Research Catalog

Title

The day the house fell : homeowner soil problems--from landslides to expansive clays and wet basements / Richard L. Handy ; with drawings by Cybermouse, pH 7.

Author

Handy, Richard L. (Richard Lincoln), 1929-

Publication

New York, N.Y. : ASCE Press, [1995], ©1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

230 pages : illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

• In The Day the House Fell, Richard Handy uses his years of professional engineering experience, his knowledge of geology, and his sense of humor to provide a light-hearted look at soil problems that confound home buyers, builders, architects, and real estate agents alike. With straightforward, easy-to-read language, Handy shows the reader how to recognize and deal with problems that are at the very foundations of their domiciles.
• He addresses some of the most common and severe site problems, details what to look out for, and explains when to get professional help. The text contains numerous diagrams, and each chapter concludes with a list of key points, questions, and answers.
• . This is a book about soils - not soils that grow things, but soils that are intended to support hillsides, walls, streets, and houses. This book looks for the deeper meaning in topics like landslides, earthquakes, and footing drains - topics that are of legitimate concern to homeowners, builders, architects, real estate agents, zoning boards, attorneys, assessors, insurance adjusters, earth movers, environmentalists, engineers, and anybody else we can think of.

Subjects

• Earth movements and building
• Dwellings > Inspection
• Building sites

Note

• Includes index.

Contents

1. Jack and Jill Do Their House on the Hill -- 2. There's Many a Slip: An Overview of Landslides -- 3. The Day the House Fell -- 4. Slopes Alive -- 5. How to Stop a Landslide -- 6. Archimedes, Buoyancy, and Quicksand -- 7. The Well in the Basement -- 8. Uncharitable Foundations -- 9. No. 1 Foundation Problem, Expansive Clay -- 10. Getting Control of Expansive Clay -- 11. River Tales -- 12. Collapsible Soils and Sand Dunes -- 13. Glacial Action -- 14. Bedrock, Caverns and Sinks -- 15. Mines and Landfills -- 16. It's a Gas -- 17. Frost Action -- 18. Walls Calling -- 19. Where the Action Is Compaction -- 20. The Final Shakedown: Earthquakes.

ISBN

0784401047

LCCN

95034052

OCLC

• 32819279
• ocm32819279

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries