The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutLETTERS - 95-00026 - Northtown Village Apartments - Fire Damage Remodel*JA 116 Ilk V_m LAw 01 iicEs BRECK BARTON & .ASSOCIATES, P.A. 70 Noiu-i-j CE:NT[:fL REXBt1R,(-,, IDAHO 83440, BRF..(A� 1-1. BARTON May 23, 1995 Mr. Joe Laird Rexburg City Building Inspector City Build -mg Rexburg, ID 83440 1W C"t DeI-L V I a -Y ce: .0. B cx< 100 (2 0 8) 3 56- f I attach hereto a copy of a letter from. Tanner, Wiffinore, Smith & Associates, Lue., structural engi-neers dated January 16, 1 995. Please note the theye last page wherein indicate that the cast fire damaged units should be demolished to the foundation walls and rebuilt. It is our intention to demolish the east two units and io reconsft-uct in their place a single story storage facility for on premise use by the apwiment occupants. These would be divided into four or five different rooms and made available on a first come first serve bass for storage of items such as furnituxe, patio equipment, bicycles, snow equipment etc, It is our further intention to replace the roof on the west two um*ts. Inspecfion of the stud walls floor systems, and wiriag on the west units will be made io determine whether or not they need to be repaired and/or replaced, Plans would be d.rafted of which copies will be made available to you and work consh-ucted according tv avoromiate code requirements. I ti-ast this answers the questions you have at this pomt ut time I h p b bl '10 You -dn 1nqrj"LM.%W JLLLL1L,j 11 1 41 -e future so th"t, work can b e '-I hmik-s for youf- coufte,'sies. P JL s:%diat Very truly yours, Beck Barton BB/cb Enclosure y TANNERWILLMORE SMITH & ASSOCIATES, Inc. Slruclurai Engineers 442 North Main Street Bountiful, Utah 8401 p Telephone (80 t ) 298-8795 ($dl) 298-111$ Fax (801 ) 298-1132 JRW AND ASSOCIATES Post Off ice Box 48.5 Rexburg, Idaho 83440 Attn: John Watson Vie: Barton Apartments Rexburg, Idaho Gentlemen: 0 January 16,F 195 This letter is written as a follow-up report of the structural field observation made at the Barton Apartments in Rexburg, Idaho. on January 7 , 1995. The purpose of the observation was to review the damage caused by a fire during December 1994 a The apartment buildi-ng0 is an inline four-plex with each apartment being two story. Each apartment has a kitchen, dining roam, living room, and laundry/bathroom on the main floor and two bedrooms and a bathroom on the upper floor. The I1*vtng rooms are hack to back and have a fireplace in each unit that is side by side with the fireplace in the adjacent (symmetrical) apartment. (see photo #1 & 2) The building has a wood roof system consisting at pre- fabricated woad trusses with metal an nail pates at the joints, The trusses are made of 2x4 members and have a center ridge with a gable at each end. The roof has plywood sheathing on tap of the roof trusses . The wars are constructed of .2x studs and the upper floor is a Z��o system with plywood sheathing. The wall sheathing was not visible bit is assumed to be plywaad. The foundation -is concrete and the first floor over the basement and crawlspace areas is a wood 2x system. It appears the fixe started in the fireplace area of two apartments and spread up through the ��iimney chase (see photo #3 & 4) into the attic space . ' The attic spaces is common to all units and the dire spread through the attic. The roof trusses suffered varying degrees of damage but all appear to haves b�een damaged. (see P110tos #4 thru #7) From both ends of the building At can be observed that the gable vents were damaged by the f ire, (see photos Leon W Tanner, S E. Kenneth P Wrilmore, S.E, Vw rrrh,. Page 2 #8 and #9) The. floor area damaged appears to be limited to .the east two units as does the stud walk damage. It is recommended that the apartments be repaired or rebuilt as follows: 1. The east two units are to be demol�.sh.ed to the foundatian walls and rebuilt. 2. The roof of the west two units needs to be replaced. This could possibly be done%._ in a �rannenz to save the ceiling. 3. The stud walls and floor systems of the west two units meed to be examined to verify any existance of water damage.. If water damage is found a further evaluation would need to be made. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service and would be happy to further evaluate any areas needed after removal of the sheet rock . If you have any questioner please contact us. Sincerely, Leon W. Tanner, S.E. for Tanner Willmore Smith and Associates NILE L. BOYLE MAYOR ROSE BAGLEY, CITY CLARK RICHARD HORNER, TSEASURLR . FINANCIAL OFFICEP lir. Breck Barton, P.O. Box 826 Rexburg, Idaho 83440 STATE OF IDAHO Re: .Apartments at Northtowne Villacre, 221 Na 3rd Easy. Dear Mr. Barton, March 14, 1995 P.O. BOX 280 12 NORTH CENTER STREET RF Ba IDAHO 83440 PHONE (208) 359-3020 FAX (20 8) 359-302 The City Bui'ldffig Department has �-e��ved several quenes i-egarding the repa�� of the fire damaged apartments you own, and what information/plans the City will require regardincy the repa'Ir of sa�.d structure. The queriers seemed to have such a wide di3veraence in what repairs they felt would benecessary,, that I thought I should contact you direct-ly regarding what information the City wwi�..� require so the different contractors will. all be "playing by the same rules" s4 to speak. Due to the extent of the damage caused by the firs, the City will expect a wntten report prepared by a Registered Architect or Structural Engineer that sets foeffi the damage to the structure and clearly Wentiffies what elements of the structure can be salvage and repaired and which wilf have to be removed and replaced. We are especially cancemed abo-ut the integnty of the major st-ructural elements. One of these elements', the rooftrusses, are particularly vulnerable to damage (sometimes not readily apparent) from the hot gasses rushing past chem during the tu*ne of the fire, wh%ch weaken the structural strength of the lumber and, parficularly, the connections between the steel plates and the wooden components of the trusses. This report, identifying the structure damage and indicating the necessary corrections, will need to be submitted along with the plans that show the renovation/reconstruction work that is going to be accomplished. It goes without saying, of course, that the plans and the work shQWn thereon Vn'il need to be 'in conformance with the applicable requirements of the Uniform Building Code. I thank you in advance for seeing that this information gels to the various Contractors that ars conterriplafing giving you bids an the reconstruction of your apartment building, PH A. LATRD'13 P.E. CITY ENGINEER & BUILDING OFFICTAT, { Professfona' Car, 7PBay August 10, 1995 Gary Olsen Olsen Management 557 South, 5 West Rexburg, Idaho, 83440 SUBJECY- Gary: Structural assessment of North Vest 4_P[eX of Forth Town village R On August 8, 1995 1 inspected the subject property for structural damage sustained from a chimney fire that occurred this spring. The f�llawing is a list of structural repairs needed an the subject property. Replace damaged members "like in kind". Also see the attached sketch for further details. 1 -'�'he Z western apartments did not sustain any structural damage from the chimney fire. The only damage noted here was smoke and water damage. The roof trusses were blackened but only on the surface ( 113 2 " or less) and this did not affect the, structural . strength of this system. -"the 2 eastern apartments need the Following structural repairs: -Remove and replace roof trusses starting from the Soh truss from the east end to 1st truss past the center line of the 4 -Plea. Also replace all plywood sheeting. Care should be given to ensure adequate lateral bracing when removing this roof section. -Remove and replace exterior wall framing and sheeting, in the chimney chase from the ground floor to the top of the second . floor wall framing. -Remove and replace inferior wall framing in the chimney chase from the ground floor to the top of the second flour wall framing. -Remove and replace headers and joists that frame out the second floor opening for the chimney chase. For the entire 4 -Plea all electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems need to be checked out bye a qualified contractor to ensure these systems are functioning property. If you have any comments or questions please give us a call at 208--528-7688. SSON A i EyC oF� 0STEgF 5 v r � ATE Of �oP �y L LSP� �incerely, NAA Ne IP Vondell Balls, P.E. 0'°��. a 4 ..+' ... -� •. y ,IyBev. @in•��x.�`:_t��w. �� oa,y.4 w. i•. "r�.il ,.may rf _ P V M. L fa--' { S:j E P - I IS - 9 5 w WED I 'Zi : 5 7 GlIzS STRUCTURAL ENGRS. G & S STRUCTURAL ENGIkN'EER PwO,w BOX 50338 IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO 83405 E. - .. w'w'"J TO: DESIGNERS & CONSULTANTS 1-"'N 'Mi"-XII-il - M COMPANY Dept 9 -t - A= FROM: Richard- Sqh.e.,...-.rer JOB #: FAX #: 208-523-6922 F, . 0 i Telephone (208) 523- 69-18 F -ax (208) 1523-692-20 DATE. 'Sc�ptember_13, 1945 FAX 1wA 208-359-3022 - NUMBER OF PAGES INCL COVER PAGE 4 PLEASE CALL (208)523-6918 IF ALL PAGES ARE NOT YtECEiVE12. REMARKS: North Town Village Apartments, roof truss evaluation., w hE.�, K - WED G'03 -:S STRUCTURPL E G S G & S STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS P00m BOX 50338 IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO 83405 2 0 8 2 En ED 22'1' 1i/ DESIGNERS & CONSULTANTS September 13, 1995 #95999 Rexburg Building mr . Joe Mrd FO Som 2 a Q Rexburg, Idaho Department 83440 Re: North ToWr, Village +A.partmonts Rexburg, Idaho Dear Miro Laird, On the 5th of this month I had f P . 208) 523-6 1 Fix (208) 523-6922 the opportunity to visit tyle above seferenced apartments . Tne purpaso was Coax at tne rQor trusses da-maged by a recent attic fire , The f ollowing is a briet overView of my observations and conclusions,. The fire accurrehd in the buil.ding housing apartment units #9, # and #12. Th'J's building "is a two story wood framec"t struc+,.-ure with pre-engineered roof trusses spanning from front to back., 'rhe fire severely damaged. a number of the roof trusses over units #1-1 and #12. Ttrusses have extensive charring, members that are bu-,r,,,,-ned through, connection plates that are warped or bent, etc. As a result, fourteen (14) 4f the roof trusses need to btz2o. �-e tAmh� aced. Please sem the attached sketch. 01W T�t is -interestkng to note that there are no draft stops in the between the individual units. As a result, the attic fire and the resulting smoke and heat was allowed to travel the length of the budldilnq. Therefore, the roof trusses over unil....s #9 and #10 are smoke damaged,. However, there are no indications �hat 415 load carrying capac� ter of these trusses has been significantly affected. lt is recocrnized that heat can adversely affect the structur-al capacity of wood, Refel,.m.rence the Timber Construction Manual. by the erian institute �f Tirber construction+�on . Rowever , this on1v occurs when longer than the trusses exposed to wood "is Cxposod to heat for an extended period of t.i-Me x would be expected from an attic fire. The wood within was not checked beyond that normally expected when not 11)&eat and there�ore, will not need to be replaced. 1P— ib.7- tP, PZ -11 S -Z E;�� The visit consi sted to look at the attic roof report are intended architectural features. of visual observation5 only, made sol-ely trusses only. Neither the visit nor this tQ cover mechanical, electrical or If there are any guestions or if I can be a oil further aSSILStancee please don't hesitate to call'. Sincerely, �' . Richard Scheere.r , PE L WED 14:01 G&S STRUCTURf-AL ENGRS. 5 EXISTING ROOF 5.5E5 TO REM A I N 14 FXISTlNG RppF -fRU55E5 TO BE REPLACED .. I EXSS'i- 1, N V P- ROOF 7R1155E5 TO REM1kIN v RDOG TRUSS LAYOUT NORTH TO"N VILLA6E APTS- -f No DATE, P'. o JL .dam&m--q