Faulty Triple-Deckers Putting Worcester Tenants in Danger
Monday, March 26, 2012
Buildings Commissioner John Kelly estimates that the city has a few thousand of these three-story apartment buildings dating back from the early 1900s, and landlords are reluctant to put out the money needed to fix these serious safety issues.
“Relatively, the volume of what we see in the field is high. There are about 60-100 a year in the whole city. Between our three field inspectors, we do have a lot, but we stay up on orders to correct these issues,” Kelly said.
Porches built on these aging three-family homes were built with weak supports consisting of hollow steel. Construction to repair them can cost $20,000.
“Oftentimes we do go to court because of owners being absentee landlords. It takes us a while to get compliance. Usually we prevail in court, and the judge orders the landlords to fix the problem.”
What to Look For
Due to lack of support and weather conditions, triple-decker porches sag and pull away from the house.
“Over years and years, if it’s not maintained, they fall into disrepair. Over time they’ll start sagging down,” Kelly said. “What we look at is that sagging or coming away from the building. Then, it’s obvious that it needs a repair. If we’re in buildings doing other inspections, we might look for floorboards or railings that are loose.”
Alicia Cavanaugh lives in a triple-decker in Main South. The porch is clearly shifting forward from the house.
“Although I love this apartment, it is in pretty dismal condition,” she said. “The porches are in terrible shape as they are sagging and have some boards that are coming loose. I think the apartment has a lot of character, but it is just falling apart.”
Sadly, this is the case with many of Worcester’s three-story apartments.
The Problem
Chris Kiritsy knows a classic Worcester triple-decker like the back of his hand. He watches as one of his workers teeters above on the newly installed framework of the second story porch of a three-story apartment on Crystal Street. Tools and lumber are scattered around the lawn.
As Kiritsy explained, these homes were built with hollow steel pipes as the porch support.
“They’re typically in the ground sitting on a rock. Over time the steel rots, and the porch begins to sag,” he said. “You would have thought that in the 20s they would have known steel wouldn’t hold up.”
“We love doing jobs like this. It makes it more exciting for us. It’s a challenge,” he said, watching. “It’s labor intensive. That porch up there is 40 feet up. You’ve got to rip out the old stuff and redo it… without dying.”
Kiritsy and his team start by jacking up the porches. They then dig a four foot hole, filled with concrete and start rebuilding with pressure treated lumber.
While the porches on many triple-deckers are sagging and are in need of repairs, Kiritsy says landlords are often hesitant to spend the money to rebuild them.
A Porch With a Price Tag
Besides it being a serious safety issue, Kiritsy is also concerned with the aesthetics of the home. While Commissioner John Kelly stated that more triple-decker porches are repaired rather than taken off, many of these buildings have had their front porches completely removed.
“You’ll drive around and see those three-deckers where they’ve taken the porches off and just put those diagonals. That breaks my heart to see that,” he said.
One tenant who lives in a triple-decker on Maywood Street sees both sides of this issue.
“Porches are a prominent feature in the architecture of three-deckers, so houses look naked without them. At the same time they can be dangerous and pricey to repair, so it kind of puts landlords between a rock and a hard place,” said Gwen Walsh. Although Walsh lives in an apartment in need of a porch-lift, she sees both sides of the issue.
“My landlord said he was thinking of removing our third floor porch because of safety concerns, but he can’t find a reasonable quote,” she said. “I would be devastated though, because the space is really valuable in a small apartment and the house would look strange without it.”
Wrong Renovations
Some triple-decker apartments in Worcester have undergone renovations since their construction, but oftentimes, these “fixes” have only made problems worse. Kiritsy points to a nearby vinyl-sided building.
“Want to ruin a three-decker? Wrap it in vinyl. Water gets behind it and ruins it. With wood, you can see a problem. Vinyl doesn’t tell you there’s a problem,” he said.
The house they are currently fixing had a similar problem.
“This house had a renovation done about fifteen years ago. They kind of ruined it. They put in indoor-outdoor carpeting, and covered everything in aluminum and vinyl. It wasn’t going to last long. The owner said she felt the floor beginning to get squishy.”
Doing What They Can
Buildings Commissioner John Kelly stated that their team of inspectors is doing all they can to log whenever a triple-decker is a safety issue. With so many of these homes in college neighborhoods and across the city, their faulty construction is a serious safety risk for many in Worcester.
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