Storage building
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Background
This two storey unheated storage building in Newmarket Ontario (40 km north of Toronto) was constructed in 1991. In January of 1994, damage to the first floor partition walls was reported. Although there are other storage buildings on the site, only this building displayed severe damage. This damage included the bowing of the first floor non-load bearing partition walls constructed with steel stud and gypsum drywall. Some minor cracking of the first floor concrete slab-on-grade was also observed. Distortion of the walls was so large in some areas that doors could not be opened. No cracking or deformation was evident in the masonry load-bearing walls, and the second floor concrete floor showed no signs of distress. This case raises at least two questions: What was causing the damage to occur, and why was most of the damage confined to the one building? A structural engineer examined the damage and concluded that settlement of the building had occurred and the gradual downward movement of the building had resulted in some of the second floor load being carried by the first floor partition walls. The problem with this theory is the fact that none of the loading bearing walls had exhibited cracking. How could such a building settle without cracking. Differential settlement would be inevitable! So what do you think happened here? We'll let you think about this one...
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