Comments on: A Collection of Sticks: Costco Apartment Construction Collapse

By: bill rich

bill rich — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:22:29 +0000

wood frame buildings are extremely vunerable while being framed, like this one. The sheeting on the roof and walls can only be installed after the sticks in the walls and roof are all done. A building with no sheeting is easily blown down by high winds. That does not necessarily reflect on the quality of work being performed. Just bad timing that a building with no braces on the walls or roof that is underway (carpenters framing it but not done).
Also you would be surprised at how much strength the wall finishes like drywall and tile add to a wood building. Also the exterior siding or stucco. The way that a buidling is rated (any building bet it steel ,wood or concrete) against wind is based on the completed buildings performance.
This type of collapse is very common (huundreds of times a year according to OSHA )

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:22:29 +0000

The Tremont tower had a host of other problems that residents that purchase units found out and that help kill future sales.

By: GoogleMaster

GoogleMaster — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:02:52 +0000

Angostura said:

The developer is now stuck trying to lease units in “that building that fell down during construction”.

Kinda like Tremont Tower is stuck trying to sell condo units in “that building where a worker DIED during construction” (IIRC, he fell six or stories to the ground).

By: surviving

surviving — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:20:06 +0000

not that it can be told from the photo’s, but this looks like a case of framers not having fully braced the frame in progress and it meeting some high wind. the city of houston does inspect to code and although they may be understaffed, i have not seen them let code issues fly.

i don’t see any reason to be happy. it is construction. if it went right all the time, those guys wouldn’t have jobs. the contractor would just have that little staples easy button.

stuff happens, they fix it and move on down the road. this article doesn’t really reflect on the contractor, just the meeting of several problematic events.

By: mt

mt — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:37:06 +0000

FYI- The developer (the Morgan Group) is the probably the Contractor. This arrangement is typical for most multi-family projects as such. Construction accidents and defects are more prevalent than one might think. It is mostly related to the ‘lowest common denominator’ approach to construction that most buildings receive. The most exciting accident that I have witnessed on a project was for another major multi-family developer here in town where there was a fire at the bottom of a parking garage, which led to a secondary explosion of a pick-up truck. The fire doors were not fully active yet and the smoke damage was tremendous. This was not on a project in Houston for those who are wondering.

I’m guessing that there will be a fairly logical explanation for the collapse (probably a lack of bracing to the main structure and the windy weekend that we had) as is usually the case in these situations. The COH building inspectors will be working overtime on this one from now on. I would not be too hard on the city given that they would have to be there 24/7 to prevent these kinds of situations. Thank god no one was hurt.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:29:01 +0000

The reality is that the potentially leasers of this complex will not likely know about this at all.

Many of the these “luxury” apartments appeal to recent college grads and young professionals that just moved to Houston. The higher rents charged in these buildings for the Houston area are often considered a value compared to prices in other markets (particularly the northeast and west) plus the amenities.

While to many involved in reading the real estate news and blogs like this realized “luxury” are silly marketing terms, they actually work in attracting new residents.

By: Angostura

Angostura — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:20:35 +0000

The developer is now stuck trying to lease units in “that building that fell down during construction”.

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:14:45 +0000

As many old crappy apartment complexes that exist in this city, there are plenty of old and good ones.

Most of the old good ones in the loop are actually disappearing because the demand is there for a larger apartment complex.

Just look at the one that that is the subject of this post. Across the street (Cummins) there is three or four complexes that are nice older facilities. I’ve had friends that lived in two of them. They are limited in that they are only two floors.

While the term “luxury” is as meaningful as the terms “green”, “eco-friendly”, “sustainability”, and “quality of life”; you need to realize they are just marketing terms.

I guess the important thing is that they are a lot nice older apartment complexes that haven’t and aren’t likely to become slums in this city.

By: jgbiggs

jgbiggs — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:05:10 +0000

Why is it that all new apartment projects are called luxury condos, luxury patio-homes, luxury-lofts? No matter what you call it, in 10-15 years it will be a turd, with all that apartment living fun, plunger-flush toilets, patio-grilling with the toaster-oven, the whiff of freshly baked crack-cocaine, and raw sewage flowing down the staits from your neighbor who only chooses to consume cheese products. But everybody will have granite countertops and stainless applicances. woop.

By: JP

JP — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:51:10 +0000

Why the glee with part of this project falling over? The “sources” seem to be too happy, too willing and too ready to grave dance at the first sign of trouble. I don’t get it. Is it just sour grapes or more NIMBY BS?

With regard to the “sources” themselves, who are they? What are their qualifications to judge construction, especially pre-engineered floor joists, roof joists and rafters? Were these “sources” on the job and did they inspect the work and or accident? Seems to me they were lurking outside the construction fence with a camera and miraculously became construction experts.

Also, “cheap construction” and “tinder box” seem a little over the top. It’s an apartment building for crying out loud. It’s not a ultra-high end custom home with a mammoth budget. By nature, the costs of construction need to be low to a degree to make the project work.

“Tinder box?” What does that refer to? Using yellow pine wood framing? What else would you propose? Redwood? Teak? Ash? Structural steel? Cinder blocks? We are in Texas…that is what is used in 95% of residential construction. If “tinder box” refers to the potential for a fire loss due to the wood framing, then don’t look behind your own sheet rock!

Give me a break with this stupid and alarmist non-story and ignorant “reporting.”

By: kjb434

kjb434 — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:36:45 +0000

How is this an example of cheep construction allowed by the City of Houston?

Universal Codes and ASTM standards for wood construction allow this and apartments are built exactly like this all over the country following these codes (variances do occur for weather zones). The city follows building codes that are used and accepted through the US and the modern world.

Does Houston have a lack of inspectors in it’s Code Enforcement division? YES!!! Would the collapse have been prevented if the City had a well manned team of inspectors? Maybe.

Does this indict all contractor and developers as greedy people building crap to just make a buck? NO.

To me, this is an unfortunate incident with a contractor not following code. The developer may or may not have know this was going on (most probably not). I would guarantee this developer would hire an independent inspector, withhold some pay for the contractor (or even fire the current one), and correct this quickly. The developer won’t be able to make his “buck” unless he fixes this.