Larry Deavers Sent Over Another Story of A Home Owner That Really Needed To Call Him Before He Started The Project Not Afterwards!!!
BE CAREFULL BEFORE YOU REMOVE WALLS
7/4/2018
I had a client that called me and he was concerned his ceiling was failing in. I went to his house and found he had hired a contractor to open an area between the kitchen and the den area. The contractor had removed some walls and had created an open area of about 18 feet. The contractor had used a beam that was not sufficient to carry the load and the beam was sagging about 3 inches. The home was a 2 story house and it had second story load plus load from the attic/ceiling. The owner would not pay for the work because of the problem.
The contractor is now taking legal action against home owner because of failure to pay. The home owner is left with a house that is in a mess and does not know what to do.
Advise:
City of Houston requires if you remove load bearing walls you get an engineer to prepare a report. This regulation by City of Houston is to help home owners not hurt them.
- The home owner listed above has an outstanding bill with contractor of about $35,000.00
- He has a kitchen and den that he has not been able to use for close to a year
- He is now facing legal action by contractor for failure to pay
- If you are a home owner and you are considering this type of remodeling seek a structural engineer.
For the cost of less than $1,000.00 all this could have been avoided
If you are a contractor get an engineer to help when you are doing this type of work. it will save you in the long run!
Contact Deavers Engineering - 713-828-8901