An essential reference for building professionals, owners, managers, and individuals planning to purchase or renovate a building
An experienced investigator explains why buildings should be inspected, what to look for, how to do it, when to hire a professional, and how to understand what architects and engineers are talking about once a survey has been carried out. The scope includes ordinary wood-frame houses and small commercial structures as well as larger buildings. Illustrated
I'm a structural engineer based in New York. My firm, Old Structures Engineering, specializes in work with existing buildings: historic preservation, repair, alteration, and adaptive reuse.
My writing is based on my needs and my clients' needs: I researched historic buildings because I needed the information for my projects; I outlined the method of investigating buildings in order to be able to explain the process to clients and to young engineers in my office; and I described my experiences as part of the engineering team at the World Trade Center site because people I knew were curious about the topic.
