This report was written by BCC resident Gordon P. Houston, P.E., a Professional Civil Engineer registered in Florida and Illinois. He worked in construction and design since 1965 and served 2 years on the BCC Board.
Roofs
The roofs of our buildings are constructed by stretching a membrane over plywood sheeting supported by wood roof trusses. The membrane is anchored at the roof edge by steel screws spaced at intervals along the edge ledger board. This produced a strong roof with a low wind drag which is important during a strong wind storm. We found during hurricane Wilma that the edge anchorage must be maintained. During this storm we had a failure on the south side of buildings 1 through 8. The roofing expert hired to repair these roofs said the steel connectors had deteriorated. He made repairs using stainless steel connectors. When asked how we could prevent this from happening again, he suggested we install additional stainless steel connectors between the existing steel connectors.
Seawall
The seawall along the canal and entrance road was built before the condo buildings. This type of concrete seawall is designed with a service life of 30 years. Our wall is approximately 40 years old; therefore, we have surpassed the design service life and it needs to be reinforced to extend that life.
In addition, this wall is only 2 feet from the edge of the entrance road within the soil slip zone behind the wall. When a heavy vehicle drives near the curb there is an additional load against the wall. When we repaved the road, we added even more weight on the wall. It would be best if the curb was 10 to 12 feet back from the back face of the wall.
The reason we see so much subsidence (or washouts) along the wall now is because of movement of the wall due to stretching and failure of the steel strand tie backs. This causes misalignment of the precast sheets and pilings, allowing the backfill to pass through. If enough tiebacks fail the wall will fail as it did at building 14 where the wall tipped over. Or the piles will break and damage the precast concrete panels, which happened along the
To properly stabilize and extend the life of the seawall without the greater expense of replacing it, the normal method is to drive sloping piles in front of each existing vertical pile. This is to replace the failing tiebacks. In addition, the existing cap is replaced with a wider cap to encompass both piles and to insure the top of the existing sheet is supported.
Balconies
The balcony railings are in very poor condition, causing a safety hazard for residents. In addition, many residents are having problems with their screens because the railings also support the screens. When hurricane Wilma damaged 3 balcony railings, we could not just replace these railings. Florida's Building Code required the railing to be 4 inches higher and the vertical slats closer together. The vertical support at the center of the balcony has to have additional support at the top.
Entrance Doors
Building entrance doors are a concern. The door panels are mostly in good condition but the hardware has been used for over 36 years without replacement. Most latches and worn-out hinges are noisy, and many closures are inoperable or nearly so. The conditions of the entrance doors are important during wind storms because if they fail to hold back the wind we will lose the roof.
Shutters, Windows & Balcony Enclosures
BCC should have a policy on window replacement, balcony enclosures and practical shutter design. If we make all windows meet the new code we would be eligible for a substantial discount on wind insurance. The policy should require all present and future glass balcony enclosures (where sliding door is removed) to meet the same present code requirements.
