Comments on: Building Inspections in Haiti http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/ A new eMagazine BY carpenters, FOR carpenters. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:04:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Andy /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-7195 Andy Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:58:22 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-7195 Oops. Minimum wage is $5.50/Day - big difference. Oops. Minimum wage is $5.50/Day – big difference.

]]> By: Andy /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-7194 Andy Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:54:34 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-7194 I am a Los Angeles architect and I just returned from a two week vacation in Haiti. As an LA architect, I have more than a passing familiarity with seismic design. There were two things that caught my eye, here. First, Erika, is that your essay very closely resembles my own "shoot-from-the-hip analysis of the types of seismic building failures in Haiti. Excellent essay so there is no need to repeat the details of mine here. Second, Teeg, I love your excitement for the wall panel system. I had taken an interest in that system for a project here in California about five years ago. I never found a client who would let me "experiment" on them. So I put that idea away... for the time being. Three weeks ago, while driving through Port-au-Prince surveying the disaster, I noticed something rather interesting. All of the concrete telephone poles were intact. Concrete poles would have been too expensive to ship so I assumed they were made locally. The next day at a party, by rather extraordinary coincidence, I met a friend of the company owner. I'm sure it's obvious but what is significant about the telephone poles is that I now know that there is somebody in Haiti who is experience with and equipped to produce prefabricated structural concrete products... such as panels. (Structural you ask? Remember that a telephone pole is just a vertically cantilevered beam) I am planning a return trip soon to explore this idea a bit further. But the challenges are epic and there is nothing that can be taken for granted in Haiti. What is an appropriate roofing system? I wouldn't use wood because that requires a waterproof roof. Even if Asphalt shingles were available they are expensive, have a short life cycle in the climate and almost certainly will not be repaired or replaces appropriately. (Remember, minimum wage is $5.50 - even a $500 roof replacement would be prohibitive.) A corrugated steel roof would cook the occupants in short order... then rust. In order to save money, how often will the insulation be left out of the wall cavities, further cooking the family. Since stud-frame construction is rare, wouldn't fiberglass bat be equally rare. Do we use drywall (a more "exotic') material or do we use stucco for the interior walls. The one thing that the concrete construction did do well was to keep people cool and never rotted. I share your enthusiasm for the panel system but the laundry list of questions could run on for as long as I have time to type. In reality, I am not that qualified to design solutions for Haiti. I have too much cultural and technological baggage. What I will do is go to Haiti, build a small sample panel in the corner of a telephone pole manufacture's lot and ask them "So, what do you think we can do with this?" "Vacation in Haiti? you ask? Not most people's first choice but they have 8,000' mountains surrounded by stunning Caribbean Seas. We forget that this is also a stunningly beautiful island and the people are gracious and friendly. If you really want to help Haiti, spend a week on Ile la Vache or at a resort near Cap Haitian. I am a Los Angeles architect and I just returned from a two week vacation in Haiti. As an LA architect, I have more than a passing familiarity with seismic design. There were two things that caught my eye, here.

First, Erika, is that your essay very closely resembles my own “shoot-from-the-hip analysis of the types of seismic building failures in Haiti. Excellent essay so there is no need to repeat the details of mine here.

Second, Teeg, I love your excitement for the wall panel system. I had taken an interest in that system for a project here in California about five years ago. I never found a client who would let me “experiment” on them. So I put that idea away… for the time being.

Three weeks ago, while driving through Port-au-Prince surveying the disaster, I noticed something rather interesting. All of the concrete telephone poles were intact. Concrete poles would have been too expensive to ship so I assumed they were made locally. The next day at a party, by rather extraordinary coincidence, I met a friend of the company owner.

I’m sure it’s obvious but what is significant about the telephone poles is that I now know that there is somebody in Haiti who is experience with and equipped to produce prefabricated structural concrete products… such as panels. (Structural you ask? Remember that a telephone pole is just a vertically cantilevered beam)

I am planning a return trip soon to explore this idea a bit further. But the challenges are epic and there is nothing that can be taken for granted in Haiti. What is an appropriate roofing system? I wouldn’t use wood because that requires a waterproof roof. Even if Asphalt shingles were available they are expensive, have a short life cycle in the climate and almost certainly will not be repaired or replaces appropriately. (Remember, minimum wage is $5.50 – even a $500 roof replacement would be prohibitive.) A corrugated steel roof would cook the occupants in short order… then rust. In order to save money, how often will the insulation be left out of the wall cavities, further cooking the family. Since stud-frame construction is rare, wouldn’t fiberglass bat be equally rare. Do we use drywall (a more “exotic’) material or do we use stucco for the interior walls.

The one thing that the concrete construction did do well was to keep people cool and never rotted.

I share your enthusiasm for the panel system but the laundry list of questions could run on for as long as I have time to type. In reality, I am not that qualified to design solutions for Haiti. I have too much cultural and technological baggage. What I will do is go to Haiti, build a small sample panel in the corner of a telephone pole manufacture’s lot and ask them “So, what do you think we can do with this?”

“Vacation in Haiti? you ask? Not most people’s first choice but they have 8,000′ mountains surrounded by stunning Caribbean Seas. We forget that this is also a stunningly beautiful island and the people are gracious and friendly. If you really want to help Haiti, spend a week on Ile la Vache or at a resort near Cap Haitian.

]]> By: Teeg Merchant /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-5462 Teeg Merchant Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:10:14 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-5462 MacMarty, Your observation about standardizing is the fundamental underpinning of modular building systems. A uniform panel size based on common component material sizes and assembled into standard (and simple!) sizes of structure is the key to success. A rigorous commitmant to these factors eliminates error at every step of the way. Materials are delivered to a centrally located facility where local labor assembles the panels (I think my fathers envisioned 5 : exterior wall-w/ or w/o door or window and interior w/ or w/o door, all the same size) on jigs and loads them and the other components onto trucks. At the site, AFTER local labor has completed the utilities, (wells, water lines and sceptic) as well as the foundations, to the satisfaction of a foreman/supervisor/inspector (not a job description that would fly in the U.S. is it ?) the complete building packages-panels, drywall, stucco, solar panels, propane tank, windows, paint, cabinets, romex, soft copper (no brazing) roofing, appliances etc. etc. are delivered to the owners who are now responsible for the materials that will become their homes. The local crews who built the foundations would assist with assembly and some finishing but the owner is going to have some serious sweat equity in that building! Though some tools would be included with delivery and remain the owners property (they can repair their house) the larger and specialized tools are with the local construction crews (these guys would become the re-model contractors of the future). Necesscity dictates that these structures will be cookie cutter plans, (although certainly more than one plan) but nothing prevents a multiplicity of options, chosen by the owners in regards to paint, linoleaum, cabinet style (Ikea anyone) or even light fixtures. My father believed that if impovrished populations could live in dwellings where vermin were kept outside, good hygiene became possible, the women didn't have to haul water or the men firewood and the children could study at night, that decreased disease, increased literacy and ultimately social stability and prosperity would follow as a matter of course. Once the program was underway (which is also streamlined and simple) these buildings would be cheap and simple to erect. They would go up at an astonishing rate. May something like it happen soon for Haiti and elsewhere TGM MacMarty,
Your observation about standardizing is the fundamental underpinning of modular building systems. A uniform panel size based on common component material sizes and assembled into standard (and simple!) sizes of structure is the key to success. A rigorous commitmant to these factors eliminates error at every step of the way. Materials are delivered to a centrally located facility where local labor assembles the panels (I think my fathers envisioned 5 : exterior wall-w/ or w/o door or window and interior w/ or w/o door, all the same size) on jigs and loads them and the other components onto trucks. At the site, AFTER local labor has completed the utilities, (wells, water lines and sceptic) as well as the foundations, to the satisfaction of a foreman/supervisor/inspector (not a job description that would fly in the U.S. is it ?) the complete building packages-panels, drywall, stucco, solar panels, propane tank, windows, paint, cabinets, romex, soft copper (no brazing) roofing, appliances etc. etc. are delivered to the owners who are now responsible for the materials that will become their homes. The local crews who built the foundations would assist with assembly and some finishing but the owner is going to have some serious sweat equity in that building! Though some tools would be included with delivery and remain the owners property (they can repair their house) the larger and specialized tools are with the local construction crews (these guys would become the re-model contractors of the future). Necesscity dictates that these structures will be cookie cutter plans, (although certainly more than one plan) but nothing prevents a multiplicity of options, chosen by the owners in regards to paint, linoleaum, cabinet style (Ikea anyone) or even light fixtures. My father believed that if impovrished populations could live in dwellings where vermin were kept outside, good hygiene became possible, the women didn’t have to haul water or the men firewood and the children could study at night, that decreased disease, increased literacy and ultimately social stability and prosperity would follow as a matter of course.
Once the program was underway (which is also streamlined and simple) these buildings would be cheap and simple to erect. They would go up at an astonishing rate.
May something like it happen soon for Haiti and elsewhere TGM

]]> By: MacMarty15221 /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-5447 MacMarty15221 Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:47:57 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-5447 @Teeg - Your late father's system sounds very interesting. I've recently been wondering if the standardized designs of Katrina Cottages would apply well in Haiti, perhaps using your father's materials rather than wood. Do you have any thoughts? It's easy and perhaps inappropriate for me to judge from here, (and I'm a layman, not a builder or engineer,) but the photos of concrete being mixed on a floor just SHOUT that prefab components could be made more uniformly for improved strength, and still be affordable and attractive to the middle class folks being described. @Teeg – Your late father’s system sounds very interesting. I’ve recently been wondering if the standardized designs of Katrina Cottages would apply well in Haiti, perhaps using your father’s materials rather than wood. Do you have any thoughts? It’s easy and perhaps inappropriate for me to judge from here, (and I’m a layman, not a builder or engineer,) but the photos of concrete being mixed on a floor just SHOUT that prefab components could be made more uniformly for improved strength, and still be affordable and attractive to the middle class folks being described.

]]> By: Teeg Merchant /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2297 Teeg Merchant Sun, 23 May 2010 20:36:27 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2297 Erica, Thank you for the excellent synopsis of the various Haitian construction methods and their responses to a severe earthquake. Before my father (an architect) passed away he was working a prefab panel system of light steel studs and 1/2" cement board plus drywall (do they have drywall in Hati?). This results in a versatile and light weight wall system that with proper shear detailing will be structually sound, fireproof, moisture resistant and impervious to insect attack. Plumbing and electrical are greatly faciltated as well. Moisture barrier, stucco and interior finishes are on site work. Foundation/floor is of course dependant on site conditions but any thing from slab to pier blocks on poured pads works. My dad planned on a steel moment frame but he envisioned centralized fabrication (though in country) of almost all components. Thanks again for your article and good fortune to the Hatians Teeg Merchant Erica,
Thank you for the excellent synopsis of the various Haitian construction methods and their responses to a severe earthquake. Before my father (an architect) passed away he was working a prefab panel system of light steel studs and 1/2″ cement board plus drywall (do they have drywall in Hati?). This results in a versatile and light weight wall system that with proper shear detailing will be structually sound, fireproof, moisture resistant and impervious to insect attack. Plumbing and electrical are greatly faciltated as well. Moisture barrier, stucco and interior finishes are on site work. Foundation/floor is of course dependant on site conditions but any thing from slab to pier blocks on poured pads works. My dad planned on a steel moment frame but he envisioned centralized fabrication (though in country) of almost all components.
Thanks again for your article and good fortune to the Hatians
Teeg Merchant

]]> By: Sim Ayers /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2263 Sim Ayers Sat, 22 May 2010 19:33:06 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2263 Erica, great article on the effects of being middle-class in an earthquake disaster. Next time I'm over budget on structural hardware, I'll tie off my beams with rebar for the continous load path. [img]http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/continous-load-path.jpg[/img] Erica, great article on the effects of being middle-class in an earthquake disaster. Next time I’m over budget on structural hardware, I’ll tie off my beams with rebar for the continous load path.

]]> By: Erica Fischer /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2262 Erica Fischer Sat, 22 May 2010 19:08:39 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2262 The UN is working with the country of Haiti in order to create a Building Department that will have building inspectors that need to follow strict guidelines. I think that it is something that will be developed over time and I am not sure about the details. As far as I know no new construction is allowed in Haiti right now until this department can be formed and there can be a standard of construction. In terms of money the hardest part is that the middle class builds their homes themselves. There are some organizations out there that are teaching Haitians how to build correctly such as AIDG and Build Change. Both of these organizations employ American Engineers and Masons to help train Haitians. I am sure there are more out there but these are the ones that I have been aware of. The UN is working with the country of Haiti in order to create a Building Department that will have building inspectors that need to follow strict guidelines. I think that it is something that will be developed over time and I am not sure about the details. As far as I know no new construction is allowed in Haiti right now until this department can be formed and there can be a standard of construction.

In terms of money the hardest part is that the middle class builds their homes themselves. There are some organizations out there that are teaching Haitians how to build correctly such as AIDG and Build Change. Both of these organizations employ American Engineers and Masons to help train Haitians. I am sure there are more out there but these are the ones that I have been aware of.

]]> By: Raymond T, McConnell /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2252 Raymond T, McConnell Sat, 22 May 2010 15:46:51 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2252 These people are not getting the money or building permits from the government to do anything. Money buys a better home. Work done with improper building will fail. These people are not getting the money or building permits from the government to do anything. Money buys a better home. Work done with improper building will fail.

]]> By: Loren /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2247 Loren Sat, 22 May 2010 14:14:22 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2247 National Geographic Magazine just did a brief article on home construction related to the recent earthquakes. It does a somewhat similar analysis of building structures and how they fare. You can find it online here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/10/earthquakes National Geographic Magazine just did a brief article on home construction related to the recent earthquakes. It does a somewhat similar analysis of building structures and how they fare.

You can find it online here:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/big-idea/10/earthquakes

]]> By: Joe Lopes /2010/05/21/building-inspections-in-haiti/#comment-2242 Joe Lopes Sat, 22 May 2010 11:26:12 +0000 http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/?p=3913#comment-2242 Thanks SOOOO much for the informative article. What needs do they still have that we can help with? I suspect the need is mostly financial and of course is the easiest to help with for those of us who can't go there. But the concern is always that if the finances actually are getting to where they are needed the most. Any suggestions? Again, thanks for the report and the sensativity it was written with. Thanks SOOOO much for the informative article. What needs do they still have that we can help with? I suspect the need is mostly financial and of course is the easiest to help with for those of us who can’t go there. But the concern is always that if the finances actually are getting to where they are needed the most. Any suggestions?

Again, thanks for the report and the sensativity it was written with.

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