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When I arrived yesterday morning at the new Fire Station, I walked in and immediately saw cracks in the floor. At one point I started taking pictures of it and all of a sudden Deputy Chief William Gordy came out of the back area and said, someone had asked a question about the cracks in the floor. (Actually, I don't believe anyone asked anything, they saw me taking pictures of it) Nevertheless, he went on to say these were not structural cracks and the engineers told them it would not affect the structural integrity of the building. He went on to say that they didn't put in enough expansion joints and that's why it cracked.
Now I don't know about any or all of you but I have built some structures in my day and when I see expansion joints all around these cracks, there's a serious problem here. It's far too easy to say nothing is wrong. IF nothing was wrong, why didn't they fix it? They stained it AFTER the cracks were already there and anyone visiting the new Station can clearly see that to be a fact.
I don't know about you Ladies & Gentlemen but BEFORE I would have stained the floors, I would have forced the Contractor to fix it. That's not the only structural problem in the building. GET THIS! In one of the mechanical rooms on the second floor where they store VERY heavy equipment already in place, they already have 4 major cracks in the floor and I'm not done. There's an actual "I" beam sticking up out of the floor and about a 3" rise in the concrete floor to try and cover it up.
I will have a series of Posts about the new Fire Station as this building deserves its own series, considering the $10,000,000.00 expense to put it together. I just thought I'd start with this one so ALL of you could see what your hard earned tax dollars have delivered. Pictures don't lie Folks!
61 comments:
There are two things said about concrete
It will get hard
It will crack
Anybody in the construction trade will tell you that.
It would be sad if after time these defects showed up, but on a brand new building, thats insane. Furthermore, if they admit not enough expansion joints were used, well ............... fix it.
12:33 Very true, but if in fact there are not enough joints, it's done wrong. What about the other defects Jo referances.
We ALL know the SFD has been on the endes of their seats waiting for me to post something about my visit yesterday. IMO, the first comment is someone from the Fire Department and let me explain why. They will be in damage control mode for quite some time over this Station. Secondly, they obviously aren't in the concrete business or they would have stated their name and even company name, IF they had nothing to hide.
Start giving your name or know NO ONE will give and credibility towards your statements. The third thing that should have been said in your comment is, "IT COULD HAVE BEEN FIXED". The 4th thing I'd add is, it cracks for a reason. When you build on a Bog like this one, you knew darned well this would be a massive issue and before you even swing the doors there cracks in the building.
Oh, let's also NOT forget the second floor cracks.
Who approved this mess? This is
a very poor example of concrete
construction.Someone better step up
to the plate and get this taken care of. Accident waiting to happen!
12:38,
You guys are MISSING it! Look at the pictures again. There are expansion joints all around the cracks!!!!!!
It was a BS excuse, in the hopes people wouldn't understand what an expansion crack is.
edges of their seats, sorry.
Please don't blame the firefighters for this. These people just go where they are told. They don't build it or pay for it. I don't know much about concrete, but I do not have cracks in my garage or patio like these. Lets ask the folks in charge why this has happened.
Anonymous said...
There are two things said about concrete
It will get hard
It will crack
Anybody in the construction trade will tell you that.
12:33 PM
this comment was obviously from someone in the fire department. i bet they have been waiting with baited breath for this one. i am in the construction business and i pour concrete all the time and i never get these types of cracks. look at the pictures. there are expansion joints all around the cracks and expansion joints are where the cracks should be diverted. someone is feeding you a load of shit joe. get their asses on this one.
I firmly agree, this is not the Firefighters fault. However, it is the leaders of these Firefighters fault as Gordy is in charge of this entire project. This is unacceptable. If YOU had this crack in your new home on the floor of your garage, you would not accept it. This is in the main foyer of the building.
Again, I'll continue to also stress the major cracks on the second floor as well and they are running this project through without any regard to these issues.
Thanks for sharing that. I should add, there was NO Daily Times there to see this and cover this. This Mayor has them doing whatever she wants. I'll get into that later in other posts because this will actually take a while to do.
You have got to be freaking kidding me, a brand new 10 million dollar building with cracks in the floor before a single piece of equipment has touched the floor. The people in within the City Of Salisbury need to certainly be aware of this, this is their tax dollars hard at work. I have a friend who pours concrete everyday and wouldn't let his name be put to something like this, who the hell did the concrete work here. You would think it would have been someone cheap but by the price of the whole things obviously not. I was not impressed by the looks of this firehouse and now I am sure I won't be impressed by the inside if I ever get the chance to look inside.
What grade of concrete was used? In my opinion, where they intend to park heavy equipment on these pads, 5500 should have been used. Yes, it is more expensive but you get what you pay for. Building on a known bog never made sense, it only made money for those owning the LLC, whoever that may be. I've got my guesses but will keep them to myself until I can prove it.
The outside structure looks good but they aren't parking heavy equipment outdoors. I'm sure they cut every corner possible in the construction of this building.
What will the floors look like once they move in there with trucks, ambos, furniture, people, etc. It will be sunk into the ground and that is when the citizens of Salisbury should file a class action suit against the city and Bill Gordy for misuse of taxpayer dollars, direliction of duty, negligence, stupidity, fraud and anything else that will hold up in court.
Going by the pictures it looks like improper compaction of the earth under it. There are plenty expantion joints....thats definatly not the problem. that floor should have been spec. at 6"-8" thick with atleast 4500psi mix. Was it poored when it was to cold or to hot? Where there any heavy trks r equipment on it before it cured? If theres been no fire trks on it yet....what'ya think will happen when they start parking them? You better get the spec.'s and a blding inspector soon....
BILL GORDY DOES NOT CARE. RUMOR HAS IT HE HIS LINING HIS POCKETS IN REGARDS TO THIS WHOLE THING. IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT. 16 VOLLEY
Not enough expansion strips. Concrete will get hard and crack. This is like a salesman telling you your new vehicle is supposed to have flat tires while parked, but they will inflate while you drive down the highway. Who ever accepted this building needs to be fired. This is a very unacceptable construction work. Has warrenty paperwork been filed. Where is the City Lawyers at. No one would accept this type of work if it was their garage or building. A $10 million dollar pole barn and they can't even get the flooring right. Did they put in 2" or 6" floors considering the weight they will be supporting. This type of workmanship should be at least a $8million discount / knocked off the cost. Who built this trash so I will know never do business with them. Is this another case of the GOOD OLE BOYS. aen said it
The work needed to be completed by a certain timeframe that is why "do-overs" would not be accepted. The timeframe came from those in charge. It will not be long (1 year) before Gordo will be an offical Florida resident.....by request of Mrs. Gordy. Pockets lined & all!!!
joe,
i'm the one that asked the question about the cracks in the floor at the fire palace. bubba told me that cracks are perfectly acceptable. i couldn't believe that he said. he also asked me what i expected him to do about it.
i told him that he and the rest of the council are the boss and they could do something. with the price of that abomination there should not be sloppy workmanship. i saw where part of the money went, they used high dollar material anywhere they could. oh well, when you are spending someone elses money it doesn't make any difference. as usual the taxpayer is screwed.
thanks. sjd
Is this the Museum ? How much do the old firetrucks weigh that will go in there ?
Yes Ashley, this is the museum area. As far as the equipment weight, I truly do not have an answer for that.
I have also just received word there are cracks alreay in the brick walls as well. This is just unbelievable!
So much for the "Design/Build" process, eh Mr. Gordy?
Weren't there inspections that needed to be passed, like building a house or a commercial property? And if so how was this passed?
Anyone not concerned, because this is a NEW building, is way off base. btw, seems some very knowledgeable people have commented here. Hope the city replies.
Thank you JOE! I saw a short clip on channel 47, nothing on WBOC, and nothing in the Daily Times. This is one reason Im going to come here for my news from now on. I love your down to earth local coverage.
That whole area where the new fire station is used to be known, back in the day, as the "Old Cranberry Bog."
Given the lay of the land you have to wonder if that was taken into consideration. When they built the old Grants Shopping Center there many years ago it was constantly suffering from settling issues.
Wow that looks horrible. People need to be fired unless this is fixed. If it's not fixed the tax payers are going to be paying in a few years to have it repaved.
Hi there not sure if the same contractor who did masonry poured concrete. But I do know that masonry contractor was LIFETIME MASONRY from right here in Salisbury. They have done and are doing a wonderful job currently at SSU. They also built Perdue Stadium, The Centre At Salisbury, and many other fine facilities on the Shore. I would have to say the blame lies on the IDIOT that thought building in the old cranberry bog was a good idea. I mean even McDonalds relocated due to structure issues. When I heard that was where the new fire dept. was going I thought to myself they must have purchased the land for cheap!!!!!!!!! Why else would anyone want to be there, they will also have septic and water issues...mark my words.
Dawn P.
Even if it gets "fixed" it's still going to look bad, which is a big 'ol negative since the concrete floor was meant to be left uncovered, without tile or something covering up the patches.
Another example of mismanagement in SBY MD.
If you pour a concrete slab on ten different days in the same conditions theres a pretty good chance that each slab will look and behave differently. There are too many variables in concrete to name one single cause of cracks. Plus the stain high-lights normal cracks that would never be noticed.
All of these "professinals" that have commented should know that.
Dudes....remember when we were kids and went ice skating? Remember when the ice began to crack a little? They're SAFETY CRACKS! LOLOL
Yes it's not pretty, but concrete cracks. If pretty was part of the criteria, then put down a floor covering, which is why you don't see cracks on floors that have a vinyl coverings. If the crack is settling or dropping down, that shows that the subgrade was not compacted properly, different story, Then you have to pinpoint who was responsible for the subgrade. If the slab design by the engineers specified the reinforcment, the concrete strength and thickness as well as the location and the type of expansion, then the only way this type of thing might be avioded, is to increase the reinforcment, and/or thicken the slab, and/or go with higher streagnth concrete. Yet with all that, you won't find a concrete man that will garrentee a floor for no cracks, Plus the budjet would be through the roof. If it was imperitive that this floor not have any cracks, that should have been negociated in the contract so that those areas could be cut out for an agreed amount per sq ft. As one person said, on any given day concrete can react different.
I know concrete will crack, the only thing that concerns me is in the bottom picture, the crack runs to the expansion joint and then starts again on the other side, creating a continuous crack across an expansion joint. It may have nothing to do with the quality of the contractor, but rather an usuitable base that may be moving. Lets hope this isnt compounded once the heavy equipment is pulled in.
Wow -- these are much more than normal cracks, which should be almost unnoticeable. And if not properly designed (joints, rebar, etc.) they will become muchj worse with time. Who was the masonry contractor who did the work? I agree with another comment -- looks like plenty of expansion joint design. THIS LOOKS BAD.
Those cracks are clearly caused by movement and excess stress on the slab. Better get an independent (ie., from elsewhere) expert structural engineer ASAP.
But wait a minute, Gordy & Comegys say there's absolutely nothing to worry about. I trust them, DON'T YOU????????
Anonymous said...
There are two things said about concrete
It will get hard
It will crack
Anybody in the construction trade will tell you that.
12:33 PM
Yeah right FATSO and GORDO. Nice try there trying to cover up for your mistakes.
I understand Gordo has his own personal office there and no one else will have access to it. Where the F*ck did he come from and get all this power and authority in such a short period of time. I thought volunteers had to work their way of the ranks?
Like those condos in Crisfield, this building will soon start sinking into the goo that it sits upon. Those cracks are an early warning sign. Which local architect/engineer is responsible for this one?
Anonymous said...
Yes it's not pretty, but concrete cracks. If pretty was part of the criteria, then put down a floor covering, which is why you don't see cracks on floors that have a vinyl coverings. If the crack is settling or dropping down, that shows that the subgrade was not compacted properly, different story, Then you have to pinpoint who was responsible for the subgrade. If the slab design by the engineers specified the reinforcment, the concrete strength and thickness as well as the location and the type of expansion, then the only way this type of thing might be avioded, is to increase the reinforcment, and/or thicken the slab, and/or go with higher streagnth concrete. Yet with all that, you won't find a concrete man that will garrentee a floor for no cracks, Plus the budjet would be through the roof. If it was imperitive that this floor not have any cracks, that should have been negociated in the contract so that those areas could be cut out for an agreed amount per sq ft. As one person said, on any given day concrete can react different.
5:07 PM
I have a driveway in my yard that has been there since 1940 and there isn't one f%%king crack in it so don't feed me that bullshit. That buildn't isn't even occupied yet and it is loaded with cracks. I heard they had problems with the concrete pads outside as well. Does anyone know about that?
How much more of this crap are we going to take! We knew this was a bad location. Our Mayor shoved it down our throats. History has proven that area was unstable and now before they even swing the doors we're seeing clear signs of failure? Get these clowns the hell out of there and recall that GD Mayor.
I can walk into WalMart & Sam's Club and see better flooring then this. Come on now, they're not parking fire trucks on it either. Make all the excuses you want, we know you're just trying to cover your a$$.
Call the Chiefs office and express your feelings on this. 410-548-3120
If this buildingis unsafe then lets not allow our fire fighters to move in until it is deemed safe.
George Vickers at Lifetime does beautiful masonry work, no denying that. I doubt he pumped the floors for this building, I've never known him to do concrete work. Did Harkins do this work? Who was the contractor? I've done a ton of concrete work with J. Roland Dashiell all over this area. SU, PRMC, UMES, UPS to name a few and believe me, the UPS building being one of the most recent ones I worked on with them holds up to tractor trailers filled with freight and there are no cracks. That place was built in 1990.
Excuses are like assholes, everybody has one. Truth of the matter is this is shoddy workmanship and they probably used 2500psi concrete instead of what was suggested by other commenters 4500 or 5500 psi. Everyone of those fire trucks weighs in excess of 20,000lbs tare, what is their weight with full fuel tanks and all tools on board? What does a tanker full of water weigh?
They haven't even moved a plant in the building and already they have stress cracks. Bullshit Gordy, you and your butt buddy Comegys are lying sacks of shit.
your gunna need them 4whl drive fire trks {the 2mill ones}to get out'a there by next year!
Somebody should request the load tickets from the contractor{they get from the concrete plant/drivers}to show the mix. Looks like a light mix to me. A slight crack would be somewhat normal, they are large and plentyfull WAY TOO SOON! You can bet your last dollar somethins real wrong! Even if theres fraud, the contractors insurance would pay for the repair, if you react soon enough. Deadline or not...theres NO EXCUSE!
I will tell you what, if I was personally pay that much money, that floor WILL BE perfect or the person responsible WILL BE paying to fix it. Simple as that, and anyone would expect the same. So, there is your answer, whoever poured the floor or subfloor or whatever, needs to bring their behind on back and fix it.
Concrete poured in an old cranberry bog will crack even more huh? Way to go there mare horse face and the merry majority of council. between all four of them I bet they might have 6 brain cells.
It's a disgrace what they do with our tax dollars. Speaking of disgrace didn't the newspaper pick up on this $10,000,000 Cadillac of errors? Probably too busy kissing ass and sucking up.
so shiny!@#
This station was built on unstable grounds to begin with.
Remember the out side eating area at the old McDonalds up the street (corner 50 & Cypress).
This out side area was once the first Mc Donalds but they had to tear it down because the building settled so much.
The land was once a dump of some sorts ond so much junk burried below causes problems for buildings.
As long as this lot has sat vacant you know somthing was wrong.
Got a question here is the floor just plain,polished, concret? It looks mighty fancy from the pix's.
H--- it better looking than my kitchen and bath room floors.
This has to be Salisbury's finest hour.
So how is the recall doing?
Man I thought thats way they got a new fire house cause the other one was old and out of shape.
Who needs a recall when we have the appriasal of the old firehouse the council majority wanted to give away to a realtor, now we have the boondoggle in the cranberry bog that is crumbling already like many of the public told them it would a year before the project began..
Isn't that why the first Mickey D's on Cypress was torn down because it was sinking into the bog? They turned around and built another right next to it so it wasn't like they just wanted to close it down and go out of business.
What do we know, we only do good honest work for a living?
I have come to the conclusion that our leaders are dumb as rocks. They need to be taken out back and beaten like a red-headed step child.
We built this kingdom from nothing. When we started all we had was swamp. Other kings thought we were daft to build a castle on a swamp, but we built it just the same to show them! It sank into the swamp, so we built a second one. That sank into the swamp. We built a third one. It burned down fell over and then fell into the swamp. But the fourth stayed up....and that is what you lads will be getting...:)
I was told this building has some kind of floating floor that sets on the pilings not a compacted base. Now if that’s true will the pilings come through the concrete at some point? I mean I guess it could right?
Dude thats like polishing a new car with a dent in it. This fire department bunch must be smoking crack.
If I did that it would be busted up so fast and repoored again. I worked concrete for 28 years and will tell you I've done a bunch of it over again. It just happens but the chief should not have accepted it that way.
how do we make gordy accountable?
are the citizens of wicomico county going to stand for this or what????
Look at the concrete floors in Sam's Club. Perfectly level. I don't remember seeing any cracks in their floor. It is a huge floor. Who did that work and what were the specs..
I heard that this new station was built over an old cranberry bog. If that is the case could it be that quite possibly the dang new station is sinking into the ground???!!! I can bet these are not the last cracks you will see in the floor!
11:00 anonymous:
What other choices do we have.
It appears, there's nothing we can do....It's out of our hands.
citizen with wasteful concern
stupid is as stupid does
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