News from the screen repair shop.....
Ultra wide sliding patio doors are all the rage nowadays in high end homes. But one thing that I see over and over again is that sagging house frames cause problems with sliding patio doors over time.
It starts with the patio door getting harder and harder to open as the gap at the top of the door gets smaller and smaller.
In these new 40 foot wide patio door openings a professional engineer specifies the beam that will span the whole width with minimum allowable deflection or sagging.
That deflection might be 1/2" over a 40 foot span and be totally within allowable strength limits and building codes but the frame of the patio door might not allow that kind of sagging. It could be enough to seize the doors up tight over time.
It's not just the top beams either, the concrete slab the door sits on can crack and rise up pushing against the patio door frame and stopping it from opening.
If you are getting one of these ultra wide sliding patio doors its worth making sure your engineer is aware of these issues.
Continue reading "Ultra wide sliding patio door might get stuck"
A trial is underway in the UK around who is responsible for a 250 pound window that came loose an fell more than 300 feet killing a construction worker on the ground below.
Windows that open outwards in any building taller than 4 stories are supposed to have brackets that prevent the window from opening more than a few inches.
This is done because wind force can catch the window like a sail especially in high rise condo's like this building.
Continue reading "New window falls 300 feet killing construction worker"
Building high rise concrete condo's with central air conditioning should be made mandatory in British Columbia's building code. Th amount of heat stored up by west facing concrete walls can be enormous. This horror story details a Condo unit so hot that it is unfit for human habitation.
Continue reading "Condo too hot for a human being to live in"
Modern builders often don't consider the vital importance of shade. You need a cool plae to rest shaded from the sun during a hot summer and you cant do that in a concrete or brick structure that stores up the heat of the sun throughout the day.
On wide open farm fields, a portable shade structure can prevent heat exhaustion for people working in the fields.
Continue reading "Shade screens are totally overlooked in construction"
A number of window companies in Florida and Alabama, USA have taken deposits from customers and never returned to install their windows. The Customers have organized themeselves into groups Lawsuits are flying. Meanwhile some of the companies are declaring bankruptcy, and given unfortunately this seems to be a pattern and perhaps even a business model. Close down the company,declare bankruptcy, get debts forgiven through the courts and then start up a new company only to do it all over again,
Continue reading "Lawsuits flying over windows never installed"
A Victoria BC couple bought a Condo and discovered too late they needed Strata form B which for a hefty fee which revealed all sorts of legal troubles facing the corporation of the Condo they had just purchased.
Ontario has its own Condo Status Certificates which reveal similar information for potential buyers to look over before making a buying decision
Continue reading "Condo status certificate reveals big legal problems"
A Chicago Condo board president was shot dead while he was trying to calmly resolve a problem with one of the Condos's unit owners. After the murder the unit owner ran from police and ended up himself getting killed.
Many Condo's across Canada have old windows, patio doors and french doors that are 30 years old or more and sorely need replacement.
In this article Condo Lawyer Tony Gioventu shares how important it is for Condo Corporations to have window alteration and replacement agreements. It's most likely that window replacement will involve a few units not the entire building if for no other reason than which side of the building gets the worst of the weather
Floods in Condo's are enormously expensive to repair and Condo management often take legal action against Condo unit owners if their unit is found to be the source of the leak.
In this Richmond BC Condo, Management went after a unit owner without having proper evidence that the messy Condo was the cause of the water leak. They lost the case after confiscating and disposing of a lot of the owners personal property.
Karl Nielsen uses his YouTube channel to bring you examples of Condo's in Toronto you probably shouldnt move into. Flooding, multiple shootings, fire alarms every single week and only boiling water from every tap !
Continue reading "Move here if you hate yourself and other bad Condo stories"