shenandoah county virginia building code violation

Mark A. Griffey

Building Official

shenandoah county, virginia
Building Inspection & Code Enforcement - Building Inspection

Mr. Griffey,

under section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code (https://codes.iccsafe.org/public/document/VRC2012/chapter-4-foundations) and paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8 of the code of virginia (https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title19.2/chapter1/section19.2-8/), I am submitting my formal complaint of violation of  the virginia building code. Specifically, section 401.3 of the virginia residential building code states "Surface drainage shall be diverted to a storm sewer conveyance or other approved point of collection that does not create a hazard to the dwelling unit. Lots shall be graded to drain surface water away from foundation walls. The grade shall fall a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) within the first 10 feet (3048 mm)." The grading at our house, located at 148 daniel ct., strasburg, does not slope away from the foundation walls as required. This has resulted in several inches of standing water in our crawl space. 

Our certificate of use & occupancy is attached. Please note that our house meets the time requirements set forth in paragraph 6 of section 19.2-8.

Should you reject my formal complaint, then I request a meeting at county offices with you and other county personnel or outside consultants involved in the decision not to issue a notice of violation of the building code to the builder for this violation.

Sincerely,

Ray Koenig

approved grading plan (2003)

the ground slopes 15% towards Koenig’s house. 

Section 401.3 of the Virginia Residential Building Code 

calls for the ground to slope away from foundation walls 

at 5% for 10 feet (the 2”x4” on the ground is 10 feet long). 

Failure to meet this building code requirement has resulted 

in several inches of standing water in Koenig’s crawl space. 

virginia 

strasburg

shenandoah county 

helsley

building official 

griffey

building code enforcement

county attorney

bowman

builder

toothman

"the best crawlspace of all is filled with concrete and called a slab—or dug out and called a basement"

New Light in Crawlspaces | Building Science Corporation 

unless the unreinforced slab is built on uncontrolled (not an "engineered " soil, e.g. contains organic material), uncompacted, fill--and is cracked--and the cracks in the slab cause the ceramic tiles in your entryway, kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room, etc. to crack. 

as for crawlspaces, where are all the "tiny people with good workmanship? ... They all have gone on to fame and fortune in reality TV cable shows." 

face it, folks. the quality of new houses in the US from top (roof) to bottom (foundation) in the last 50 years has gotten worse while the quality of goods and services in other US industries has more than doubled.

virginia 
shenandoah county 
strasburg 
stony pointe 
toothman

evil trump

trump is an authority on evil. Tracking Trump on Evil – Citizen Critics

it takes one to know one.

image by Gage Skidmore

Donald Trump | Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a ca… | Flickr

had enough? 

who do you trust?

- someone who you know who has similar values to yours?
- or someone who trashes other people? an instigating bully who divides (instead of a leader who unifies)? a foul-mouthed womanizer? a person who separates children from their families simply because they seek asylum or a better life in the USA? who doesn't keep his promises? who is a charlatan and a liar? 
- or someone who thinks that they're above our laws, conducting government business on private, unsecured email, failing to protect classified government documents? who has no more regard for an innocent child than to support killing that child moments before the child would have been born?
- or do you trust political parties that are financed by billionaire corporations and billionaire PACs? 

here's how government operates: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAJl-wZElg

the fix to our dysfunctional government is simple--stop voting for lousy candidates who don't have values similar to yours, and who don't represent our country. 

If you vote for a republican or a democrat, then it's not the person who you voted for who is in control--it's the party--the hand that holds the puppet/money strings. 

In the next election--national, state or local--vote for someone who shares your values who is not a democrat or a republican. 

even with their billion dollar donors, the republican and democratic parties will shrivel up and die if no one votes for their lousy candidates.

Nothing will be better for our country.

two party system | See the article "Two Parties See Record L… | Flickr

File:Two party system diagram.png - Wikimedia Commons

can you see the similarity?

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Shkreli_House_Committee_on_Oversight_and_Government_Reform_2016.jpg

image by Brian Solis

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_-_South_by_Southwest_2008_-_5.jpg 

#facebook

#zuckerberg

#shkreli

the sad state of home construction in the US

many who bought new houses in the past 50 years know what this chart shows:

File_Construction-non-farm-labor_1964-2003.jpg

that the quality of construction of new houses over the past 50 years is poor when compared to the quality of homes built 50 years ago. basic systems, e.g. structure, roof, floors, windows, weather protection, HVAC, appliances, etc., are less reliable in many new houses today than those built 50 years ago.

why? the reasons are probably many--

• builder incompetence and greed 
• decline in skilled labor 
• government's failure to protect consumers 
• consumer reticence 
• a costly legal system that protects builders more than it protects consumers

whatever the reasons, the chart is clear--while productivity and quality of non-agricultural products have more than doubled over the past 50 years with advances in technology, productivity and quality in construction have declined, despite advances in technology. many who bought new houses in the past 50 years are left with fixing builder messes at their own expense--the ones that can be fixed--while the productivity and quality of new homes continue to decline.

what's the solution? I honestly can't tell you. It looks to me like the trends that are so obvious in the chart will continue--bad news for new home buyers--that's you and me. 

virginia

shenandoah county

strasburg

stony pointe

toothman