structural questions after termite damage

Last year we had joists sistered in our brownstone basement,after discovering longstanding termite damage. (The floor in our kitchen had been sagging in one corner for a long while.) The basement seems solid now and clear of termites, but I’m concerned about the ongoing soundness of the whole building, particularly because the side of the house where the damage is is partly freestanding (we are at the end of a row of houses, with a smaller commercial building next door). For a while I’ve noticed places around the house where the paint job has cracked at joins, between staircase steps or door frames (admittedly this is a 12-year-old paint job), and I’ve just noticed small cracks in the plaster on the top (third) floor, in the corner of the house above where the termite damage was. While these cracks may be due to other causes (we just had a built-in desk put in the corner, and there was drilling) I have nightmares about the side of my building collapsing. What kind of professional can I get in to take a look and tell us what, if anything, we should do to reinforce the structure? Thanks.

casacleo

in Brownstoner Renovation 10 years and 7 months ago

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resident2 | 10 years and 7 months ago

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Assuming you have had the termites treated and have a contract for continued monitoring? Are the ceiling joists in the basement still viewable? or are they all covered in sheet-rock etc? To get a real inspection, the beams, joists etc all need to be seen. I would go with a good construction carpenter that specializes in Brownstones. If you ask a structural engineer, the chances are they will come up with a recommendation to replace all the beams with steal etc. This in my opinion does not work, because the steel and the other wooden components over the coming years do not move, expand and contract with changing seasons etc at the same rate and the steel ends up pulling everything out of alignment. I am not an engineer; I am just someone that has owned rehabbed and managed the maintenance of Brownstones for more than 30 years.