.Enclosedarethefindings. <br />Theaccessorystructureinquestionisa40footby22foot2levelstructurewithamainandloftlevel.It <br />hasahandframedgambrelroofasiscommonlyseenintheMidwestusedforbarns.Theridgerunsin <br />aneast/westdirectionalongthestructurelengthpresentingarooffacedirectlytothenorthandsouth. <br />Themainlevelexteriorwallsconsistofconcreteblockwithwoodframeinteriorpartitionsanda <br />dimensionallumberfloorcreatingaloftjustbelowtherafters. <br />Anobservationfromtheexteriorofthestructureshowsthatthesouthfacingsideoftheroofhas <br />deterioratedtoamuchgreaterextentthanthenorthside.Severallayersofshingleshavebeen <br />deterioratingovertheyearsandhavenowexposedthewoodframingofthecompoundrafters.This <br />directexposuretotheweatherandtheprecedingyearsofsaturationfromfailingshingleshas <br />compromisedthestructurethoughrotoftheraftersthemselvesandadditionallytheirconnectionsto <br />thewallandfloorsystemthattiesthebuildingtogether.Twolargeopeningsintheroofarepresentand <br />haveexposedtheinteriordirectlytotheskywithnoresistancetotheelements.PresentlyIwould <br />estimatethatthesouthfacinghalfoftheroofhasapproximately25%ofitsraftersvisiblyexposedand <br />completelyseveredsomewherealongtheirlengththoughtheactionofdecay.Additionallythevisible <br />deflectionin25%to30%oftheraftersadjacenttotheopeningsalsoappeartoindicatethattheyare <br />severedaswell.Theseraftersalsoarenotperformingtheirintendedpurposeandaremostlikelynot <br />benefittingtheroofforsupportinanyfashion. <br />Gambrelframedroofstypicallyfollowasimilarpatternofcollapsetootherroofsbutareoftensubject <br />toasymmetricalfailure.Theroofopeningsinthiscaseonthesouthsidewillallowheavywindstoenter <br />thestructureandweakenitfurther.Heavyrainandsnowloadstakeadvantageofthedecayofthe <br />woodmembersatthefloor,roofandwallintersectioncausingtheexteriorwalltobecomedetachedat <br />thetopofthewallandforcingitoutofplumbtotheexterior.Thiswilleventuallycauseacollapsethat <br />canbesuddeninaconcreteblockwall.Theremainingstructurewillleavelargevoidsontheinterior <br />thatcouldbeattractivetopersonswhomaybecuriousandenterthepartiallycollapsedbuilding. <br />Additionalcollapsesarenotuncommonandcanalsobesudden. <br />Thestructuremayberepairedwithconsiderableeffortandexpensebyanexperiencedcontractor. <br />Demolitionofthestructurewillbemorerapidandmostlikelybethemostcosteffectiveprocessto <br />produceahazardfreeenvironment. <br /> <br />