Did one today.
Wooden rear porch and balcony.
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It had hangers, but they used screws.
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The ledger board was not flashed, and only had one bolt every 3 joist bays.
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6 x 6 posts, properly footed, but the upper balcony joists were just resting (NO NAILS OR BOLTS, POST NOTCHING OR BRACKETS) on the tops of the corner posts.
AND, it had just been “code inspected”, with no red flags.
New joke: “As steady as a Chicago back porch” :shock:
I called the codie back and pointed out the obvious porch problems. He told me that home inspectors were a joke. I pulled out the “porch and deck guidelines” from the City of Chicago web site and tried to show him that it was not just my “ill-infomed” opinion. He told me that if I didn’t work for the City and was not “union” my opinion “didn’t mean squat”.
I also asked for his name and City ID, but he just brushed me off.
I then turned to my clients and told them that, in my opinion, the porch was not safe and they would have to have it repaired / replaced by a licensed and qualified contractor and the work inspected by a state licensed and insured SE.
The codie pulled me aside and said, “Come on’ man. Why you rocking the boat? How much to you want? My brother built this place and is in hock up to his eyeballs. Why do you want to take food out of his kid’s mouths? Get with the program, you seem to be a smart guy.”
I turned around and asked him to repeat his comments to my clients. He told me to F off and told me that I would “hear from the City”.
Nuff said.
