City of Lawrence

Planning and Development Services

MEMORANDUM

TO:              Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager

THRU:                   Margene K. Swarts, Community Development Manager

FROM:         Tony L. Hoch, Projects Specialist

DATE:           July 23, 2007

RE:               Demolition of property at 1230 New York.

STAFF PRESENT FOR INSPECTION on JULY 20, 2007:  Tony Hoch, Larry Hamm, Brian Jimenez, Julie Wyatt.

The purpose of the inspection was to evaluate the feasibility of rehabilitating the property for occupancy.

All of the exterior openings were boarded up upon arrival at the address.  The lot was mowed and picked up.

The client met us at the property and removed the plywood covering a rear entrance to gain access to the building.

The foundation that was visible from the exterior is crumbling and is being pushed inward.  Part of the foundation is native stone and part is cement block.  There is a basement under the rear addition on the house that is accessible from a floor hatch in the bathroom above that area.  Much of the mud sill is rotted where exposed, because of the movement of the foundation.

The interior consists of a single upstairs room of 14’ x 25’, a downstairs room of the same dimensions and a rear addition of 12’ x 24’ which is occupied by the kitchen/dining room and a bathroom.  The floors are spongy and deflect when walked upon indicating structural deficiencies in spacing and/or failure from rotting.  The stairs accessing the upstairs are barely 24” wide and very steep.

The upstairs ceiling consists of paneling nailed to the roof rafters with only a 4’ wide area down the middle where a 6’ person could stand upright.  There is no attic space and no insulation behind the paneling.

The windows of this structure consist of single pane storm windows nailed to the siding.  All of them have been broken out.  There are no window sashes or jambs.

There is no duct work visible anywhere in the house and there is no sign that a vented heating appliance has ever been installed.  There is no water heater.  The kitchen sink was chipped and rusting, plumbing, stove, refrigerator, cabinets (other than one base cabinet containing the sink), or floor covering.  The 60 amp electrical service had been dissembled and is un-repairable.   The bathroom contains all the fixtures but there is no floor covering or cleanable wall surface for sanitary conditions.

The roof needs to be replaced.  One eave is actually rotted back to the side wall and light can be seen from the inside.  This would require replacement of many rafters, new sheeting and new roof covering.

With the extensive foundation, structural floor, window, electrical, HVAC and roofing work that must be done, in my opinion this would not be a good candidate for gut rehabilitation.  There are many unknowns, such as the conditions of the studs in the walls and the existence of water and sewer service.

There is a detached garage that is structurally sound but it needs a replacement entry door.

I do not believe that there is anything of value to save in the primary structure.  In my experience it would be more expensive to rehab this property than to demolish it and rebuild new and there is nothing of significant value to rehab.

cc:      Larry Hamm