Apartment Stair Problem

[ken]

**Apartment Problems
**8/9/06

Most frequent problems, occurring at the 3-story apartment building, was most likely related to stairs. Do you know why?
What was the cause of the problems?

http://primalkey.com/_blog/img/apt-stair1.jpg

http://primalkey.com/_blog/img/apt-stair2.jpg

[ken]

The structure has been exposed to Denver weather conditions for years.
The "galvanized" decking system was affected by the spray-salt like materia through many cold-weather conditions.

The deteriorated deck and the angle framings were probably initiated from the corroded welded connections and the thin deck profile.

It might be a maintenance issue instead of the original design issue.
As a designer, using a heavier gauge of the deck (18 ga vs. 20 ga) and the angle support member (5/16" thick vs. 1/4" thick), should help minimizing the similar problem.

-Ken