strapping question - InspectionNews

william siegel · #1 (**permalink**) 09-06-2007, 03:42 PM

14 year old house. Hip roof.

What is the rule for nailing the straps. The first picture shows the strap nailed. Farther down the line they are not nailed, only every third one is nailed. Me thinks this is wrong but not 100% sure.

Jerry Peck · #2 (**permalink**) 09-06-2007, 04:28 PM

Back then, 14 years ago, over the top with three nails (two on the side not shown and one on the over-the-top side shown) was all that was required.

Then they started getting into uplift loading and all (after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (15 years ago) and by the 1994 codes had most of that changed.

14 years ago, though, would have required the three nails, one in that loose tail.

Now, though, I'd recommend the straps be 'nailed as required to provide proper uplift resistance' and 'which may be necessary to have a structural engineer review the strapping in question, and all strapping of the roof truss system' (meaning the structural engineer 'buys' the roof strapping issue from you

).

Where is the house at? 14 years ago puts it at 1993, which was right when almost nothing was going on other than rebuilding after Hurricane Andrew, especially in Miami-Dade County. Many homes under construction in 1992 sat for a year or two or longer before being finished or torn down, was that started in 1993? Unusual if it was. Did it sit open for a while? How long? trusses up and no decking? Decking? How many things were exposed for how long? That time frame just raises soooo many questions.

william siegel · #3 (**permalink**) 09-06-2007, 05:27 PM

Thanks Jerry.

We will miss you this weekend. Have a good time with your daughter(??)

This home is on SW 130 ave and 39 St in Miramar, which puts it just west of Flamingo on the south side of Miramar Parkway. All the roads there are dead end roads, and all the houses have wells and septic tanks. I dont know if you remember it from a few years back, but the home on the cornerr of Flamingo and Miramar used to be an old horse ranch with two houses, used to be very well kept up and had great Christmas lights. They sold out and it went to hell. This house is just down the road from that one.

Jerry Peck · #4 (**permalink**) 09-06-2007, 05:59 PM

Bill,

Wasn't that area called Countryside Ranches, or something like that?

I inspected a few homes out there and they all had their own quirks.

One I remember had a homemade ground source (buried loops or copper tubing) geothermal cooling and heating.

The owner said it all worked and cooled okay, but when I took the top off the wooden box which was the cover for everything I, and my client, went 'What to crap is this supposed to be ... ?', and it went downhill from there the more I looked at it. An HVAC contractor who lived down the street "designed it and built it" ... I *would not* want to take credit for that thing - it was laughable, except my client wasn't laughing, they were crying - it was an As Is sale. I explained why that was 'a good thing' and he recovered. As I recall, he backed out based on that As Is clause "Subject to a satisfactory inspection." - what a piece of crap everything in that house was.

Sure, there was 5 acres, but land is not all there is to it when you are buying 'a house' to 'live in'.

Have a good weekend at FABI.

Our daughter and her baby (now 20 months old) are moving out to an apartment, we moved most of the stuff last weekend and are moving the rest this weekend. Tonight is the first night without them in about 4-6 months (seems like a year, though) - it's actually quite in the house again.

See you in Orlando in December.

william siegel · #5 (**permalink**) 09-07-2007, 03:30 AM

Jerry,

You have a good memory. It is called Country Wide Estates.

This one had one of the first orginal generators ever made (I think)