Building Construction

[N2DFire]

Was out walking around at lunch today & a co-worker of mine had his new camera to play with so I got him to snap a couple of pix of a building undergoing renovation - thought it had some interesting features. May or may not pose significant additional hazard during a fire - but interesting nonetheless.





Some things I found interesting in general were:
Brick Veneer over Block
Brick Veneer over Structural Brick
Mix of Block & Brick (first picture - under columns 2nd floor far right & under 2nd floor windows far left)

From a fire standpoint:
use of 2"X4" to support Brick Veneer (hopefully temporary but cold result in significant falling debris hazard under fire conditions)

Structural Brick & Block work surrounding Structural Steel - Elongation of Steel members under fire load may cause a failure in the Brick & Block work resulting in possible collapse hazards.

These are my thoughts - please feel free to discuss tactical considerations (and correct my observations where needed).

[ullrichk]

Good catch.

Wooden lintels are prohibited by every code I'm aware of, so I expect they're temporary, but that won't do you any good if it catches on fire tonight.

I think one of your biggest exterior concerns is the unprotected structural steel. Keeping those pieces cool (wheter or not those fire streams are actually extinguishing the body of the fire) might be worth considering - as well as staying out of the collapse zone.

[jonnyirons2]

They must not have many brick buildings were youre from. This is normal restoration work. Brick over block in commercial buildings built in the last half of the 20th century is the norm. heavy timber would be the only thing that could support that kind of span and no one uses it cause steel is a quarter of the price. Get the Brannigan book.

[N2DFire]

They must not have many brick buildings were youre from. This is normal restoration work. Brick over block in commercial buildings built in the last half of the 20th century is the norm. heavy timber would be the only thing that could support that kind of span and no one uses it cause steel is a quarter of the price. Get the Brannigan book.

Thanks.

Actually we have a lot of "brick buildings" around here. Matter of fact it is the predominant construction material found in the area (especially in older areas). We have one local brick manufacturing plant that has been in operation since 1890.
http://www.oldvirginiabrick.com/about/index.html

I guess I should have elaborated more about the brick over brick issue. This particular area of the city is typically an older industrial area that is seeing quite a lot of revitalization these past few years. Old factory & warehouse buildings are being turned into everything from office space to restaurants to recording studios (just had a pretty good fire in one of those last month).

The "catch" is the older buildings are/were typically structural brick not brick veneer. Renovations where large doors are walled in, additions are made, buildings getting a "face lift" (like this one), or older buildings are raised completely and new structures built in there place are where you see the brick veneer in the attempt to make these additions / changes blend in.

My point was exactly the same as Brannigans - know your enemy. Just because the structures in that area are "typically" structural brick and you see brick on both sides of the supporting wall - you still can't assume that there's not a layer of veneer brick on the exterior.