When the deck or balcony collapses on an apartment building in Houston or anyplace else, the landlord almost always tries to put the blame on residents overcrowding the balcony or partying on the structure. Our Houston balcony collapse lawyers might point out that the ostensible purpose of such structures is to share the beauty of a fine day outdoors with friends.
The injured residents and guests, as well as inspectors, tend to look for other causes. Causes such as rot, trapped moisture, loose connection hardware, splintered wood, and inadequate bolting to the primary structure often lie behind sudden structural collapses.
For instance, investigators have attributed the sudden collapse of the 5th floor of the Centergy parking garage in midtown Atlanta last June to a misplaced bolt. Our Houston balcony collapse lawyers point out that the parking garage collapse damaged about 35 cars but fortunately resulted in no injuries. The bolt at a spandrel beam connected the floor to a column on the 5th floor of the parking garage. The bolt was found not to be defective, but merely used in the wrong way. At its connection location on the 5th floor, it did not provide adequate restraint of the spandrel.
But in a balcony collapse in Buffalo, NY early Sunday morning, the landlord who rented the house to students is blaming “partying like rock stars” for the sudden balcony failure. The balcony collapse on Bradley Street sent three people to the hospital with injuries. Investigations of the incident are not complete, so no official cause of the balcony collapse has yet been issued.
If the students’ rent house is typical of such structures around other campuses, neglected maintenance and rot could be behind the balcony collapse. Buffalo, NY is noted for extreme winter weather with lots of snowfall that could result in trapped moisture between the balcony’s ledger board and the main house. This would result in the balcony and its connections to the house loosening and pulling away over time, just waiting for an accident to happen.
If you’ve been the victim of a balcony collapse injury, don’t let the landlord put the blame on you. You need a solid accident investigation to pinpoint the actual causes of the structural collapse so that you could obtain the financial recovery you deserve after your needless injuries. Contact our experience Houston balcony collapse lawyers for a free and confidential consultation about your accident and injury.
We know how to investigate a balcony collapse. The Houston balcony collapse lawyers at Denena & Points stand among the few lawyers in the nation with actual, hands-on experience successfully handling balcony collapse claims for injured victims. So don’t let a negligent landlord shift the blame and the cost of your injuries to you. Get the aggressive legal help you need to prove your valid injury claim. Call or email us today for your free initial consultation. We address balcony collapse matters nationwide.