[Flood Rebuild] Need a builder for a few hours.

[TheRealAndy]

One of the houses I helped clean out has that flood insurance that does not include rising rivers. They want to move back in, even though they house is still way off being livable in my opinion.

However, they cant move in until the house can be locked, and the door downstairs cant close and be locked. I looked at it today, and though the main beam was sagging, but not so sure now. I think the header (part up the top?) is warped. I can fix it as long as its not structural, but would like to get the opinion from someone who actually knows.

House is at jindallee. I am happy to do the work, just need some advice.

Thanks People.

[PinHead]

just be careful doing that kind of work Andy..don't leave yourself open to you being hit with any form of action against you should your work go pear shaped.

[TheRealAndy]

just be careful doing that kind of work Andy..don't leave yourself open to you being hit with any form of action against you should your work go pear shaped.

Its all good mate. If its a structural problem I wont be going there, hence the reason I am asking for help to diagnose. I wont touch it until I know its not structural.

[Fish_gutz]

The water will do wonderful things to timber , by the sounds of things it should be an easy fix with a planer or take the top door jamb out all together to get it lockable , the rest can be sorted later. the top of the door way (if all the gyprock has been removed) might have a large hardwood beam/header (75x200/250)over the top and as long as your not trying to take that down or move it etc you should be ok to get into it. Cheers Andrew

ps, just check the bottom of the door as this usually always gets missed with paint so when water soaks up in to the bottom it will swell and warp and be a pain in the arse to open and close. Andrew

[TheRealAndy]

The water will do wonderful things to timber , by the sounds of things it should be an easy fix with a planer or take the top door jamb out all together to get it lockable , the rest can be sorted later. the top of the door way (if all the gyprock has been removed) might have a large hardwood beam/header (75x200/250)over the top and as long as your not trying to take that down or move it etc you should be ok to get into it. Cheers Andrew

ps, just check the bottom of the door as this usually always gets missed with paint so when water soaks up in to the bottom it will swell and warp and be a pain in the arse to open and close. Andrew

Yeah it looks to me like the door jamb at the top that is bowed, but was hard to tell. Good point about just removing it, cause then it can be locked. The jambs down the side also looked a bit bowed. Poor guy who owns the place was trying to chisel out the the jamb where the hinges go!! HE has no idea!

Whatever the problem is though, it looks like the main bearer above is also a bit bowed. I am guessing this was prior to the flood, because behind one of the gyprock walls that was removed is a steel post.

This guys is just some random dude off the street, dont know him from a bar of soap. I was talking to his wife this afternoon and apparently they dont qualify for any assistance off the government (beside the $1000 payment). From what I can gather, you pretty much have to be on the dole to get help. Wonder where that 50M+$ we have all donated is going to end up?

[PinHead]

therein lies a problem with the rebuilding..if you do any buidling that is valued at over $3300 you must have a BSA license..whether you get paid for the work or not.

[TheRealAndy]

therein lies a problem with the rebuilding..if you do any buidling that is valued at over $3300 you must have a BSA license..whether you get paid for the work or not.

Oh well, sue me...

[Timfishin4fun]

Another thing to remember is that the timber in the house needs to dry out before works start.

Timber needs to have less than 16% moisture content.

Tim

[fish'n'chippy]

........ If its a structural problem I wont be going there, hence the reason I am asking for help to diagnose. I wont touch it until I know its not structural..........

don't touch it period........if you are just trying to help the guy out and get it lockable, butcher the door and leave the jambs alone.
by removing the top jamb, you could very well loosen the side jambs as well creating more issues. just take what you need out of the door itself, undoubtedly the door is water damaged and will need to be replaced anyway and you will not open yourself up to any sort of structural liability claim.

grahame

[Raesen]

I'm with grahame above. Belt a hole in door and pass a chain and a double lock (i.e. one inside and one outside set up through door and adjacent wall even if it is brick). If brick belt a hole in the brick and pass chain through (brock can be easily replaced later.

Cheers
Pete

[dreemon]

Or cut plywood to size of the door frame and just screw to the frame which will only hold it together better while it's drying out , if it's not done right it'll only cost more in the end , theres a good reason the doors not swinging properly at the moment and alot of times it will come back close to normal if left to dry out,
as said before, even gyprock will look really really sad then comes good when it has time to dry.

[tunaticer]

What nobody has alluded to here is the foundations under one side of the door could well have moved more than the other. Get it properly assessed before anything is done. As far as making it lockup at the moment, screw the thing shut and use the other entrance until it is assessed properly.

[TheRealAndy]

Its all good gents, hungry6 came out and took a look. No structural damage.

Big thanks to him for taking a look.