Inspect Your Outdoor Deck Now to Avoid Later Financial Liability

Well, it’s May and the beginning of the busy summer entertaining season. For many, that means large gatherings of friends and family at home on outdoor decks. And Memorial Day, a traditional holiday weekend for families to get together, is just a few weeks away.

As the sudden collapse of an elevated deck in Evans Mills just reminded us, now is a good time to get out there and inspect your deck for any weaknesses that might lead to a sudden deck collapse and serious injuries to your family, friends, and neighbors. These injuries aren’t just troubling; they’re costly. And if you’re the homeowner whose deck collapses, you and your insurance company could be facing large financial payouts.

In Evans Mills, 5 of the 7 people on the deck when it fell had to be rushed to the hospital. Firefighters responding to the scene reported that the wood of the deck was rotten and the connections to the home were unstable. Our deck collapse injury lawyers note that timely inspections and repairs could have prevented the deck collapse. Even if the 5 injured victims had all been treated and released the same day, the homeowner at fault for the collapse could still be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills.

How to Help Ensure Your Deck’s Safety

The deck collapse injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC remind you to regularly inspect your backyard deck for safety issues and to make needed repairs to avoid the dangers of deck collapse, injuries, and heavy financial liabilities.

Check the deck thoroughly at least once per year; twice yearly inspections are even better. If you see any signs that your deck might be in need of replacement or repair, you might want to have a professional inspector experienced with outdoor structures take a look, confirm your opinion, and make professional recommendations regarding needed repairs.

Unfortunately, not all home inspectors are sufficiently familiar with deck and balcony safety to help you. If that’s the case in your local area, check whether the local university’s architecture or engineering department has any recommendations to make regarding locating qualified inspectors.

Always hire a licensed, reputable contractor to make any needed repairs or to rebuild the deck. Don’t try to do it yourself. And get the proper permits before you begin. The permitting process usually includes required inspections that help to identify safety hazards or risks that you might not otherwise recognize.

Older decks, even if properly constructed, weather and deteriorate over time. These structures can pose serious hazards of deck collapse, injury, and death.

9 things to look for when you check an older deck for safety:

1. Missing or loose connections: The failure of structural connections is one of the primary causes of deck collapses, and reportedly was a major factor in the Evans Mills deck collapse. Decks connection hardware should consist of appropriate bolts, screws, and metal connectors. If your deck was built using nails as the connecting hardware, our deck collapse injury lawyers emphasize that the structure could fail at any time.

2. Corrosion in the hardware connectors.

3. Loosening of the ledger board that connects the deck to the home: Most often, when a deck falls away from the main structure, it’s because the connection at the ledger board has separated and given way. Inadequate or absent flashing that allows moisture to creep in and cause rot, or the use of nails rather than bolts as connectors could lead to the sudden separation of the ledger board and deck from the house.

4. Loose or unstable stairs and stair rails.

5. Loose or unstable guardrails: Injuries or fatalities could result from a deck guardrail giving way suddenly. The costs of the resulting liability could greatly outweigh the minor costs of ongoing repairs to and maintenance of stable deck rails.

6. Cracked or split wood: Especially at the hardware connections, wood might show a tendency to split. What looks like a tiny crack could severely weaken the whole timber. Replace cracked or split wood before it gives way.

7. Rot: Humidity, moisture, and varying weather extremes could cause the wood of a deck to rot more quickly than you might think. Probe areas with something sharp like a screwdriver. If the metal sinks quickly and easily into the wood, then it might be rotten and in need of replacement. Our deck collapse injury lawyers caution that while many of the newer types of treated wood resist rot more readily than the older types, the treatments sometimes cause hardware to corrode more quickly than usual. Check what type of treated wood is best for your climate and environment.

8. Check concrete in your deck or its supports for cracking or flaking. This is especially important in seaside environments where salt, heat, and humidity can lead to structural failures more quickly than elsewhere. Water can penetrate concrete structures and collect inside, corroding steel and metal reinforcements. While this corrosion presents more of a danger in coastal areas in part due to salt, any seasonal variations in heat and humidity can stress concrete and metal over time. An unnoticed weakness in a seemingly solid concrete support could prove dangerous if the concrete suddenly cracks or crumbles or the steel reinforcement buckles.

9. Consider the stress of potential weight loads on your decks. Cast iron and stone patio furniture, steel furniture, heavy outdoor umbrella set ups, BBQ equipment, coolers full of ice and drinks, music equipment, or large potted plants can cause timber deterioration and stress. Adding a gathering of guests to the mix can tip the scales to the critical point. And then an improperly maintained and un-inspected deck with unnoticed safety issues could suddenly give way and bring your party to an abrupt and deadly halt.

After a deck collapse, you could face a horrific accident scene with distressed friends, family, and neighbors, and multiple catastrophic injuries or even fatalities. In addition to the costs of repairing or replacing your fallen deck, you might face the legal liability of paying for your guests’ costs from the accident, possibly over the course of their lifetimes if they received permanent injuries. Your own injuries from the devastating deck collapse accident might add to your burden.

Learn more about Deck Safety and What to do if a Deck Collapses: Download Your FREE Guide

Our FREE deck safety report could help you learn how to safely inspect and maintain your deck and avoid sudden deck collapses. But if a deck collapse occurs and you or your loved ones are injured, don’t hesitate to contact our experienced deck collapse injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC for afree, no obligation legal consultation. We’ll review the specific facts of the accident with you and help you evaluate your eligibility for fair financial compensation for your injuries.

Chad Points and Tony Denena are among the relative handful of attorneys nationwide with practical, successful experience involving complex structural collapse injury cases. We’ve helped injured victims obtain the fair financial recoveries they deserve after a needless injury in a collapse accident. We could help you too.

Call us direct at 713-807-9500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free legal consultation today. Put our veteran deck collapse injury lawyers’ 15 years of practical experience to work for your family’s benefit.

Boca Raton Collapse Heralds Danger Season for Outdoor Decks

Each year as the weather warms up and people begin to gather more frequently on outdoor terraces, decks, and balconies, we begin to see reports of structural collapses with multiple injuries. The deck collapse injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC note that most of the collapses occur on older decks from wear and deterioration. But occasionally they happen when they’re still under construction, sometimes due to inadequate temporary bracing or to piling building materials on the partially completed structure or its scaffolding.

Tuesday in Boca Raton, Florida, a construction crew was pouring concrete for a home under construction on Spanish River Road when the scaffolding above collapsed onto them. One of the construction workers received serious injuries and was rushed to a trauma center. Another worker received transport to a different hospital, and a third worker was treated on the scene.

Structural collapses like the one in Boca Raton frequently result in multiple serious injuries. Deck collapses can also be fatal. It’s important to get building permits, use proper building practices, and inspect completed decks thoroughly at least once per year to help prevent deck collapse and injury.

Learn more about what causes deck and balcony collapses, how to prevent them, and what to do after a sudden structural collapse. Download your free guide from our experienced deck collapse injury attorneys.

Did Materials Piled on Roof lead to Fatal Houston Heights Collapse?

A worker fell to his death through the roof of a building in Houston Heights on Tuesday morning. The Houston work accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC report that the accident occurred around 11 a.m. in the motor sports building at Lamelia Lane and 11^th Street. Police said a worker was placing materials on the roof when he fell. (Jill Courtney, KPRC click2houston.com, 4/1/14) Our condolences go out to the family, friends, and colleagues of the worker who fell through that roof.

The man’s fatal fall sadly underlines the danger of piling building materials on roofs. Experts indicate that overloading roofs, scaffolds, and other structures by placing construction materials close to hand for convenience’ sake is one of the primary causes of structural collapses. Our experienced Houston work accident lawyers emphasize that the extra weight destabilizes structures and their supports, particularly in partially completed buildings.

At the building in Houston Heights, the extra materials piled on the roof might have precipitated the worker’s fall through the roof. The employer might be liable to the worker’s family for failing to properly train the workers or to enforce proper safety practices at the site.

The family should consult with an experienced Houston work accident lawyer to discuss the specific facts of the case and learn their legal options. Employers are required by law to provide safe work environments for their employees. Holding them financially liable when they fail in that duty is one of the best ways to ensure that employers will feel compelled to see to safety at their worksites. Click the link to learn more about the potentially fatal danger of overloading roofs and other structures with construction materials.

Another Sudden Construction Site Collapse Injures Pflugerville Worker

Tuesday afternoon, a truck delivering supplies to a building site reportedly struck the framing of the construct, causing it to collapse. A construction crew had been working on the roof trusses at the Heatherwilde Professional and Medical Center in Pflugerville, and when one fell after the truck hit the building, the rest came down in what was described as a domino effect. (myfoxaustin.com, 3/25/14)

One Pflugerville worker was trapped in the collapse underneath the timber, but managed to extract himself. He received transport to the hospital with injuries reported as non-life threatening. (kvue.com, 3/25/14) We wish him a safe and rapid recovery from the accident.

Roof and Building Collapses during the Construction Phase are Frequent

Our Texas construction collapse injury attorneys have written several posts on the frequency of structural collapses while buildings are still under construction as well as when they’re undergoing demolition. The accidental roof truss collapse in Pflugerville can help demonstrate the importance of placing strong temporary bracing during the construction phase as well as of properly calculating the loads that the trusses must support. Though we mention that even the best bracing and the most precise calculations can’t necessarily account for the force of an impact caused by a negligent delivery driver who runs into the structural framing.

Experts warn against loading trusses and roofs under construction with building materials and equipment. Loading stacks of building materials atop partially completed roofs for construction worker convenience is a common practice in the industry, but can drastically overload the supporting structures past their intended live and dead loads. This practice was recently blamed for the collapse of several stories of a high-rise residential tower being built on Stuart Street in Boston.

Our Texas construction collapse injury attorneys point out that truss placement in a building under construction requires trained and skilled crewmembers to build a sound and sturdy roof system. Trusses are triangular elements that can provide very strong structural support in a finished building. When loaded, a triangular truss can transfer the force of its load around the three sides of the triangle while allowing only limited movement or change of shape in the structural element.

The “dead” load that a truss must support is the weight of the structure itself. The “live”

load it supports can be anything from workers on the roof to heavy rains or winter snowfalls. Other forces, like high winds and earthquakes, can reverse the forces usually applied to a truss. Good designers and engineers account for the performance of their truss structures under even these rare occurrences. Though they can’t always anticipate such things as careless truck drivers who might drive into the building supports.

Contact our Board Certified Texas Construction Collapse Injury Attorneys when You need Help after a Serious Injury

In a sudden roof truss collapse like that in the building under construction in Pflugerville, serious or fatal injuries could easily result. If you’ve been injured in a building collapse, learn about your options for winning fair financial compensation from those responsible for causing your injury.

Contact our experienced Texas construction collapse injury attorneys at 713-807-9500 or reach us through our online contact form to schedule a FREE, no obligation initial legal consultation to discuss your injury and potential eligibility for a full financial recovery. The Board Certified personal injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC have a more than 12-year track record of helping clients succeed in their injury claims against builders, manufacturers, careless drivers, and other negligent parties.

Safety problems at fatal walkway collapse site were known to UM

Structural engineers who inspected the broken walkway after the balcony collapse at University Village apartments in Columbia, Missouri reported that the concrete had deteriorated to the point where it could no longer support its own weight. And indeed our balcony collapse attorneys point out that the initial report of the collapse came in during the wee hours of the morning as an apartment resident looked outside to see what a strange noise was and noticed that the unoccupied balcony walkway had begun to sag and fall. The walkway further collapsed as firefighters attempted to warn residents of the danger. Firefighter Lieutenant Bruce Britt died in the collapse.

Investigators said that water, chlorides, and freeze-thaw action had combined to deteriorate the concrete over time. And the evidence from the site indicated concrete shear, a sudden vertical failure. The investigating structural engineers’ report indicated that the metal deck, support beams, and concrete slab were all significantly deteriorated. And that parts of the concrete slab were delaminated because the concrete didn’t settle completely when it was put in. This would have left excess air inside the slab, which creates areas of potential weakness.

The aged apartment building where the balcony collapsed was part of an old complex built several decades ago. Inspections found immediate needs for repair and replacement of walkways at several other buildings. Inspectors said framing of some walkways was “questionable” and that there was imminent danger of catastrophic collapse.

Records show that about $4,000 was spent last summer on repairing two sections of concrete at the building where the collapse occurred. Plans were drawn up several years ago in 2008 regarding repair or replacement of the University Village buildings. That plan said that the walkways even then posed a hazard to public safety. (Ashley Jost, The Columbia Daily Tribune, 3/6/14)

The university plan went on to say that repair was not feasible given the age and condition of the complex: that tear down and replacement of the buildings was the only option. And an email of a UM official expressed concern about the deck repairs at the complex going back 5 to 10 years. (Elliot Weiler and Roche Madden, KTVI Fox 2, 3/5/14)

So basically the University of Missouri knew that there were safety hazards at the complex, specifically in the walkways, and that the only real fix would be to tear them down. But the university did not make that fix. Its budget went to other needs. The balcony collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC emphasize that the school still chose to house students at the complex, when it could have at least closed down the complex and sent the students and their families to live at a place not in imminent danger of structural failures.

In a premises liability case when you or your loved ones have been injured because of a landlord’s negligence regarding the safety of those who might be on the property, you basically have to prove that:

• there was a hazard at the premises that threatened your safety;
• the landlord knew or should have known about the hazard;
• the landlord failed to remove or make proper repairs to that hazard; and
• you were injured by that hazard.

Reports and documents coming to light in the University Village apartments case make it increasingly clear that the victim’s family could probably satisfy all of those elements of proof. But where the landlord defendant is a government entity like a state university rather than a private party, holding them financially accountable for the needless injuries and losses inflicted by the negligence might present some special challenges.

For example, victims and their families in Philadelphia are frustrated with the government agency responsible for structural safety there after a building collapse that killed 6 and injured or maimed 13. The department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) won’t release (or can’t locate) relevant information about building collapses across the city. Attempts to gather the information have been met with stonewalling and/or denials that the information even exists. So attempts to hold the agency and the city liable for the harm inflicted by safety lapses that they might attribute in part to L&I are falling flat. And the city has already claimed sovereign immunity. Click the link to read more about the ongoingPhiladelphia building collapse controversy.

Inspect and Maintain Exteriors to avoid Deadly Walkway Collapses: MU

Ghazwan Alwan, a resident of the University Village Apartments in Columbia, Missouri, and his wife heard a loud crash. He looked outside to see the balcony walkway falling. It had not yet fallen. He called 911. Firefighters responded to the MU balcony collapse and were working to wake and evacuate residents.

Mr. Alwan said Lieutenant Bruce Britt was outside on the 2^nd floor walkway talking to him through his window when he told the firefighter he should get off the walkway because it was unsafe. That was when it collapsed underneath the man. Lieutenant Britt was killed by the balcony walkway collapse at the University Village Apartments.

No university students were injured by the MU balcony collapse. The building where the collapse occurred consisted of 12 units, occupied by about 18 residents at the time. The evacuated residents currently are housed by Missouri University (MU) in hotels.

An MU spokesman said that the building where the fatal MU balcony collapse took place had been inspected sometime in the last two years. The balcony collapse injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC note that it’s best to inspect all exterior structures like balconies, decks, walkways, and stairs at least once per year, preferably twice, due to the high toll that variable weather can take on structures. Moisture seepage, rot, rust, and corrosion wear down all outdoor structures gradually over time.

When engineers inspected the collapsed MU balcony walkway after the fatal accident that tragically killed a firefighter, removal of the soffits revealed extensive rust and corrosion in the support structures. So piles of lumber were trucked in to provide additional support for the remaining walkways. But needless to say, residents of University Village are now on edge regarding their safety and the safety of their neighbors. MU is in the process of having structural engineers inspect all university owned or leased facilities for safety.

The two-story brick University Village apartment complex was built in 1956 and has remained virtually unchanged since that time. It houses married students and graduate students. University Village and University Heights (another older, university-run complex) have been under consideration for rebuild or renovation by MU’s Residential Life unit since at least 2008.

8 things to look out for when officials inspect the exterior elements of these structures include:

1. Missing or loose structural connections.
2. Loose or unstable stairs and stair rails.
3. Loose or unstable guardrails.
4. Rot from humidity, moisture, and varying weather extremes.
5. Cracked or split wood.
6. Crumbling or cracking masonry or concrete.
7. Corrosion in the hardware connectors.
8. Loosening of ledger boards connecting exterior structures to the main structure.

Contact the Board Certified Balcony Collapse Injury Attorneys at Denena Points, PC when you need Help after a Collapse Injury or Wrongful Death

Our more than 12 years of in-depth experience successfully winning fair financial recoveries for victims and their families could help guide you to informed decisions following a serious structural collapse. We’re among the relative handful of personal injury attorneys nationwide with hands on experience litigating complex balcony collapse claims.

Contact us for an entirely free and confidential initial legal consultation. You have no obligation to hire an attorney. Call us at 713-807-9500 or fill out our online contact form to schedule your free consultation. We’ll answer your questions, review the specific facts of your case with you, and help you evaluate your potential eligibility for a full financial recovery for your needless injuries and losses.

3 Ways that Walls can Collapse

1. Curtain fall: Our wall collapse injury attorneys mention that this is just what it sounds like. The wall comes straight down like a curtain dropping in a theater. The fall leaves a mass of debris at the base of where the wall stood. The debris can fall either inward or outward.
2. 90-degree angle fall: This is when the wall drops away from the building at a 90-degree angle and falls in a footprint the full height of the wall, similar to how a tree falls. When the wall hits the ground, the impact can throw out a shower of debris. And a single brick can weigh 6 pounds, so you don’t want to be in range of the debris shower.

3. Inward or outward collapse: This sort of fall occurs when the wall begins to lean either inward or outward. The tilt at the top of the wall will generally force the lower part of the wall in the opposite direction.

The 90-degree angle fall generally represents the worst-case scenario as it hurls debris to a greater distance, which can potentially injure a larger number of people. So firefighters and other authorities creating a collapse zone around a building they believe might fall usually plan for the worst case and make the zone one and one half times the height of the building. (Captain Homer Robertson, FireRescue, February 2011)

The wall collapse injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC emphasize that it’s important to know about the dangers of falling walls and buildings as weather conditions this winter have been causing an unusual number of roof cave-ins and building collapses. Click the link to learn about some of the signs that a structure might be in imminent danger of collapse.

Atlanta DAR Collapse Reiterates what can Happen to Adjacent Buildings

The building collapse attorneys at Denena Points, PC emphasize that when a building collapses either partially or completely like the DAR house in Atlanta, it’s not just the people inside that structure that are in danger. It’s also people in adjacent buildings and in the “collapse zone” area around the building. A collapse zone is generally as wide as one and one-half times the height of the building.

On Wednesday night in midtown Atlanta, Georgia, the house belonging to the DAR (Daughters of the Revolution) collapsed. Authorities indicated that the weight of the ice and snow piled on the building by the recent crippling winter storm might have been the cause of the structural failure.

The DAR house was an historic structure, built in 1911. It stood proudly on Piedmont Avenue across from Piedmont Park. The owner of the collapsed DAR structure mentioned that he would like to save at least the historic façade. Firefighters stated that the rest of the remaining structure would probably have to be torn down.

Our building collapse attorneys note that no one was inside the DAR building when it collapsed. But the effects of the collapse also damaged the duplex next door and trapped a person there who had to be extracted from the debris. (News 11alive.com, 2/13/14)

High-Profile Example of a Building Collapse Crushing an Adjacent Structure

You might remember that when a four-story building undergoing demolition collapsed in Center City, Philadelphia last summer, it wasn’t the work crew in that building who were harmed by the structure’s sudden fall. It was the group of shoppers and employees inside the one-story Salvation Army store next door who suffered the worst effects of that collapse. 6 were killed and 14 were injured. Of the survivors, one woman lost both her legs.

The deadly toll resulted from the huge mass of debris from a 4-story brick wall suddenly raining through the roof of the one-story thrift shop. When buildings topple or buckle, their mass often falls outward onto other buildings or onto nearby cars and people. The problems with predicting the direction of a fall, or which part will weaken and topple first, present great risks to firefighters responding to building fires or explosions.

Indeed today in Dallas, Texas, firefighters were on a ladder fighting a 4-alarm blaze at the Stone Ranch Apartments when a sudden flare of smoke and flame forced them back down to the ground. The blaze spread quickly, and firefighters were called back out of the building due to the potential danger of structural collapse. The fire, possibly caused by a candle left to burn too long, ultimately consumed two entire apartment buildings and displaced at least 90 residents.

Collapse sequence unpredictability is why good demolition companies will, when the nature of the building permits it, make careful preparations in order to bring large buildings down all at once and within their own footprint. But some buildings, older historic structures and severely weakened structures for instance, often have o be brought down by hand, brick by brick.

This type of demolition is what the 4-story brick structure in Center City required. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead a hasty demolition using heavy equipment and inadequate safety precautions was done. And before the collapse, our building collapse attorneys reiterate that a contractor had done the unthinkable: he had removed key support members for the structure in order to re-sell them, endangering everyone who might come near that building

Collapses of 2 Cell Towers in Clarksburg Kill 3 Workers

Two of the workers were repairing a cell phone tower in Clarksburg, West Virginia on Saturday about 11:30 a.m. when it collapsed. The sudden structural collapse of the tower caused them to fall between 80 and 100 feet to the ground. The fall of the tower trapped 4 other workers. A firefighter trying to help one of the workers to safety was mortally wounded when a piece of a second tower fell on him. Three other people, two cell tower workers and a firefighter, were hospitalized with injuries from the dual cell tower collapse in Clarksburg.

Authorities indicate the structural integrity of the second tower was compromised by the collapse of the first tower, causing it to fall as well. Our wrongful death attorneys for tower collapse accidents note that the cell tower site belonged to SBA Communications.

The two fatally injured cell tower workers were identified as Kyle Kirkpatrick, 32, and Terry Lee Richard, Jr., 27, both of Oklahoma. The firefighter killed in the tower collapse was identified as Michael Garrett, 28, of the Nutter Fort Volunteer Fire Department in West Virginia. (Lindsey Burnworth, WDTV.com 5 News, 2/2/14) We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who died in these tragic tower collapses. We also express our heartfelt wishes for rapid and complete recoveries to the injured victims of the Clarksburg accident.

Falls are one of the top causes of fatal on-the-job injuries

Our wrongful death attorneys for tower collapse accidents note that structural failures take unnaturally high tolls on the lives and health of workers. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that year after year, one of the top numbers for on-the-job fatalities results from falls. These deadly falls particularly plague workers in the construction industry, but are also common in the maritime industry, and in the oil and energy sectors, including power utility and cell service utility workers who fall as structures or work platforms give way beneath them.

Contact the experienced attorneys at Denena Points, PC for a free initial legal consultation if you have questions about a structural collapse accident that injured you or your loved one

We will review the specific facts of the accident with you and use our more than 12 years of practical experience successfully resolving complex structural failure accident cases to evaluate your potential for a full financial recovery for the needless harm you’ve suffered.Structural collapse accidents are preventable. Learn about your legal options. Call us at 713-807-9500 or reach us anytime through our online contact form.

What caused the deadly feed plant explosion and collapse in Omaha?

No one is certain yet, and an OSHA spokesman has said it could take weeks before investigators know the cause. At this point, authorities are speculating that structural problems in conjunction with combustible dust might have caused the explosion and collapse. The International Nutrition feed plant in Omaha reportedly did not stock and combustible chemicals. But our industrial structural collapse attorneys point out that dust will ignite if it’s very finely ground. Finely ground dust from metals, plastics, chemicals, and foods all carries the potential to ignite and explode.

But there’s some uncertainty as to whether the collapse occurred first, sending a dense cloud of finely ground dust into the air to then ignite. Or whether the explosion occurred first, sending the top two floors into a collapse into the first floor. Several people were trapped by the collapse. Two workers died and 17 were injured, at least two of them critically.

The OSHA spokesman said that investigators have been able to recover some evidence and get photos of the inside of the collapsed feed plant while they were inside with an urban search and rescue team. But he declined to say what the evidence was.

The superintendent of building and development for Omaha, Jay Davis, said that the feed plant “appears to be too damaged to repair.” (Margery A. Beck, Associated Press, 1/22/14)

Learn more about the dynamics of building collapses. Click the link to read more about the problems of industrial structural collapse from the attorneys at Denena Points, PC.