5 SIGNS THAT A BUILDING IS WEAK AND PRONE TO COLLAPSE
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Many areas within Lagos State are becoming highly concentrated with structures and soon enough there will be little or no vacant land for developer or prospective owners to buy and build on.
The available option will be to buy from owners of already built structures who are willing to sell. These structures are mostly old, uncompleted, abandoned or in a poor state. And any developers/ prospective owner who wishes to acquire such property, needs to know a few tell signs for a building that is very weak and prone to collapse.
Here are a few things to looks out for when buying such building;
Walls under a beam, slab or foundation can show cracks as a sign of excessive load on the walls itself. When a beam, slab or foundation can't adequately support its own weight and the load on it, if a wall is underneath, it will tend to transfer some of the load to the block walls and since they are not design to support such weight, you will see cracks forming along the joints/through of the blocks.
Cracks could also occur on walls due to normal foundation settling, thermal expansion, plaster shrinkage, leakage from roof and other factors.
What you should watch out for is; the width of the cracks, their length, the number of cracks around the house and what are the possible cause of these cracks.
For a property that is a storey building or more, you need to check the suspended slab for any form of sagging. When a slab looks sunken, then probably there was no adequate reinforcement done, the span of the slab is too wide without a beam or the thickness of the slab is adequate.
Either way, this is a major tell sign for an impending collapse of that building. If a slab is not adequately designed, reinforced or constructed, its collapse may pull other structural element.
When you inspect a building and you find that reinforcement within the slab, beams, or foundation are exposed and rusty, then you should understand that such building structural integrity is being compromised.
If the concrete covering around the reinforcement has peeled off and the reinforcement looks very rusty. Then such building may not be able to support the intended load it was designed for or even its own weight after sometime.
This is still one of the most underestimated causes of collapse and since we are looking at buying an existing building, its most likely that the original purpose intended by the previous owner may not be the same for the new owner.
When a structure meant for residential is being converted for commercial use without proper assessment of the previous design and introduction of supports for the new use, such building is bound to collapse when introduced to excessive load.
Many developers who buy existing building need to understand that when you intend to remodel or reconstruct a building to your intended purpose, you need to engage professionals to help with these transformation.
When you engage quacks who during reconstruction breaks down an important beam or column support, this can affect the integrity of the building and sudden collapse can occur.
Do buy a land or property in Lagos State without reading our FREE guide to owning a property in Lagos.
If you need any of our service(s) for your property in any location within Lagos State, please visit our service page to request that service.
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