Posted on 06/26/2021 5:56:00 AM PDT by dynachrome
The partially collapsed Florida condo building, which has left at least four dead and 159 people missing, was flagged as having “major structural damage” in 2018, according to reports.
A lack of proper drainage on the pool deck of Champlain Towers South condo, which sits above the building’s parking garage, was the source of the “main issue,” wrote engineer Frank Morabito, according to the Miami Herald.
Years of standing water had seriously damaged the concrete structural slabs below the deck, a problem Morabito warned would be “extremely expensive” to fix.
“Failure to replace waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,” Morabito said in his “Structural Field Survey Report,” which was produced for the Condominium Association.
Officials in Surfside, Fla., released the report late Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
You’re only thinking about the common structure building insurance. I’m considering each owner would have their own owner policy, along with life insurance and auto insurance. Most insurance policies exclude terror as event where they will pay out.
The entire house could have been jacked up and the basement replaced for less than that!
Twin sister building to collapsed Champlain Towers South coming under scrutiny from residents and is being watched closely by local officials.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbbvAJC313k
Exactly
Not sure what the total cost was, but it did include a new lengthy concrete driveway as well
“On Wikipedia:
On March 2, 1973, the 26-story Skyline Plaza condominium...”
...I was a roofer at the time at 15 years old. If you were able, they didn’t check ID’s. We were assigned to roof that building when ready. When my Mom heard about it, she made me quit as a roofer.
Thank you, Elsie-!!
Hard to to do if you are moving to a new location. You need prior homeowner experience to avoid being taken to the cleaners.
caveat emptor still applies.
I didn’t take it that you were suggesting embezzlement. My guess is the board simply delayed work too long or did too many less expensive temporary repairs instead of fixing problems before they became major. At the time I’m sure they made their decisions with good intentions. Unfortunately, when it comes to a structure, over time cumulative bad decisions can result in disaster.
Funding should not have been a problem, even if reserves were insufficient. Condo boards can borrow money against the value of the building. The value of those buildings should have been sufficient to borrow many millions. They could have borrowed and then raised the dues to cover the payments.
It would make a good investigative journalism story to determine why the needed repairs were not undertaken on a timely basis over the years. Such knowledge might help the legislature to improve laws regulating condominium governance in the state. However, with all of the lawsuits being filed, the people who could shed light on the story are most certainly going to clam up.
Two days before condo collapse, a pool contractor photographed this damage in garage
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-beach/article252421658.html
Drilling nearly done to demolish rest of collapsed condo
The video shows sequence of collapse of the Champlain Towers South is simulated with a possible explanation for the failure illustrated.
On 24 Jun 2021 the Champlain South Tower collapsed at 1:15am. This is a 12 storey 126 unit condominium building in Miami Florida. It was built in 1981.
“The 3D animation to illustrate the building and structure is based on Architectural and Structural drawing made available by the town of Surfside. The events and sequences are based on key photographic evidence and eyewitness accounts. The engineering reports on the planned repairs have been used in preparing this analysis.
I have a career in designing and constructing buildings including experience in the USA. I caution that its still too early to know why it collapsed. This video is only a suggestion of the root cause of the failure.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hynHiWE818c
Thanks for posting.
Miami Condo Collapse: Where’s Security Camera Videos? 911 Calls?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeS7rxPr6IM
Previously Jeff Ostroff analyzed 2 videos of exclusive inside the parking garage of the Champlain Towers South, site of the Miami Condo collapse and gives you a frame by frame explanation of what you are seeing, and all the damage on the ceilings, and water leaks on the floors. How does it all lead to the final collapse of the building?
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