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Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 15, 2014 08:11PM
I've always noticed the two noticably-leaning red-brick apartment buildings on Addison east of Western. One is on the NE corner of Addison & Bell, and the other is a block west, on the NE corner of Addison & Oakley.
I seem to remember there being a third one nearby, possibly a cream-brick building of the same shape.
So, what's the deal with these? Engineering flaw? Substandard ground? Are the interiors a funhouse of no level surfaces?
I seem to remember there being a third one nearby, possibly a cream-brick building of the same shape.
So, what's the deal with these? Engineering flaw? Substandard ground? Are the interiors a funhouse of no level surfaces?
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 15, 2014 11:44PM
[b]Ilooked them up on street view and didn't notice any one of them leaning. If so it's not visible on Google street view.[/b]
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 16, 2014 12:33AM
The Google Street View doesn't really show how significant they lean (the one on Oakley is partially blocked by trees), but if you look at the facades of both that face Addison, you can see where vertical cracks in the masonry near the windows have been repointed.
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
nordsider
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 16, 2014 09:53AM
Both of the buildings - viewed via Google Street View - look similar to the long and narrow shape of the Monadnock Building, the northern half designed by Burnham & Root in 1891; not the same design internally as the two buildings on Addison, but the Monadnock building had settling/sagging too, I have read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadnock_Building
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monadnock_Building
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
PKDickman
(---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 16, 2014 02:57PM
I had to go to the store, so I swung by and looked at them.
They are definitely leaning.
The fact the they are identical leads me to suspect... same builder, same problem. Bad craftsmanship
It could be poor footings, but more likely the foundation wall.
Old foundations were not the cast concrete things we see now, they were laid up from rough limestone blocks or, in the cheapest case, common brick.
Stone is preferable because properly laid, the high points on the stones touch each other so the wall can't get shorter. Brick, however, is laid on a bed of mortar and both the bricks and the mortar can decay, letting the wall compress under the load.
Both are damaged by water infiltration so it is important to direct the water away from the foundation. If the concrete walk slopes the wrong way and does not have a water tight bond with the wall, seepage occurs.
I wouldn't suggest buying these buildings.
The Tower of Pisa still stands. Generally the building has to tilt until the inside wall at the top is past the outside wall at the bottom before it becomes unstable.
I lived in a brick building on Wood St that was raised on wooden pilings.
It tilted badly (it still does) and there were no flat surfaces.
The landlord had raised the kitchen floor to level it and laid black and white rubber tiles on a diagonal.
Between the tile, the windows and doors tilting one way and the ceiling tilting the other, it was like being in the forced perspective room the used to have at the Big and small exhibit in the Field museum
They are definitely leaning.
The fact the they are identical leads me to suspect... same builder, same problem. Bad craftsmanship
It could be poor footings, but more likely the foundation wall.
Old foundations were not the cast concrete things we see now, they were laid up from rough limestone blocks or, in the cheapest case, common brick.
Stone is preferable because properly laid, the high points on the stones touch each other so the wall can't get shorter. Brick, however, is laid on a bed of mortar and both the bricks and the mortar can decay, letting the wall compress under the load.
Both are damaged by water infiltration so it is important to direct the water away from the foundation. If the concrete walk slopes the wrong way and does not have a water tight bond with the wall, seepage occurs.
I wouldn't suggest buying these buildings.
The Tower of Pisa still stands. Generally the building has to tilt until the inside wall at the top is past the outside wall at the bottom before it becomes unstable.
I lived in a brick building on Wood St that was raised on wooden pilings.
It tilted badly (it still does) and there were no flat surfaces.
The landlord had raised the kitchen floor to level it and laid black and white rubber tiles on a diagonal.
Between the tile, the windows and doors tilting one way and the ceiling tilting the other, it was like being in the forced perspective room the used to have at the Big and small exhibit in the Field museum
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
davey7
(---.dsl.chcgil.ameritech.net)
Date: January 16, 2014 04:02PM
The good old days in construction weren't always. Lots of buildings in Chicago have poor foundations or subsidence. It's a matter of how much one can live with.
Isn't there a shop further east on Addison (like between SoPo and Clark) which leans like nobody's business?
Isn't there a shop further east on Addison (like between SoPo and Clark) which leans like nobody's business?
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
(---.dsl.chcgil.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 18, 2014 02:28PM
davey7 Wrote:
-
>
> Isn't there a shop further east on Addison (like
> between SoPo and Clark) which leans like nobody's
> business?
Yep, the Yesterday shop just east of Racine.
-
>
> Isn't there a shop further east on Addison (like
> between SoPo and Clark) which leans like nobody's
> business?
Yep, the Yesterday shop just east of Racine.
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
Richard Stachowski
(---.hsd1.il.comcast.net)
Date: January 18, 2014 07:36PM
[b]Where on Wood street did you live?[/b]PKDickman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had to go to the store, so I swung by and looked
> at them.
> They are definitely leaning.
> The fact the they are identical leads me to
> suspect... same builder, same problem. Bad
> craftsmanship
> It could be poor footings, but more likely the
> foundation wall.
> Old foundations were not the cast concrete things
> we see now, they were laid up from rough limestone
> blocks or, in the cheapest case, common brick.
> Stone is preferable because properly laid, the
> high points on the stones touch each other so the
> wall can't get shorter. Brick, however, is laid on
> a bed of mortar and both the bricks and the mortar
> can decay, letting the wall compress under the
> load.
>
> Both are damaged by water infiltration so it is
> important to direct the water away from the
> foundation. If the concrete walk slopes the wrong
> way and does not have a water tight bond with the
> wall, seepage occurs.
> I wouldn't suggest buying these buildings.
>
> The Tower of Pisa still stands. Generally the
> building has to tilt until the inside wall at the
> top is past the outside wall at the bottom before
> it becomes unstable.
>
> I lived in a brick building on Wood St that was
> raised on wooden pilings.
> It tilted badly (it still does) and there were no
> flat surfaces.
> The landlord had raised the kitchen floor to level
> it and laid black and white rubber tiles on a
> diagonal.
>
> Between the tile, the windows and doors tilting
> one way and the ceiling tilting the other, it was
> like being in the forced perspective room the used
> to have at the Big and small exhibit in the Field
> museum
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had to go to the store, so I swung by and looked
> at them.
> They are definitely leaning.
> The fact the they are identical leads me to
> suspect... same builder, same problem. Bad
> craftsmanship
> It could be poor footings, but more likely the
> foundation wall.
> Old foundations were not the cast concrete things
> we see now, they were laid up from rough limestone
> blocks or, in the cheapest case, common brick.
> Stone is preferable because properly laid, the
> high points on the stones touch each other so the
> wall can't get shorter. Brick, however, is laid on
> a bed of mortar and both the bricks and the mortar
> can decay, letting the wall compress under the
> load.
>
> Both are damaged by water infiltration so it is
> important to direct the water away from the
> foundation. If the concrete walk slopes the wrong
> way and does not have a water tight bond with the
> wall, seepage occurs.
> I wouldn't suggest buying these buildings.
>
> The Tower of Pisa still stands. Generally the
> building has to tilt until the inside wall at the
> top is past the outside wall at the bottom before
> it becomes unstable.
>
> I lived in a brick building on Wood St that was
> raised on wooden pilings.
> It tilted badly (it still does) and there were no
> flat surfaces.
> The landlord had raised the kitchen floor to level
> it and laid black and white rubber tiles on a
> diagonal.
>
> Between the tile, the windows and doors tilting
> one way and the ceiling tilting the other, it was
> like being in the forced perspective room the used
> to have at the Big and small exhibit in the Field
> museum
Re: Leaning Apartment Buildings On Addison
Posted by:
PKDickman
(---.lightspeed.cicril.sbcglobal.net)
Date: January 18, 2014 09:33PM
Richard Stachowski Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where on Wood street did you live?
That was fairly north of you.
1641 N Wood
-------------------------------------------------------
> Where on Wood street did you live?
That was fairly north of you.
1641 N Wood
