Local Guides World
Daniel Garry
1 reviews on 1 places
I would highly recommend Stephen Brown with Skarda & Associates.
I would avoid Kamran Ohi. (Below is a very detailed account as to why I select one over the other).
Prior to purchasing our house, on our first walk thru, we noticed that the garage beam was rotted where it intersected the south concrete garage wall. We asked the sellers about it, and they responded that the garage was certified okay by Kamran Ohi. We arranged a meeting with him at the house the next day, and he told us there was nothing structurally wrong with the garage. We then pointed out the rotted beam. Ten minutes later he said the beam would have to be replaced. But only the beam and the rest of the garage was fine. He took no measurements, no pictures, he didn't do any investigation of the beam or garage. He also didn't identify that water was causing the beam to rot. Thinking about it, he obviously never even looked at the beam because it was so obviously compromised that even I noticed it on a open house walk through. I can only guess why the sellers called him in - perhaps it was because they noticed water leaking from the ceiling? Kamran certainly didn't notice the rotting beam and he didn't notice water leaking into the ceiling - two things we know both existed at the time and that you would expect a professional structural engineer to identify.
2. Last year, I reluctantly emailed Kamran about the falling garage ceiling. He came to the house, took no measurements, no drawings, conducted no experiments or investigations. He told me that water was leaking into the garage (shame he didn't say that 7 years ago) and the entire garage, including the south and north walls, would have to be torn down. He said that even the east wall, with the garage door and the steel lintels, would have to be replaced because there wasn't enough support to hold up the lintels (I'm not sure how we knew that b/c that doesn't appear to be accurate). I pointed out the horizontal cracking on the exterior of the south wall (it can only be seen by accessing my neighbors back yard) and he said it was cosmetic. Although, he still said the entire garage would have to be replaced.
3. Eventually Stephen Brown with Skarda & Associates agreed to drive down from Baltimore and see the garage. Unlike Kamran, he actually measured the entire garage, including the ceiling, to determine its depth and construction method, took pictures, identified on his own the horizontal cracks in the south wall, and investigated both the construction of the south wall by pulling off exterior pieces and the construction of the wood beam and ceiling by performing tests on them. He also identified the most probable source of the water entering into the garage ceiling and made recommendations on how to repair, as opposed to destroy, the current garage. Then he produced a report that stated "No attempt was made to determine the actual load carrying capacity of the floors, roofs, or walls of the entire structure. The comments and recommendations that are contained in our report are based on the visual observations of the structure as it now exists. In many cases, the structural elements of the building were covered by architectural materials, which were not removed. Therefore, it is possible that some unseen conditions and latent structural defects, which would alter our report, may exist." In essence, he did everything you would expect from a structural engineer - identified the problems on his own, found the source of the problems, and described a way to fix the problem. He also identified what still needed to be done - specifically - perform a thorough examination of the walls and floor to determine their load carrying capacity.
I would avoid Kamran Ohi. (Below is a very detailed account as to why I select one over the other).
Prior to purchasing our house, on our first walk thru, we noticed that the garage beam was rotted where it intersected the south concrete garage wall. We asked the sellers about it, and they responded that the garage was certified okay by Kamran Ohi. We arranged a meeting with him at the house the next day, and he told us there was nothing structurally wrong with the garage. We then pointed out the rotted beam. Ten minutes later he said the beam would have to be replaced. But only the beam and the rest of the garage was fine. He took no measurements, no pictures, he didn't do any investigation of the beam or garage. He also didn't identify that water was causing the beam to rot. Thinking about it, he obviously never even looked at the beam because it was so obviously compromised that even I noticed it on a open house walk through. I can only guess why the sellers called him in - perhaps it was because they noticed water leaking from the ceiling? Kamran certainly didn't notice the rotting beam and he didn't notice water leaking into the ceiling - two things we know both existed at the time and that you would expect a professional structural engineer to identify.
2. Last year, I reluctantly emailed Kamran about the falling garage ceiling. He came to the house, took no measurements, no drawings, conducted no experiments or investigations. He told me that water was leaking into the garage (shame he didn't say that 7 years ago) and the entire garage, including the south and north walls, would have to be torn down. He said that even the east wall, with the garage door and the steel lintels, would have to be replaced because there wasn't enough support to hold up the lintels (I'm not sure how we knew that b/c that doesn't appear to be accurate). I pointed out the horizontal cracking on the exterior of the south wall (it can only be seen by accessing my neighbors back yard) and he said it was cosmetic. Although, he still said the entire garage would have to be replaced.
3. Eventually Stephen Brown with Skarda & Associates agreed to drive down from Baltimore and see the garage. Unlike Kamran, he actually measured the entire garage, including the ceiling, to determine its depth and construction method, took pictures, identified on his own the horizontal cracks in the south wall, and investigated both the construction of the south wall by pulling off exterior pieces and the construction of the wood beam and ceiling by performing tests on them. He also identified the most probable source of the water entering into the garage ceiling and made recommendations on how to repair, as opposed to destroy, the current garage. Then he produced a report that stated "No attempt was made to determine the actual load carrying capacity of the floors, roofs, or walls of the entire structure. The comments and recommendations that are contained in our report are based on the visual observations of the structure as it now exists. In many cases, the structural elements of the building were covered by architectural materials, which were not removed. Therefore, it is possible that some unseen conditions and latent structural defects, which would alter our report, may exist." In essence, he did everything you would expect from a structural engineer - identified the problems on his own, found the source of the problems, and described a way to fix the problem. He also identified what still needed to be done - specifically - perform a thorough examination of the walls and floor to determine their load carrying capacity.