Structural Engineering & Inspections, LLC P.O.

Box 2485 Brentwood, TN 37024-2485 Office: (615) 819-0029 Fax: (615) 819-0297 www.seandi.com Date 7/12/2012

Invoice
Invoice # 7548

Bill To Tammy Mangrum 105 Cottage Place Nashville, TN 37214 Terms Due on receipt Project # 120702 Date 6/7/2012 6/26/2012 7/10/2012 7/11/2012 7/12/2012 7/12/2012 Scheduling/Contracts Travel/OnSite Review Letter/Report Letter/Report Letter/Report Invoice/Transmit Item Hours/Qty 0.25 3.5 1 1 2 0.25 Rate 65.00 150.00 150.00 150.00 150.00 65.00 Amount 16.25 525.00 150.00 150.00 300.00 16.25 Due Date 7/12/2012 Project Customer Proj. # / PO #

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Structural Engineering & Inspection, LLC

P.O. Box 2485 Brentwood, TN 37024

July 12, 2012

Tammy Mangrum 105 Cottage Place Nashville, TN SUBJECT: Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN

SE&I Project No: 12-0702

SCOPE OF WORK~ A representative of our office met with Mrs. Mangrum at the above referenced site on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, to make observations of the structure. The purpose of the site visit was to observe the following area of concern or distress as reported by the Client: There has been an ongoing issue with moisture in the crawlspace area. appears to be affecting the interior finishes of the house. This condition

Professional opinions will be provided regarding the condition and structural integrity of the aforementioned areas. Recommendations for any repairs or replacement of structure in the observed areas will be provided. OBSERVATIONS~ For purposes of this report, all directions (left, right, front, back, etc.) are taken from the viewpoint of the observer standing in front of and facing the residence. Specific comments may refer to left-hand or right-hand and are taken as facing the object. The residence is a one-story townhouse located at the left end of a building containing four units. The exterior appears to be clad with brick veneer and vinyl siding. There is an open family room and dining area along the left end of the home that has a vaulted ceiling. There is a vertical drywall crack at the top left-hand corner of the window opening in the left wall of the family room. The crack extends up to the ceiling. There is a linear crack in the drywall ceiling above the vicinity of the window. There is a door opening in the back right corner of the family/dining room area that leads to the kitchen. There is a diagonal drywall crack at the top right-hand corner of the door opening. The door opening appears to be racked such that the head of the door is sloping down toward the front of the house.

Office: (615) 819-0029

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Fax: (615) 819-0297

Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN July 12, 2012 Page 2 of 6

The hardwood floor in the dining area appears to have a slight cup in the planks. The kitchen countertops appear to be separating or shifting at the mitered corner. There is a hallway extending off the middle of the family room area that leads to the bedrooms. There is a laundry closet off the front side of the hallway. The drywall ceiling of the laundry room appears to be sloping down where it meets the wall at the back left-hand corner of the closet. The hallway turns toward the front of the house. There is a linear crack in the drywall ceiling that extends off the corner of the hallway above the water heater closet. There is a crack in the drywall at the top corners between the water heater closet and the middle front bedroom. The tape joint appears to be separating or failing in the ceiling of the water heater closet. There is some minor separation or deterioration of the caulk joint between the crown molding and the ceiling along the back wall of the front middle bedroom. There is a vertical crack in the drywall at the back right corner of the middle bedroom above the doorway to the hall. There is a linear crack in the ceiling of the master bedroom at the back of the house. The crack extends left-to-right adjacent to the master bedroom/kitchen wall. There is a similar crack in the kitchen ceiling. There is a concrete patio off the back of the dining area. There is a vertical crack in the brick veneer above the back door opening at the top left-hand corner of the opening. From the back patio one can see a visible sag in the roof ridge line over the family/dining room area. We observed no evidence of cracks in the brick along the front wall of the house. We observed no evidence of cracks in the brick along the left wall of the house. We observed no additional evidence of cracks in the brick veneer along the back of the house. The downspouts at the left end of the building are discharging into buried pipe. There appears to be a green pop-up where the pipe discharges in the yard. The grade along the left end of the house appears to have adequate slope away from the foundation. The yard behind the building appears to be relatively flat with very little or no slope away from the foundation. Several feet away from the building the grade rises forming a berm. The crawlspace is accessed through an opening in the back of the building below the master bedroom of the subject unit. The floor is framed with what appears to be Mitek Posi-Strut metal web truss system spanning front-to-back of the building. The joists are approximately 9-1/4 deep and spaced approximately 24 on center. It appears that the spacing of the floor joists does not correspond with the location of interior walls. The joists were simply spaced 24 on center across the building. The joists are supported by several 3-2x10 beams that span left-to-right of the building. The first beam is located approximately 11 off the front wall of the front bedroom. The second beam is located approximately 13-8 off the first beam. The third beam is located approximately 8 off the second beam and approximately 7 off the back wall of the building. We observed evidence of spore growth on the surface of the wood top and bottom chords of the floor trusses. We observed evidence of water staining and deterioration of the wood beams where the HVAC supply lines pass over the support beam. In the vicinity of the kitchen/dining wall at the corner formed in the perimeter foundation wall we observed a single floor joist below the vicinity of the wall.

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Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN July 12, 2012 Page 3 of 6

The laundry room areas was observed to occur in the middle of a truss span; not close to a supporting beam. The floor appears to be sagging or deflecting under the laundry room and water heater closet area. The crawlspace was observed to be dry at the time of this site visit. However there was evidence of previous standing water around the perimeter walls near the left end of the building. HOMEOWNER PROVIDED INFORMATION~ Purchased and closed on the unit in January 2007. Board meeting in January/February 2007 indicated that common issues below all buildings were going to be addressed. Work was reportedly completed in 2008. Pest control person informed owner in 2009 that there was a moisture or water issue below this unit. Owner brought this to the attention of the HOA in Fall 2009. Documents were provided for our information and review: 2008 Board Meeting Letter 31 digital photos via email PowerPoint slide show from November 5, 2007 presented to owners prior to January 29, 2008 Annual Meeting. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS~ The conclusions and unbiased professional opinions summarized below are based on the prescriptive requirements of the local building code, analyses performed in accordance with accepted engineering practice and/or on-site evaluation of the existing conditions. It is our understanding that the subject property was permitted at such a time that the was enforcing the . All references made to the building code in this report are referring to this document. Main support beam: We observed evidence of water staining and damage along the main support beams in the crawlspace consistent with the damage previously identified by the COA. The identified areas are occurring directly under the HVAC duct where it passes between the floor trusses over the beam. It appears that the high moisture levels in the crawlspace have caused condensation to form on the duct. The condensation then flows or drips onto the main support beam causing the observed staining and deterioration. We recommend that any damaged or deteriorated sections of the main support beams be removed and replaced with new lumber (3-2x10 SYP #2). The new sections of the beam must span between the existing masonry piers. Missing insulation, improperly installed insulation and moldy insulation: We observed that there was no insulation below portions of the master bedroom area of the unit. Much of the insulation below the remainder of the unit is not properly installed and appears to be discolored and may contain mold spore growth. These observations appear to be consistent with the conditions previously identified by the COA. It is our opinion that the high moisture levels in the crawlspace have caused condensation to form in the insulation fibers. Fiberglass insulation must be installed in contact with the subflooring material in order to function properly. The installed insulation was observed to be sagging into the lower portions of the floor truss creating an air space between the kraft paper moisture barrier and the subflooring surface. This air space

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Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN July 12, 2012 Page 4 of 6

negates any benefit of the insulation as it allows cold and hot air to flow into the space and ultimately allow heat transfer into the interior of the space. It is our opinion that the insulation in the floor is doing very little to insulate the building and could simply be removed. Of course any insulation contaminated with mold should be removed and could be replaced. If insulation is reinstalled it is important that it maintain contact with the bottom of the subfloor to perform properly. It will likely be difficult to install fiberglass insulation in a way that will maintain contact. Wire insulation holders are not compatible with the open web truss floor system. We would recommend that the exterior walls be insulated as an alternative to insulating the floor. Mold: We observed evidence of spore growth on the surface of the wood framing throughout the crawlspace consistent with the mold previously identified by the COA. We have not performed any testing to identify the spore. In many instances the spore growth may or may not contain mold but is often found to contain wood decaying fungus. It is our opinion that the high moisture levels in the crawlspace are contributing to the spore growth. The spore growth in the crawlspace should be tested and identified. The HOA letter concerning the January 20, 2008 annual meeting suggests that an inspection was performed and a report generated at that time. It is likely that this report would identify the common molds in the crawlspace and provide recommendations for remediation. Framing below family room/kitchen/bedroom walls: We observed a single wood truss below the vicinity of the wall that separations the family/dining area from the kitchen and bedroom. We observed drywall cracks above the kitchen door opening and evidence that the door has racked out-of-square. The floor below the wall appears to be deflecting excessively. It is our opinion that the deflection is related to the high moisture levels in the crawlspace and inadequate framing. We recommend that the framing along this wall and similar areas below the unit be reinforced by additional pressure treated 2x10 SYP #2 double joists immediately adjacent to the truss below walls or directly below the interior wall locations. The new joists must be of continuous material between supporting foundation walls or beams. Laundry and water heater closet area: The closets to the front side of the hallway appear to be located near the middle of the 13-4 (+/-) span of the floor trusses. We observed some evidence of drywall cracking and joint tape separation in and around the closets and adjacent bedroom. It is our opinion that the hight moisture levels in the crawlspace are affecting the floor framing and causing excessive deflection. We recommend that the floor framing in this longer span be reinforced or shored to help reduce the deflection and movement of the floor system. We would typically recommend that a shoring beam be installed near mid-span. However, a shoring beam would not be compatible with the existing floor truss system as they are not designed to bear at mid-span. Therefore, we would recommend installing additional 2x10 SYP #2 joists between the existing trusses to provide additional strength. Vapor retarding barrier: We observed that the vapor retarding barrier was deteriorating and/or not covering the ground surface in the crawlspace consistent with the condition previously identified by the COA. There are many areas where there is 6 to 18 of uncovered ground surface between sheets of polyethylene. Some areas appeared to have a newer black poly installed, but the newer material did not cover the entire crawlspace area.

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Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN July 12, 2012 Page 5 of 6

We recommend that the entire crawlspace area below the building be covered with a proper vapor barrier (10-mil thick polyethylene). All laps should be a minimum of 12 at joints. The laps should be installed in a reverse shingle fashion where the pieces at the lower end of the slope lap over the pieces up slope. This will keep condensation and water flow below the barrier. The poly should be cut to fit around all interior piers and provide full coverage of the exposed ground surface. Crawlspace ventilation: Many of the crawlspace vents around the building were observed to be closed or partially closed at the time of this site visit preventing cross ventilation. In addition, it appears that the space has not been provided with an adequate area of net free ventilated area. We observed that many of the vent openings were spaced in excess of 3 from the corners of the foundation. Areas along the front and back of the building containing patios or porches prevent installation of vent openings. It is our opinion that the lack of adequate crawlspace ventilation is contributing to the high moisture levels in the crawlspace area. We recommend that additional crawlspace vent openings be provided on all four sides of the building in order to increase cross ventilation through the crawlspace. If additional vents can not be installed due to existing porches or patios it may be necessary to install mechanical ventilation to force air in or out of the crawlspace. Additional ventilation along with the vapor barrier installation should help to reduce moisture in the crawlspace. All downspout discharge piping should be monitored and maintained to insure proper flow and discharge of water into the yard away from the foundation of the house. Grading around the building should also be maintained to provided a positive slope away from the foundation to prevent surface water from entering the crawlspace. Sagging ridge line over family room: From the attic area we observed that the roof is generally framed with what appear to be pre-engineered metal plate connected wood trusses. The area over the family room is framed with a scissor truss that forms a sloped ceiling over the space. The trusses are clear-spanning from the front wall of the building to the back. It is our opinion that the sag visible in the ridge line is likely due to the lateral deflection of the scissor trusses. The truss will deflect under loading and will tend to push outward on the supporting walls. This deflection allows the peak of the truss to deflect downward. Since the left wall of the family room is the left wall of the building there is no deflection at the exterior wall. This condition creates the appearance of a sagging ridge line. There is little that can be done to change the condition of the ridge line. However, some minor improvements could be performed to prevent cracking and movement between the sloped ceiling and the side walls of the family room. We recommend that the first scissor truss against the family/bedroom wall be fastened to the first gable truss or wall framing visible within the attic space. Installing two 10d common nails or appropriate wood screws through the studs and the members of the truss can help to reduce differential movement that has caused the cracks and separation. After all other work is complete the interior drywall cracks and loose tape joints can be patched and the areas repainted. LIMITATIONS~ Limited visual observations have been made at the site in an attempt to form professional opinions concerning only the areas of concern or structural distress noted in the opening paragraphs of this report. In existing construction there are numerous portions of the structure that are hidden and therefore not all of the methods of construction and existing conditions can be observed or independently verified without extensive observation and testing utilizing both

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Residential Observations & Reporting 105 Cottage Place, Nashville, TN July 12, 2012 Page 6 of 6

destructive and non-destructive means. The performance of this testing is beyond the scope of services for our report. Some limited destructive work, such as temporary removal of interior and/or exterior finishes, may have been performed by a general contractor (hired by others) prior to or during the site visit(s) in order to observe and document the condition of the structure and methods of construction for specific areas around the structure. The information provided by the owner, contractor and the limited observations performed by representatives of our office have been utilized to render general opinions concerning the condition of the structure, methods of construction and the possible cause(s) of any observed areas of structural distress and to recommend corrective measures. The information gathered during the site visit(s) provides adequate evidence, justification and reasoning for the opinions, conclusions and recommendations stated within this report. Performing a complete structural analysis and/or an exhaustive evaluation of the entire structure is beyond the scope of services for our report. Therefore, there may be additional areas of structural distress, structural deficiency and/or local building code violations that were not discovered and documented as part of this report and the recommendation(s) for corrective measures provided herein are a minimum requirement. Additional information may be discovered that would require reevaluation of the opinions, conclusions and recommendations stated within this report. Any conclusions stated in this report are based on the minimum prescriptive requirements of the local building code, standards of best practice for residential construction, and/or acceptable engineering practice and are not intended to provide a warranty, guarantee or certification of future performance of the structure and/or its individual components. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call. Respectfully submitted, Structural Engineering & Inspections, LLC

7/12/12
J Michael Vines, SE Principal
Filename: 12-0702_2012-07-12_Letr.pages

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