Analysis Garage Video BEFORE Condo Collapse: Water Everywhere

In this video, Jeff Ostroff analyzes 2 videos inside the parking garage of the Champlain Towers South Miami Condo collapse and gives you a frame-by-frame explanation of what you are seeing, and all the damage on the ceilings, and water leaks on the floors. How does it all lead to the final collapse of the building? Watch our root cause and failure analysis to determine how the Champlain Towers South Condo building collapsed on Jun 24, 2021.
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This condo collapse analysis shows where all the leaking and damaged areas are in the garage and plots them on the garage parking map so you see where the danger zone was located. One video was recorded in July 2020, a year before the collapse by a prospective buyer of unit 611 in the condo building, who searched the garage for the assigned parking space #17. Another video was recorded in 2018 by Raysa Rodriguez, a resident concerned over the pooling water on the garage floor. We also show you a video just moments before the now infamous Miami Condo Collapse.
The Champlain Towers South condo complex collapse was located at 8777 Collins Ave. in Surfside, FL, which is just north of Miami beach.
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• Miami Condo Collapse 4...
📺 WATCH: "More On Miami Condo Collapse Live From Street You Won't Believe Scene"
• More On Miami Condo Co...

[@jeffostroff]

⛔⛔ Official Surfside Support Pages, only send aid to vetted support sites! There are scams related to disasters, you should avoid unvetted fundraisers. ⛔ Support Surfside: supportsurfside.org/ ⛔ GoFundMe Official Vetted Pages for Donations to Surfside collapse victims: www.gofundme.com/c/act/surfside-condo-collapse-fundraisers

[@w1swh1]

"If you don't tell water where to go... it will always take the most expensive action" You've got that right Jeff!!!

[@tted5434]

No, any amount of trapped water is doing nothing but searching for the weakest point to escsape.

[@rainerrain9689]

@@tted5434 I believe you meant to say this but just chose different wording ----> Water travels to the area of least resistance.

[@tted5434]

@@rainerrain9689 You are correct!! I don't remember typing it exactly, so your skills of deciphering gibberish are fantastic. Well done. 😉😁

[@rainerrain9689]

@@tted5434 I gotcha and knew exactly what you meant ! LOL

[@tony--james]

despite the limitations of her recording technique , she still did a hell of a job showing us this garage, this is precious footage, also, she even kept it a year, ( when pre collapse many people would have simply deleted it)

[@chrisbarr1359]

A few times your meant to copy the blue eclipse or red rectangle and moved them instead. So there should be more of both on your diagram.

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

She wasn't recording for forensic purposes at the time.

[@MichaelWF1125]

Kudos to her for the footage and that she still has it.

[@davidcharles324]

And how fortuitous that she filmed in landscape rather than portrait! Kudos to her for sharing it.

[@RealBradMiller]

I came to say this, too. 👍

[@radianttadpole6363]

Every experienced homeowner knows that when you see water on the floor, the real problem is not just water on the floor. Pipe leak, roof leak, whatever, it’s bad news. But until now, I never would have understood the ramifications of water leaks in a multi-story building or a garage like this. Thanks for educating us!

[@DrTeddyMMM]

Yes, seeing a water leak in a home is never a good thing, but in this situation, there is also the component of salt water spray (Sea spray) that is carried by the air with such close proximity to the ocean. Salt and salt water are highly corrosive, ask anyone that drives their car in an area that uses salt on the roadways. Highly susceptible are aluminum and iron, both of which are common metals used in construction. Without constant inspection and maintenance measures in high saline environments that are present along the coastline, metal construction component failure is eminent and a constant battle... most times Mother Nature wins.

[@gracieg7601]

@Duke Hugh Johnson she was looking to purchase. But she must have because she was down there looking for her parking place.

[@EricaShady10171972]

Yeah but when you see water in Miami you don't think leak, you think flood. It is always flooded. Most building in Miami have water surrounding it.

[@sylvesterwoodest5358]

Very costly education

[@dirkdiggler9379]

Shouldn’t have caused a collapse. I’ve seen high rise building sitting vacant with all the windows missing for 30 years He’ll look a the ghost city in Russia.

[@johnstephan7680]

I’ll never again look at water in an underground parking lot without fearing for my life.

[@ihavenoideawhatimdoing4]

If it’s raining then no but if it’s for no reason then run

[@XanVicious]

Dude this was underground? I’m from the area and I didn’t know this. Wow that’s dumb, you dig anywhere in Florida and what you’ll find is limestone and then eventually water. I would never trust anything that’s underground here. Even car tunnels i’m a bit weary of, water pressure is no joke.

[@JenGerard]

I may never park underground again.

[@hothotheat3000]

I was on the market for a condo in NY state and had a realtor actually tell me that doing an inspection of a condo unit during escrow was a waste of money because “the HOA will handle any issues”. He even sent me an article from another realtor who was discouraging inspections. Needless to say, I didn’t feel comfortable with that and decided to work with another realtor who encouraged me to do my due diligence. After this collapse happened, I thought about that realtor and how many people he must’ve given that same terrible, potentially fatal advice to. Always, ALWAYS get an inspection and don’t rely on your HOA to protect you.

[@CSH16]

Good you followed your instincts. I had the worse experience with a realtor. Mine was a cash offer & he advised me not to waste money on a inspection bcs the property looked in good shape. I told him... I'll never go without the inspection then he told me he had the best inspection company to work with. I trusted him so much than stupidly I agreed to work with them. They're friends and always work together. No mayor issues came in the report so I bought it but the property in reality had a lot mayor problems. The shade house was falling apart bcs termites but very well hiding it with new paint.. the master bathroom walls were completely rotten and disgusted that it was a must to replace all of them and other little issues that at the end cost me a lot of money. I learned my lesson. SOME realtors only work for the commission and careless about their client so find your own inspection company and never ever accept one that they suggest.

[@jimmarshall5453]

@@CSH16 In that case you CAN sue your inspector for damages as well as his friend the realtor who recommended him. You should go for both of their state licenses as well.

[@casualriley]

Except many building inspectors your average home buyer would hire are not very good. It's a profession with low barriers to entry, and it's a job that breeds complacency. Maybe you'll get an inspector that has no idea what they're looking at, maybe they'll just pencil whip their way through the inspection to get their $500, or maybe you'll get an inspector that actually knows what they're doing. Either way buying property is a bit of a gamble, just get a good insurance policy.

[@debstrzelecki2485]

@@CSH16 I went through the same thing when buying my first house. I stupidly trusted the realtor (biggest one in SE WI) and learned so much doing the repairs that should've been done years prior to me buying the place. I was young and full of energy, so it didn't bother me much that I was lied to. Realtors are in it for themselves, for sure.

[@CSH16]

@@jimmarshall5453 .. Thanks for your reply. Believe me I thought about it but it was too much for me to handle as a single old lady plus the realtor is a police retired ok? so I thought it twice going down that road bcs it could be more trouble for me so I did what I have to do to fix the problems encountered and continue with my life peacefully but I'll never ever will do any other business with him neither recommend them and learned not to trust people just bcs "subtitles".

[@vincentlobracco8428]

I'm a Public Adjuster, damage consultant and represented the North Tower in the past. 20 plus years in the ins damage business. I've represented and handled numerous claims involving condo associations in Florida. Here's my two cents on this horrific incident. First, one of the worse ideas is to design planters on a 2nd level concrete deck in Florida. Its a maintenance nightmare that causes progressive deterioration to the concrete slab, hence one of many reasons for the water intrusion in the garage and flaking ceiling paint. By the way, covered cars in the garage are usually owned by snowbirds, 2nd homes. This building has miles of piping and chases all lead to the garage, so any water leaks from above units end up in the garage. Consider ocean tidal change, regular storms, planters and a exposed concrete pool deck, this building required consistent and extensive upkeep with proper water proofing, which can be very expensive and unit owners don't want to pay for an assessment. Still no excuse. I've witnessed fist fights at condo meetings. Unreal, I could write a 12 book series on my experience in dealing with an association board. The tourist video, the severed pipe is a 6" drain line, possibility from roof's scuppers and condensation lines. Sprinkler lines are pressured lines, so clearly the water flow is from a drain. The weight load of the pipe hangers attached to a weakened support beam may have contributed to it falling in the garage (in video) just before the collapse. Kudos to the tourist that bravely took the video, it will help with the investigation. They must be traumatized. Ceiling cracks in the garage appear to be previous repairs with epoxy injections, however water still migrating. Its a standard repair to slab cracks. Engineer should have set a protocol to repair structural slab cracks. Notice in the video, there is water running down a column. Video 22.28. Ceiling paint flakes are usually caused by moisture in the slab or paint was improperly applied to the concrete. The pool itself and equipment room is on grade and thus had nothing to do with this incident, however paints an ugly picture of lack of maintenance by the association with progressive concrete spalling. Possible gross negligence by the association, therefore the CGL policy and a separate liability policy for errors and omissions by the condo board. It doesn't look good for them. The 1st party ins carrier, which will be a different carrier from the liability will be hit with a total loss 40 to 50 million. In most cases, several carriers take on this type of risk under layered coverage Ei. percentage of risk. Each unit owner should have their own policy, that provides coverage for personal property and betterments. That's all cabinets, tiling flooring and paint ETC. Plus, additional living expenses. Those carriers should tender total loss payments immediately to the policyholders. Its going to be a litigation nightmare for all parties. Its all premature until the proximate cause of the collapse is confirmed. Still need to rule out construction defect with materials used and/or design specs. Top engineer commented that the rebar slab ties to the column may have been deficient. This adds lateral support to the structure. He was unable to confirm it until all debris is removed from the area. They secure concrete core samples from the North Tower. The investigation will take 8 months to a year. In the spirit of speculation, my premature assessment points to the lack of maintenance and urgency to rectify the issues purported within the 2018 PE report. I must add structures built in the 80's in Florida were poorly designed and constructed. Note Building codes in Florida changed after 1992 Hurricane Andrew. This is just my opinion, my two cents, I am not an engineer but that means nothing like everyone else on KZbin. It's all amateur speculation. My heart goes out to the victims and their families. I knew two of the victims. Horrible situation.

[@mbtravel7294]

Thank you for your 2 cents. Helps a laman like me make sense of all this.

[@otiswilson4713]

Has the basement floor been removed to find out what happened to the foundation?

[@jamig.7254]

I'm convinced that there were multiple water pipe leaks within the walls. Water pooling was both on the roof and basement. Another video showed pooling on the roof via drone. The buildings next to this collapsed one, as well as, others in the vicinity did not have water either.

[@user-bd3zy6wo7l]

Your greed is the reason. U ripped off the victims and make an argument of incredulity

[@JenGerard]

I agree on the HOA part. I was on the board of mine some years ago and people lost their minds over a $250 assessment. Can’t imagine what $200k would do. The HOA would need to get multiple estimates. I did want to point out that the Morabito report I believe stated that the HOA had paid to repaint several cars due to falling concrete, which may have been the reason for the car cover in space 78 , since it was one of the worst areas. Question: is it normal to build a parking garage below a pool? I am from LA and we don’t usually do that except in hotels. I would also be curious if anyone inspects buildings after hurricanes. After the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, all the buildings in my city were inspected.

[@ScarabChris]

10:30 I know what that is, that is corrugated plastic sheeting. I have seen this in building garages before. The maintenance department was getting complaints from people about water dripping on their car. So they put those to "gutter" the dripping water away from the cars. Very very damaging image right there. That implies they knew water was dripping from above for some time.

[@crypttion2061]

👍 Yupp! To redirect the leaking off the vehicle probably due to complaints from the owner! They most likely used small concrete fasteners to hold it up! It's bound to come up in the investigation! 🤔

[@tracybarhite1764]

In another video an engineer looked at the core sample there was only 1/8 inch waterproofing on the slab.

[@JubeProductions]

It's definitely going to be a smoking gun. I think the root cause of this collapse was the failure to build on top of a slopped concrete slab that would allow for water drainage. The fact it was completely level is the reason for the water pooling, then leaking into the concrete.

[@brokenanklesfpv8552]

or water dripping on the people while trying to get in an out of thier cars is more annoying than water dripping on a car

[@Olivia-W]

We had a leak like that in our building's garage... but after a while they did a whole repair of the area, digging into the ground above. They took down the plastic after the repair was done and it doesn't leak anymore for a good few years now. Total time of leak was 3-4 months. I can't imagine it being left for years! There's also excellent drainage and proper slopes. We also had a few isolated incidents of ruptured piping, flooding, a few leaks. All are fixed as they happen, not just patched over. Maintenance happens all the time, a few times I noticed an issue one day and the next it was taken care of. I know someone has to be reporting it- there's a cleaning lady I think? But I barely ever see who's repairing it. One day a light bulb burns out, the next it's replaced.

[@cliftoncloud5087]

I worked all over Miami Beach in the early 90's and a very respected old timer told me that some contractors used ocean water to mix cement to save money. He said time would eventually tell which ones did. I thought of his comment immediately after I heard the news. He also told me they would have a water truck or hydrant connection on the street side but would pump ocean water in from the ocean side. Great videos btw.

[@kyleparker733]

No wonder the concrete decentagraded. Used ocean water.....salt water to mix concrete. Any one with half a brain....salt + metal rebar = corrosion. That's what's wrong with our products these days, too many shortcuts.

[@teresaboyer5707]

I will never look at a commercial garage the same way ever again!

[@egverlander]

It's even got me looking at my house differently!

[@MrVuckFiacom]

It's a shame it took a building collapse for any sort of change to happen. The building owners would definitely let it go into for another 10 years of disrepair.

[@teakdougyfresh9528]

Maybe this will help save another building from killing people. We need to open our eyes to this and report to someone other than the building own or personal

[@DJSekuHusky]

There's a building in Denver that's really old and still has wooden support columns in its parking garage. I used to be a mobile windshield installer and many times I had to install in similar parking structures, and I swear that place you can hear the wooden beams creak and groan on windy days, and I sort of entertained a brief but horrific notion of a beam splintering and the whole place coming down, but telling myself, assuredly, "nah, they have building standards and inspections for this sort of thing". Another thing is a lot of those places shift as cars go by inside the structure, so you just feel everything shake up and down while you're trying to set a windshield.

[@brianhercules3569]

@@DJSekuHusky p

[@157von]

This woman was very smart in checking out the garage and not just been influenced by the beauty of the building She must be glad she didn't buy there. She had to have been concerned with the condition of the garage seeing she filmed the ceiling

[@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729]

She didn’t? How do we know that?

[@frutt5k]

@@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729 If she died in the tragedy, she could not have supplied the footage.

[@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729]

@@frutt5k Her loved ones…

[@frutt5k]

@@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729 Not very likely that modern people part from their beloved smartphones.

[@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729]

Could’ve been backed up in her cloud and looked through after her death, we wouldn’t know. Let’s just hope she’s safe!!

[@Mr18doug]

I guess everyone is walking around their condo's garage now looking at the celling!!!

[@SenoritaJ]

me LOL....i dont see water leak since we dont live near the beach... but if i see tiny water ill report immediately i dont care how crazy they think abt me

[@sflachuck]

We had this issue when I lived at the Camden Brickell building back in 2007. The pool deck was above the parking garage. I remember seeing stalactites in the parking garage as well as puddles of water. There were certain areas where you couldn't park because water would drip on your car and ruin the paint. They closed the pool and fixed the issue (I hope). But what about all of the flooding underground parking garages on Brickell?

[@cdadam22]

You got that right! I do not live in a building, but you can bet your bottom dollar that I will now be inspecting every single parking garage I step foot in.

[@cecel113]

@@cdadam22 *Had to edit for bad grammer😅* Whenever I go to the mall I will be looking 😨 (only place without uncovered parking that I go to)

[@cdadam22]

@@cecel113 Safety First

[@rustymotor]

You can only imagine how corroded the rebar was inside the concrete, no amount of fresh paint will hide the problem going on in the structure.

[@STARZFAN31]

Rebar isnt going to corrode INSIDE the concrete. Moisture cannot reach it there.

[@ginsederp]

@@STARZFAN31 if there were cracks in the concrete from constant water exposure, you can guarantee some of that water had seeped into the rebar below.

[@skunkworksdistilleryandfir7122]

@@STARZFAN31 Rebars corrode inside concrete if water seeps inside. Give it more time and rusted rebars will crack the concrete from inside. It's awesome to see the power of rust destroy concrete .

[@XanVicious]

@@skunkworksdistilleryandfir7122 it’s not so awesome when it all crumbles under you though, due to bureaucratic incompetence.

[@ethanbush2916]

@STARFAN31 Are you dissonant? Concrete is a porous material, add time, weather/ elements, water, humidity, and yes; it will penetrate the concrete and corrode the rebar.

[@tjburr1968]

Imagine how bad the condition was at time of the collapse. This video was taken a year ago!

[@abw121]

When you look at video in garage, look at bottom of pillars! You see water stains from concrete floor weeping up the columns. The fresh yellow paint shows they are covering the continued failure you garage area

[@metalhead2320]

I noticed this too. There has been notable amounts of water present for some time it appears. Here is yet another folly of man. Just because steel reinforced concrete is extremely durable anything can be destroyed by water over time.

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

The concrete columns were clearly freshly painted over.

[@metalhead2320]

@@CharlieFlemingOriginal how fresh though? Sure they may have been 60 or 90 days in but not like same day fresh mate. Paint doesn’t take more than 2 days to dry in high humidity even if it’s enamel paint. I didn’t see any painting materials or masked spots. You don’t get lines that clean without some kind of masking. I also noticed slight dirty spots on the columns so I really don’t think it was fresh paint. I’d be more apt to think moisture collection. From the presence of stalactites and overall dank atmosphere it must be a relative high humidity which would cause surfaces to sweat excessively with the ceiling temperature variance. Especially if it’s a satin or matte type paint.

[@seedplanter7173]

Still not going to cause a collapse. Hint. Look at the 2nd half of building and how it came down.

[@teknoterri6137]

@@metalhead2320 bk

[@debscamera2572]

Did you notice that the base of all the columns, the bottom 6" or so look a little darker. It could be a waterline from a one time flood. Or maybe there is water inside the columns???

[@michellehowarth6854]

I think it’s a water line from water wicking up the column from the bottom - either from pooling water or from a saturated slab at the base. Bases of those columns are constantly wet.

[@jualindafrey5726]

I Noticed it too. There is more columns with the same darkening where the floor meets, the red column's base also.

[@mortygal]

I noticed that, I wondered if water was somehow seeping up or absorbing up the column. Granted I don't know if that would be possible with the way the column is built and how its constructed.

[@Elise10000]

Yes, I think it’s valuable to notice. I am not a structural engineer but considering all the water intrusion it doesn’t seem good, and I think engineers have pointed this out on other channels. All should be looked at.

[@bigmommadavis2810]

It flooded on a regular. The dumpster would be floating. Locals know this.

[@UncoordinatedPixie]

Doesn’t seem like it’s been over a year now since this happened. Love and light to anyone who was affected by this disaster.

[@aliash8599]

I saw a interview with someone who lives there and they said they wondered why there was always water in garage and there had not been rain

[@jeffostroff]

I saw this exact same interview also 2 weeks ago!

[@Ron4885]

Where does the water come from? Broken pipes or something? And by the way, the ceiling is *covered* with stalactites. It's seems A LOT of water coming from somewhere.

[@dumbthingsyousee6969]

@@Ron4885 humidity--lots of it

[@Tbevel]

@@Ron4885 the water is from previous rains that got trapped between the pavers on pool deck for 40 years, the deck wasn’t designed with slope to channel water to drain. According to the engineering report, the water got under the waterproofing below pavers. Trapped with no place to go it rotted the concrete and steel rebar

[@andrewstewart7231]

Yea seems that the water came from pipes and leaked, but I don't know.

[@int53185]

Man, look at that garage ceiling! No way would I be walking down there daily, much less parking my car under there! That concrete must have been the consistency of Jello before it failed.

[@brucepreston3794]

I agree.....poor quality

[@ValExperimenter]

I agree, at 6:00 you can see the paint flaking off the underside of the roof deck which is usually indicative of water damage, also it is a plain slab with no shear reinforcement at the columns and the rebar appears very light where it has pulled out of the deck as it collapsed.

[@Appleholic1]

Other residents must have complained or at least mentioned it to the management. I myself if I lived there would have been somewhat concerned. The woman who video recorded this took serious enough notice of it and had the foresight to record it and save it.

[@coreym162]

I don't get how owners of million dollar condos could settle for this in silence. WTF?

[@mjallen1308]

@@coreym162 THIS! Omg, this is the first thought that pops into my mind. I’m waiting for someone to provide an explanation for this but I, in my mind, cannot - even as broke as my ass is - find a reason for why anyone with the amount of money that these tenants would have commanded outside of their residency and the amount of money they would have paid for their residence along with any fees included for the building/grounds maintenance/HOA or condo association fees, etc would continue to look at all of this water damage, paint peeling, water pooling, and/or even the discoloration of the concrete on the garage floor and say to themselves “Not only am I okay with paying an exorbitant amount of money to prevent and correct these issues but I’m SUPER okay with continuing to pay an exorbitant amount of money to prevent and correct these issues despite obvious signs that this isn’t being done and hasn’t been done over the life of my residency here but I’ll continue to go about my life and not make any fuss or bother them about it because they’ve got so many other things to worry about besides my safety and comfort that I’m paying for.”

[@caseyrose9015]

Wow look how every single column is heavily saturated with water about 10” up the column, they were definitely absorbing moisture!

[@nottheone582]

i noticed that as well

[@caseyrose9015]

@@nottheone582 who knows how many times they just patched with concrete and repainted, which does not solve anything.

[@designstudio8013]

The columns were strong but the step beam was 12" less deep that the original design.

[@adamfink5294]

When Jeff started talking about stalactites hanging from the ceiling I had to do a double take. I even thought over a fraction of a second "wtf, how could any building with stalactites stand... oh wait, I'm an idiot" My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and their friends. I hope justice for this gross negligence can somehow be served.

[@kristinessTX]

If I owned a million dollar apartment and that was the garage I would be pissed...now it is just a tragedy.

[@TSUNAMI-MAMI]

You’d be surprised how common it is with large apartments of thus style w large underground garages. They’re like that all over the place here in LA

[@horsewithnoname12345]

Most million dollar apartment building parking lots look like this

[@Drwild75]

@@TSUNAMI-MAMI If you own one near salt water and the building is over 16 years old, move quickly.

[@JacobBax]

Would you know what it means, water in the garage 5 years ago?, if THIS wasn't happended yet? After the collapse everyone is an expert. Before the collapse, no one care about water in the gargae.

[@williamhaynes7089]

the place had a valet service, you may have been rich enough not to ever had parked your own car

[@MJTroop11]

It is amazing how you can really see the size difference of the columns where the building survived versus where the building collapsed.

[@jeffostroff]

yes very unnerving

[@MJTroop11]

@@jeffostroff I will probably always look at parking garages a little differently from now on. Especially ones underground.

And yet, you don't know whether any of the columns in question failed, or whether the floor slab(s) became detached from those columns. So far, the visible columns look like they punched through floor slabs rather than failed, and the interior columns are still under rubble. Is there a way that you know something about the state of the columns that no one else knows?

[@MJTroop11]

@ it's based on Jeff's prior video where he concludes that the five of the smaller columns started the actual collapse. The timeline indicates that the pool deck did fall first through the columns and then the smaller columns seem to have been knocked out and caused the collapse

[@ChaserBD04]

@@MJTroop11 tell me about it. I live in a high rise and I've looked at my garage every day since his vid about it.

[@allolobophorus]

The yellow paint on every column looks darker at the bottom, which could be caused by moisture.

[@flamingpitchfork9168]

"Water is the Chief Architect of the Planet" - my personal observations from the Himalayas to my basement. Your videos set a standard of excellence in disaster reconstruction, and need to be sent to every victims' family's attorneys. Outrageous, wilful neglect.

[@lilitorra]

Yes I was thinking the same thing. The families of the victims need to see this

[@jackiepowell7513]

Maybe residents didn't want to fix?

[@julybailey4239]

@@jackiepowell7513 you're 100% correct. The residents were notified and argued that the cost was too high requesting multiple different contractors to bid thus wasting valuable time and years...

[@laurahall5218]

Not just years, decades. And since it was substructure subsidence that was the biggest problem, this place hasn't been safe for ten years.

[@JubeProductions]

I agree with you that his analysis is incredible and will definitely be used by attorney's. I wouldn't doubt if this dude gets called to the stand as an expert witness. Although on the stand in a court of law, it's not how good you are, it's how good your certifications are.

[@leonwechsler389]

Leon Wechsler Architect's Conclusion. If one looks at the columns in the garage, you can clearly see the lack of concrete tie beams spanning between the columns. Since this has no post tension cables, it is very easy to see why the deck collapsed. No tie beams, no extra support, the columns shear right thru the slab. In this case, look at the building that was still standing, the bottom of the second floor has a huge 24 inch or more concrete tie beam at the exterior perimeter. This tie beam supported the remaining building but the deck (pool deck) had no tie beams, therefore it collapsed via punch shear. This is a fundamental design mistake by the Structural Engineer of that time. The top of the columns should have at least a thickened slab to prevent this. There are numerous mistakes like this especially where the building collapsed. NO TIE BEAMS AT CRITICAL POINTS

[@jeffostroff]

There were certain support beams shown on the beam schedule, but only at certain maximum load points

[@jcphenry]

Seems similar to the construction of the (collapsed) South Korean shopping mall design. No lattice of horizontal support beams between the columns. The floor/ceiling cast structure tied to the rebar in the columns is all there is (I guess until it isn't.)

[@sentino68]

Not to mention only two 90 degree rebars in each direction from the column tops into the slab! You can see them sticking out at the column tops after the floor slab sheared off. I believe the plans showed 4 rebars each direction.

[@brnmcc01]

@@sentino68 Right there was suppposed to be 2 bars at the top and bottom in each direction. What we can see is just the bottom two that have ripped cleanly out of the bottom of the slab. It's possible the top two sheared off at the top of the slab when it fell, and they are there in the column, but we can't see because they got sheared off cleanly at the column

[@QED_]

@@brnmcc01 Sorry, I'm not following, please. What caused so many columns to punch through the slab (?) How does that work (?) There's no new force (other than gravity) acting DOWN on the slab . . . to force the columns UP through the slab. Even if the slab moves laterally . . . I'd imagine the worst case would be that column would just break away. Is it that . . . the rebar on the columns extends into the slab . . . and when it moves laterally . . . the column rips out of the slab and the slab then falls around the resulting hole (?)

[@parallelsandtangents938]

Those questionable things on the roof were corrugated plastic panels used to redirect the leaking water on the ceiling so it didn't drip onto tenants when they were getting into or out of their vehicles.

[@jeffostroff]

Handyman Specials!

[@parallelsandtangents938]

@@jeffostroff yep

[@DVD927]

Rather than fixing the cause

[@criticalevent]

That's friggin nuts.

[@michaelflotta3186]

Spot on...and in the video you can see clearly those corrugated ceiling panels above the lady who was looking for her parking space. In that clip she walks right under them ..clearly visible.

[@iratherbkruzn9545]

Jeff, I worked as a guide in a cave back in the college days and I know it takes forever to form calcium stalactites this long (depending on calcium content in the water). The concrete stalactites grow much faster than in limestone caves, nevertheless, this is a huge red flag! The water had to be seeping through since the day one after the building was built. I would definitely NEVER buy a place in a building with this kind of problem!

[@paulconneely8212]

10:53 the plastic sheeting is to stop the driver from getting wet when they enter or leave the car. this suggests it's a long term problem and when it rains alot of water comes through the floor above wetting these owners and thus the plastic sheeting

[@JubeProductions]

It's basically the smoking gun of this case. This building didn't just collapse one day. It's been a ticking timebomb from the moment they poured an non-sloped concrete slab. There was evidence for years, that there was a problem with water leaking from above.

[@dmixdup]

Maybe. But there were people in this building who lived overseas and came here only once in a while. It could be to protect the car from water, dust or other damage.

[@svasianfilipiname6603]

You can tell this building has been neglected for several decades and was just putting a ban-aid on things!

[@frutt5k]

It had major design flaws. It's a miracle it stood erect for 4 decades. Look up the comment by the architect.

[@myplaylist7007]

Sadly when karma hit, it effected a lot of people.

[@vickiehadd4324]

NOW HOA IS GOING TO BE SUED SO BAD THEYLL NEVER RECOVER!!

[@ChumpyChicken2]

@@frutt5k the design was good and allowed for a fall off so the water wouldn’t sit on the pool deck. But it was built with no fall. They actually brought this up after construction.

[@dez1989]

@@vickiehadd4324 Hope so! Every HOA is a bunch of garbage picking nebbie noses that have no lives of their own! That's why I will never move into any neighborhood with one!

[@Jamie-zs2bl]

Good for her for recording and keeping this footage so long! I have always took photos and videos of every place I've lived that is supposed to be maintained by others. I still have every single photo and video on an external hard drive. It's super important. You never know. I record, photograph, show the people in charge, and keep the photos/videos. This is something that everyone should get Into the habit of doing. People need to be held accountable and this is just one of the ways to hold them accountable.

[@jonwhick3073]

Yah thankfully you can set things to save to a cloud and don't even gotta think about it

[@Timbo6669]

I was hired as a 'Maintenance carpenter' [whatever that means] to new fix newly built houses and carry out warranty services.. I had no idea what I was doing.. They even had me go out and check trusses and frames for faults. wtf? I lasted a year before I had to quit as I was putting not only myself, but others at risk. I was the bad guy in the end. This world cannot be trusted.

[@nikkig3799]

Did you report anything???

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

Maybe you could find some free training on YT? Think of it, sad to say, you then would be smarter than many so-called "experts". We had so-called "experts" telling us to wear flimsy ineffective face diapers and telling us to get some very risky experimental so-called vaccine, highly experimental, safe enough for lab rats only, to protect us from an over 99.8% survivable ControlYaVirus. While legit medical experts in Sweden told the people to keep the economy open to cause less damage, and if people didn't have sufficient immunity, relax, they soon will. Whatever does it take to get the title "expert" anyway? To pretend like you know something and get a sound bite on Leftist-controlled fake-news TV?

[@Timbo6669]

@@nikkig3799 I considered it [as to cover my own ass if anything came back around at me] but as soon as I called the authorities [VCAT here in Aust] the company had so many suits already against them, I thought I might not need to do anything, as they surely can't beat upwards of 7 lawsuits!..Another mistake on my part. They still build volume homes to this day.

[@Timbo6669]

@@yosefmacgruber1920 You have a point...I did end up being skilled with plaster, paint, fixing doors and windows etc but when you get into the structural integrity of a building, you need schooling behind you as to know what to look for. This is where my skills were absent. I was a glorified handyman. Nothing more.

[@jackiepowell7513]

Yosef non sequitur!.

[@nbt3663]

As a contractor years ago, I always said, "water is the enemy."

[@kraftygram5239]

For her to take video of the ceiling, she must have had concerns back then. Amazing that she kept the video.

[@duanekent2656]

But didn't move

[@gracieg7601]

@@duanekent2656 didn’t he say she was looking to purchase?

[@djwaterman7867]

The head maintenance guy from '95 to 2000 said the water would get so high, it would float cars. He ran pumps to get water out. He did this continually.

[@sunitamosesesq]

I wish more people would comment on the comments he made, because they are HIGHLY relevant.

[@user-ny5be4lm8z]

ok but common is this all from the pool? the ammount of water you are taling about is much more than the pool can hold assuming it all leaked out...this water must have been comming from another source...if it was all from the pool the first cause of action would be to stop using the pool if it was a seive....even after the building fell the pool was still full of water!

[@paulieprinceton4550]

@@user-ny5be4lm8z yeah , “float cars” would require far more water than the pool held.

[@fnhc2023]

Why would anybody stay if this place was floating their cars???

[@rubyoro0]

@@fnhc2023 Maybe they sold?

[@scubafeet]

This honestly looks like every parking garage along the gulf coast.

[@ndttech]

very true, go to gulf shores, they all look like this.

[@nj08028]

I noticed that on the Yellow portion of the columns (near the elevators) in the garage, you can see what looks like water marks. The water damage near the ramp could be due to water flowing down from street level. The sidewalk just outside of the ramp looks like it is over storm water piping. There could have been a small leak that gradually eroded the foundation on that side of the building.

[@brnmcc01]

"CP&R completed 90% of their work on the balconies. On Friday 09/18 they will be on site to complete the 4th, 3rd and 2nd floors. On Thursday 09/17 they will be on site more core samples of the slab. The front drive area concrete thickness is not matching up to the as build drawings the Association has on file. It is suspected that when the building was built, they sloped the top side of the structural slab giving us various thickness on the slab. Preliminary observations suggest no waterproofing was installed in the drive areas and the waterproofing for the pool deck is located just under the sand bed of the pavers." --- this is from the HOA meeting notes, Oct 10th, 2020

[@vinscully4283]

Thanks for being a fan and believing in Dodger Baseball 🎾🏈💙💙⚾️, It great honor, Communicate with me on Gmail section thanks,[e-mail]

[@Userxyz-z2d]

Also look at all the planters full of mature bushes- located above every area with damage incl above the pool equip room. Overwatering for 40 yrs would def cause all that water damage to concrete & rust below. Im sure they are going to end up finding several contributing factors during the investigation as rarely is it ever 1 thing. Thanks for posting your info.

[@restyourheadsoothingrelaxa2729]

Check out the video “how concrete damage can hide” by Building Integrity! He explains what happened with the planters perfectly.

[@TheFlatlander440]

There is one area no one mentioned, the elevator pits. Those were geared elevators with the machine room located on the roof. At the bottom of the elevator shafts, there is a pit which contains the buffers and can vary in depth from 4 to 6 feet below the bottom floor of the parking garage. What I'm curious about, was there any water in those pits over the years and was it being pumped out? Reason being that those pits being below grade holding water can degrade the foundation and footings around those pits. The only way to know is finding out which elevator maintenance/repair company was contracted to service and maintain those elevators and if they have any reports indicating degradation of the elevator shafts and specifically those pits below grade. Anyway, it was just a thought coming from a former employee of a major elevator manufacturer.

[@continentalgin]

Any metal parts in those pit buffer wells were probably all rusted out. Scary!

[@jeffostroff]

good quesiotn

[@brnmcc01]

Absolutely. I read in one of the repair contracts for the work about to start, and it mentions somewhere they had difficulties keeping the water pumped out, and the constant flooding in that pit was causing problems. Perhaps this is where they were burning out motors every two years.

[@TheFlatlander440]

@@brnmcc01 Could be since it's well below grade and water will collect there.

[@TheFlatlander440]

@@continentalgin I would think so and being spring buffers in lieu of hydraulic buffers due to the rise and duty (I'm guessing the elevator duties were 2500 lbs at 125 fpm for that building application) they would still have to be maintained regularly and perhaps replaced every 10 years or so. Just my opinion.

[@YesYesYoureRight]

The potential purchaser of apartment # 611 and parking space #17. was very thoruough in doing that video and so graciously kept if to show others. Thank you lady.

[@unklewink]

The mystery object on the ceiling is a "leak deflector" It conduits the leak water away from parked vehicles.

[@redlinemando]

I'm no building contractor, but it looks like something Moe, Larry, & Curly pieced that thing together.

[@SORGIGERMANICO]

@@redlinemando they probably would have done a better job

[@danasuperstar]

If there is that big of a leak that needs a homemade leak deflector, this is a huge problem. So sad that these people suffered.

[@unklewink]

I saw the explanation of those devices in another YT video about the collapse.

[@garyc39]

When you start seeing buckets to catch dripping water,its time to move.

[@kurtmorris454]

not to mention cars with car covers inside a garage.

[@The-E-Dude]

Or if you don't want to move start making your 'bucket' list.

[@garfixit]

And looks like hurricane shutters. So sad 😞😥

[@Hypno_BPM]

sad thing is , theres a lot of buildings neglected by owners all over the world

[@Hypno_BPM]

no offense to the ppl that passed away but idk how dumb you have to be to think it’s ok to live an apartment where the roof of the basement is constantly leaking. it’s not like it was a secret , anyone that walked that garage for the first time could tell there was a water leakage problem in be basement smh. Complacency at its finest.

[@cimarronperformancewerks6611]

I went another direction in my engineering education (aerospace) but have always been interested in architecture. You have covered this tragedy with outstanding information, drawings, video, etc. Your analysis and narration are top notch, IMO. In my less than qualified opinion, you nailed this. Great stuff. Your other analysis vid got me hooked on your level of information and detail. I subscribed to see what you do next. Take care and thank you for taking the time to put this together.

[@EdilbertoAriasRolon]

Great analysis . Greetings from Asunción, Paraguay. Our First Lady loss her sister and family here. So sad.

[@hellen70666666]

....I agree....Good Stuff Posted Here....!!!

[@timothylowe2073]

I agree

[@TheCameramanInvestigator]

@5:00 "What is this?" Its an area that had cracked all the way through and had been leaking, it was repaired with a can of "flex seal" and never bothered with again. If you look back over photos and "on the ground" maintenance records you will see that this place was literally held together with "flex seal" rubber, no real efforts for maintaining or repairs where made to this structure.

[@NickanM]

BuT iT iS ChEaP!

[@DucatiQueen]

I can see every damn condo owner now running around their building taking pics of everything 🤓

[@dalemills7926]

EXACTLY

[@chocoboasylum]

Can't blame them

[@DavidElstob73]

Those rods look beyond rusted. It's like they have almost disolved inside the concrete.

[@yarnpower]

Another engineer covering this explained how when rebar rusts, it expands a lot, which cracks the concrete and then it pulls away from the rebar.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

Devoid of oxygen, even stainless steel is eaten away: the design of that building was a timer, waiting to fail. Probably many others too..

[@EricSaavy]

I've been in the waterproofing industry for 50 years. For the last 15 years, I have given hundreds of presentations warning of the way balcony, parking decks and pool decks are incorrectly waterproofed leaving exposed joints and cracks to leak. I've been demonstrating how to make balcony, parking decks and pool decks, pond free, joint free and crack free. I find it so frustrating, that all this falls on deaf ears and the industry continues to use the same old failed methods it did in 1970 to this very day. See the video link below. For lunch and learns, call Bob Clanton @ 702-343-7067 . The below pictures demonstrate the end result of the PolyTuff Systems. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oGXcY4SAftWXppo

[@criticalevent]

I wonder if there's a record of tenant claims of damage on their cars from stuff coming off the ceiling.

[@jasonmarks1636]

there is, the condo association payed to have cars repainted because the calcium carbonate dripping from the ceiling ruined the paint on some of the residents expensive cars.. that is why those panels were tacked on the ceiling roughly around 4 minutes into the video. good catch on the comment however.

[@tyler2610]

@@jasonmarks1636 I was wondering the same thing. Never mind falling concrete, when you have hard water continuously dripping on your car it is going to cause a lot of damage.

[@heyjude1101]

Thank you to the person who had the foresight to film and save this video, and I'm so glad you didn't move there.

[@stevehopkins2773]

Really informative analysis...It appears to me the garage ceiling between column 52 and 54 is pushing down and column 52 is slightly leaning maybe from the downward pressure. Looking at columns 52 and 54 side by side is where it looks like it is pushing to the left.

[@OneSkinnyKitty]

I was thinking the same thing, how the top of column 54 looks weirdly crumpled.

[@ToxicityAssured]

22:33 Look at the upper left side of the concrete. The rebar has rusted and the concrete is cracked/separated. That column was near failure years ago. This was near parking spot 79 or under the front of the building that fell first. We know the pool deck was reported to be bad. The planters on the pool deck (near spot 79) were flagged as water intrusion points. I think the deck let go. The deck took out damaged columns near parking spot 79 and innated the collapse. The lack of beams linking columns likely helped the collapse spread. Lots of water issues seem to exist. Pipes were leaking, the pool deck leaks, the garage floods somehow at least in the past. Lots of maintenance issues added up over the decades. There were warning signs, but people were to busy to notice in time. Good days lead to good memories. Bad days lead to good lessons.

[@tigrotom7312]

I am not an architect, but I remember from chemistry class that water is called universal solvent - it contains extreme polar hydrogen bonds. Water will corrode most substances after time. Judging by all the water seen in garage, as well as cracks in concrete, apparently leaking and collecting for years, it's pretty clear the support columns must have corroded at base level over the years and finally gave way. Just my layman's view.

[@jokerace8227]

Yes, all true, and salts in the water only serves to help corrode exposed steel into weak rust even faster, (an electrolytic solution, essentially). The building structure was very poorly engineered, especially the pool deck which lacks a proper drainage design for rain and surf, and then very poorly maintained on top of that. If they made better repairs on the twin North tower, then it may not be a risky structure to live in, but I would have to see it's basement parking garage first in order to say for sure. Luckily for the other tower, the basement parking garage is also minimalist, so it's pretty easy to see any of this type of damage to the superstructure down there. I've already seen a few other condo towers around Florida with similar damage, and they really do need to be fully assessed by engineers, and repaired professionally by people who know exactly what they are doing. The importance of structural problems only grows exponentially as you move from top to bottom of any structure. Can't ignore problems in the basement. Had they taken the engineering assessment from 2018 seriously, repaired it the correct way ASAP, and kept up on proper maintenance from then onwards, I think the South tower could have stood for another 40 years just fine, despite the engineering flaws I see. This tragedy doesn't ever have to happen again if everyone takes the importance of highrise building maintenance seriously. Skyscrapers are impressive modern feats of defying gravity, but we must never forget, gravity never takes any time off. It is an unrelenting force.

[@jacktheaviator4938]

The terrifying part is, I can point out at least a dozen buildings and parking structures up and down the Mississippi gulf coast that have water damage that bad or worse. I used to work for a concrete cutting contractor and have seen chunks of concrete the size of basketballs that had spalled and left gaping craters in structural concrete beams...water ingress and corrosion damage is the norm. The basement of the hospital on Keesler AFB is a REALLY bad example, and that is a government building.

[@stephanieann8115]

Well said Joker Ace. I don’t think it helped either that they ended up having 2 different contractors. That’s scary in my opinion. If I was the 2nd one I would definitely want to know why the first one quit.

[@richrusso5301]

How come no other buildings in the vicinity suffer same fate??? Cause it's not water damage, thats why.

[@stephanieann8115]

@@richrusso5301 what are you trying to say?

[@EnergeticWaves]

as with roaches the spalling you see is nothing compared with the spalling you don't see.

[@dying101666]

roaches. lol. yeah... always much worse.

[@tomrogers9467]

The spalling is appalling.

[@denicehaley9902]

My heart is just broken for the families and Surfside community! Jeff, I just found your videos last night, and your educated guesses and commentary is so, so informative! Thanks for sharing your analyses, and using a colored mouse in this video since I couldn’t see what you were explaining in the last videos. God bless!

[@vinscully4283]

Thanks for being a fan and believing in Dodger Baseball 🎾🏈💙💙⚾️, It great honor, Communicate with me on Gmail section thanks,[e-mail]

[@JohnBedson]

At parking space 54 the concrete roof, including the rebar is hanging down. It was collapsing a year before the final complete collapse. That's why there is so much water on the floor there. The water was pouring through the break in the concrete roof above #54. They just patched it to stop the water pouring onto the vehicle.

[@karenhornberger7236]

I’m curious about something no one talks about. These apartments had a lot of ceramic tile and granite counters. That wouldn’t have been common 40 years ago. My question is…could the remodels of the individual apartments have added weight stress to the structure?

[@yosefmacgruber1920]

Probably not nearly as much weight as adding additional floors that the original plans did not call for. Oh wait, that isn't even a factor in this case. Aren't these things at least somewhat over-engineered to take in account such minor variances? But how do you over-engineer to correct for corrosion and neglect?

[@Random-rt5ec]

The building was in bad shape, the condo owners knew this & because of the high cost of repairs chose to do nothing. The surviving family members have no one to sue except themselves.

[@tomrogers9467]

I hope the insurance companies deny all claims. Negligence caused this.

[@julybailey4239]

You're 100% correct. I don't feel the least bit sorry for them. I do however feel bad for their innocent children who they didn't protect as well as the friends and relatives who were staying overnight. They put their lives in jeopardy. Yet the state of Florida wants to give money back to these idiots who are alive and homeless so they can go buy another highrise and continue to live the lavish life they had before. Greedy people.

[@errolvierheller7029]

Looks like the ceiling was water logged & sweating, softening up to cave in.

[@lindabutts846]

? AC condensation

[@michaelwerkov3438]

@@lindabutts846 way more than that. improper drainage

[@minacerra]

Near 106 it looks like water staining on the yellow part of the column too

[@TryptychUK]

The ceiling isn't the problem, it's the pillars.

[@paulschane5865]

@@TryptychUK The bottoms of them to be precise, thats where water goes, to the bottom of things.

[@VinylBound]

The minute it collapsed and the complaints I heard directly after, had me come to the conclusion immediately that it was the water build-up and the pool leaking that caused the foundation underneath the concrete to erode. This was totally preventable and there is no doubt people should go to jail. As far as I'm concerned, this is murder.

[@carolschober8028]

Pool did not leak. Pool deck es

[@rolandemorgan5992]

This is premeditated murder for sure. They all knew about the water for years. Poor tenants.

[@williamhaynes7089]

some of the people responsible are dead because of it, the rest lost 100% of the stuff in their units plus any cars in garage

[@aslmad1]

@@carolschober8028 how do you know?

[@schmoopyvonboopy4959]

Probably negligent homicide, at best, but who are you going to charge when the occupants collectively dragged their feet on fixing it? I think this whole high-rise condominium model has been proven to be a failure. That's the lesson. My ex lives in a condo in a building with 2 floors. He pays about $300 a month condo fee and from what I understand, that covered mowing, trash pickup and pool maintenance. What happens when it's time to replace the roof? By the size of the building, I'm guessing $50,000/4 tenants. Not horrible, when you consider what a roof costs on a single-family dwelling. A high-rise has very complicated and EXPENSIVE repairs that will be required over time. To have to get a concensus of that many tenants, not to mention 100-200,000 dollars from each tenant is bound to be like herding cats. I'm not sure what the solution is for other high-rise buildings with this model. Look at Crestview Tower that was evacuated. They disregarded the 40-year certification and the city didn't even notice. 🤯

[@effervescence5664]

It's interesting watching this after watching Building Integrity's forensic analysis. It's obvious you both have extremely different experience with buildings but it's nice to get a different insight considering how many engineers are going to be looking over this footage for the next few years.

[@MrBNARick]

24:58 I would not over speculate "the cone". That is a SUV in that space with lots of blind spots and my guess is the owner of the SUV put the cone there so they would not back into the pillar.

[@galinagraber604]

I am sure that valet stuff , who worked in the building would know a lot of answers about this garage…

[@javierlopez7527]

At 26:09 you can see that it is not directly behind the SUV but off to its side, almost to the empty spot of the driver’s side of the vehicle.

[@davidperkins9538]

And since the people living there were wealthy... these SUV's most likely had backup cameras! Who needs a cone when the camera tells you where you are?

[@theresachiorazzi4571]

By the looks of this it’s been coming for quite a while before all hell broke loose

[@RogerThat1945]

Yep; I've been warning about it globally for 30+ more years (with a [pre-build-]solution). Even this years nuclear power stations are still using the self-destructing concrete method.

[@gracieg7601]

In texas the condos on the beach don’t have parking under the condos. There’s a parking structure out near the roads coming in. But in Florida they cram all of it into too mich of a small spaces. It’s ridiculous.

[@BearsTrains]

"Lets make these pesky columns thinner so we can fit more cars in"

[@williamhaynes7089]

the cost of land there is so high, you cant afford to waste land on a parking lot that's Sigle level

[@tsalagianisahoni6716]

A number of the columns appear to have water marks at least 6" up into the yellow painted areas suggesting flooding of the garage floor. #106 also has water around it's base as well. This is consistent with some residents who reported the garage would flood to the extent their cars would float around in the garage.

[@enriqueisidro547]

It's been a while but kudos to the lady taking the video considering it's just by accident showing things that may be relevant to the collapse as she was essentially orienting herself.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes, this video provided some real good intel for us

[@danlehman4918]

The patches on the ceilings were probably catches, to keep little chunks of concrete from falling from the ceiling and scratching the cars.

[@ILOVEMEOMG-x3y]

Another youtube video says that was corrugated plastic to divert the water off "expensive" cars...:(

[@julybailey4239]

So the cheap greedy people cared more about expensive cars then fixing long overdue damages and repairs that could have prevented the deaths of innocent children and family members, friends who were there visiting when they fell to their deaths. Disgusting.

[@kiwikiwi2483]

It's eerie how that video from the summer of 2020 was taken... It gave the same feeling as watching videos from inside the twin towers before 9/11

[@tonycolida2005]

No kidding!

[@mattcat231]

i feel the same!

[@tyler2610]

Goes to show how immensely things can change in literally the blink of an eye and touch so many lives

[@sbklvr]

Look at the bottom of the columns, they're all wet. Built too close to the beach. High tide was bringing water under the buliding. The pipe burst because the building started sinking right before the collapse

[@tonyathibodeaux882]

Frfr one lady said the pool look like it was sinking before the building had came down

[@modztunerz]

What I don’t understand is we’re are all the security employees when this occurred and all the camera surveillance footage around the building.

[@creativityindy9483]

Note about the orange cones in the parking garage: I used to certify service techs on how to safely back up their service vans into tight parking spaces, and one trick we used was to place a cone so that as the vehicle was backing and then barely bumped into the cone, that was the indicator to stop backing - saved all the guessing and dented bumpers.

[@jeffostroff]

Yes AT&T guys do that all the time

[@pauldavis2036]

I have also seen cones used so other people wouldn't take their parking spot.

[@cynvision]

I was wondering about those cones being right under a few big beams. Only other thing they can show is one of them could be providing a hint where to turn to go up the ramp.

[@Reevesi]

Look at the "tide Marks" on the bottom of the yellow columns. They were definitely standing in water/soaking up.

[@paulfoytack5267]

I noticed that too. Good catch.

[@lilitorra]

I noticed that immediately!!! 😳😳

[@K_PAC]

I'm a landlord myself, & if I, my tenants or whomever brings to my attention or I see anything wrong with my property, I fix it right away. Especially dealing with water damage, foundation/structural damage, roof etc. I rather get everything done asap than to wait years for the problems to get worse. This tragedy is so sad on many levels and could had been avoid if all the work needed was repaired years ago when it was brought to the HOA attention, with that the findings of the inspection back in 2018. It's 2021 there is no excuse for why the building wasn't maintained throughout the years. Side note: I love going on vacations to Miami. I've been numerous times throughout the years and everytime I go it seems like the ocean is getting closer & closer to the shore with the sea level rising. Also my last vacation in Miami South Beach we kept going to different hotels because the foundation of the hotels we were at didn't seem sturdy at all. Needless to say, Florida needs to get it together, dump DeSantis, invested & start to combat Climate Change & especially the sea level rising. Most importantly: MAKE SURE ALL BUILDINGS ARE UP TO CODE EVERY FEW IF NOT EVERY YEAR!! R.I.P to the victims and sending love to the victims love ones. 🙏🏾 ♥

[@WANNAWATCHIT100]

The woman who filmed the garage, seen all the water damage and decided against moving there. Sad the professionals didn't :(

[@tinat5484]

Beautiful on the outside and rotten to the core on the inside

[@jeffostroff]

good observation

[@Ron4885]

I couldn't agree more. The look of the place is opulent including the units. But at its soul it's garbage.

[@Zoonjse]

Pretty much. Its always hard to know what going on inside the concrete. But leakage is very bad. It densest take many points of entry to jeopardize a whole building. Over a 40 years sometimes, somewhere something might give in. Rest in Peace to all the victims of this horrible tragedy.

[@stclairstclair]

Like my hometown of Chicago!

[@julybailey4239]

@@Ron4885 Sounds like the owners who refused to pay for the ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY work to save the lives of their innocent children and family, friends who were staying overnight and had their lives stolen.

[@CJ-tc7xh]

Everything about that garage would tell me this isn’t the place to be.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

The way she filmed the ceiling, I think her instincts were telling her the same thing.

[@parallelsandtangents938]

@@exploringwithhank the 40 year recert policy would have been viable if, and that is a big "if", due diligence was taken to stay ahead of the curve and keep up with maintenance and repairs and keeping the building from reaching this level of disrepair.

[@dhambassador7527]

BINGO! Yep I was going to say the same - @jeffostroff shown well at 5:07 Great detective work & very well done. Sadly their maintenance staff likely just patched and painted, and moved on to the next "fix"....

[@gracieg7601]

@@G-ra-ha-m she must have purchased if she’s down looking for parking space 17. Hopefully once she got a good look at the foundation she decided not to purchase.

[@gracieg7601]

The one lady said she was in the shower. The noise and building shaking made her jump out and put clothes on then the collapse happened. The cracks in her walls broke open but she barely got out alive.

[@robyn-mareepenny2926]

Great upload. I'm enjoying this discovery and I'm hoping that engineers looking at this collapse are as learned as you are and as resourceful!

[@gracieg7601]

Jeff you have done such a great job on explaining this terrible tragedy.

[@RedHotMessResell]

This definitely makes me think twice about cracks and puddles I see when going to the beach to stay in a condo for a week. 🧐😨

[@runfayalife]

tell them to go to Wynwood (during the day).

[@kevinallen6197]

This is caused by bad waterproofing. Leaking through the slab from above it's obvious. You can pour a cup of water on an unsealed concrete surface and it disappears into the concrete. I did slab waterproofing on industrial buildings for years. They should've put an elastomeric membrane in the planters and every square inch of surface above.

[@wyomingadventures]

Totally agree with you. No waterproofing. Those planters had to be heavy too.

[@jacktheaviator4938]

It isn't just a waterproofing failure. It has a lot more to do with lack of slope on the deck. IDC how much waterproofing you use, or what type, if the water has nowhere to go, sooner or later it will find a way in. All waterproofing has a lifespan, so it can't be counted on alone to save your structure.

[@minacerra]

Ask any italian who hoses down their concrete where the water goes.

[@elizabethwilson9686]

@@jacktheaviator4938 there is also several plumbing draining issues. Tons of pipes that needed replacing, my husband is a plumber and he couldn't believe the amount of failed patches we seen on pipes still dripping. This building was destroyed due to years of draining issues with the pool deck, the slab, the planters, and the plumbing. The blueprints show the laundry room over areas 77-79, and most of that ceiling was cracked, had failed epoxy, and tons of dripping pipes.

[@jacktheaviator4938]

@@elizabethwilson9686 I did notice a couple of VERY suspect looking band-aid type repairs on pipes, but I'm not any type of expert on plumbing/mechanical systems, so I didn't mention them. But you are right, leaking pipes certainly didn't help.

[@joes.2111]

I don't understand why everyone is shying away from truly understanding what happened with this collapse. As it stands, I have seen no discussion concerning the variety of flashes that are seen on video. No talk of what is a light vs an electrical short/arch and what is unknown. I don't care how ludicrous it sounds. In fact, it is ludicrous that we have video of a variety of different flashes and everyone pretends they don't exist.

[@deanjo57790]

Yes, if it had been the sprinkler system pipes that had broken, the fire alarm would have tripped instantly. They are designed to react to water being pumped out through the system. That allows them to be tripped by heat if necessary.

[@jam20230]

This video gives me chills. Honestly this is like watching a horror movie. So many signs and the poor tenants without experience or knowledge did not know what was happening. I will be walking around my condo basement to look around tomorrow. Thank you for your detailed video, taking your time out to slowly explain and educate the public, very informative and I believe people need to be educated and be aware of these things

[@lindaglover7194]

If you see water damage in a building over 2 stories in Florida get out. We have sea salt in the air, it alone is corrosive. When poor quality concrete is used it will eventually crack allowing water to rust the support be it rebar or I beams. Rust can eat through iron fast. This can cause a weak place and over time it can fall. This buildings weight on all this inferior construction was doomed from day one. I'll bet the pool was built by someone other than the building people. That's why the pool is still intact. Who ever built this building is in the wrong. 🤯🤡💯💩

[@ripadipaflipa4672]

I am sure that the residents of the condo were not happy to pay the $15 million needed for their condo in 1918. I wonder what their maintenance fees were?

[@dr.killmoretreeratologist8848]

@@lindaglover7194 My aunt and uncle took a vacation to the ocean at Padre Island some 40 years ago. They were there for less than a week. When they returned to Oklahoma, they found substantial rust on their truck, which had not existed previously. I was told that automobiles shipped to dealerships near an ocean have a special protective coat on the paint to prevent the rust. Don't know whether or not that's true. But that was my first indication of how corrosive sea water is. We have 1 saltwater lake in Oklahoma, Lake Keystone, I believe. We spent 3 days there one summer when I was a child. I spent at least 80% of each day in the water. By the 3rd day, the snap on my cutoff jeans that I swam in was so rusted that it wouldn't snap.

[@rigoti]

@@dr.killmoretreeratologist8848 there are sprays to protect cars against rust, although they're mostly used on parts that don't move. It's always recommended to wash the undercarriage of your car whenever you visit beaches/snowy environments.

[@lreyescordova]

Everyone should be vigilant of their property. Be it single houses or condominiums. We cannot trust any company or contractors that only live for profit.

[@andyspark5192]

Condo was fancy above the ground but not below.

[@continentalgin]

Rotten structurally.

[@Searchin4keys]

Like the pump room too, wherever u don't really see looks so awful & unmanaged. Insane

[@annar6430]

"All draws,and no knickers",as my Granma would say

[@mq2311]

I was about to write same...parking lot is spooky

[@dananorth895]

Typical of multimillion dollar structures. Its all appearences and marketing.

[@theresajordan9267]

All of the posts have water rings that look to be about 6" high on the bottoms. It looks like they may have previously absorbed water.

[@rightfromwrong]

If you look at the bases of the columns in the garage it is clear that a large amount of water at least a foot deep has been in this garage.

[@TheHikercrone]

Such excellent work Jeff - I saw water damage at the base of the 105/106 column. Actually, you can see water damage/staining on all of the yellow columns at the base (unable to see it on the reds, but this could be because it's a darker color).

[@leslieholm9542]

The only thing I’ve seen make stalactites in paint on the ceiling like that is a large pool of collecting spreading water ABOVE the ceiling from a broken pipe or leak way above.

[@Suggestion_Box_Full]

living room ceiling started looking like a boob so I poked a hole in it and find out it was running down the rafter from 10ft away! r once the hole was there the water came pretty fast but it only took about an ounce to make it look like a little boob and do the same thing to the paint if you have oil-based paint and tries to keep a moisture barrier but it can only do so much these people knew what was going on my opinion and that is the bottom line ...It could have been prevented... I just said earlier that I live in Columbus Ohio and we have inspectors that come out with any home business whatever you would think they would make it mandatory like every 60 or 90 days ... It's not that hard to maintain something as opposed to completely ripping it apart to repair it I'm too bad it cost us to be all these people being hurt because they didn't want to pay somebody 10 grand 20 years ago to fix it when it could have been repaired..... sickening

[@deepinthought469]

@@Suggestion_Box_Full I agree, the paint was holding the water in, transporting it long distances throughout the rebar network, every time the planter boxes were watered... drip drip, hydraulic pressure of water equalizing... for example, water finds crack on surface, 4 inches below to rebar, rebar now has 4 inches of pressure to pump water down the rebar and into the rebar network. Like a large water damn underwashing the base... and the paint just held it in.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

Even at 6 minutes you can see the ceiling paint peeling off. Clearly the garage roof slab is saturated with water, and the rebar rotting away. I assume one part of the slab eventually cracked and fell, and levered off the 5 tiny columns in doing so, and then the extra stress in the building caused the rest. I've seen many damp building garages - perhaps this is a widespread issue...

[@runfayalife]

and that's why all of the vertical support failed simultaneously?

[@G-ra-ha-m]

​@@runfayalife the roof collapsed first: documented fact. look at the thickness of the roof vs the thickness of the posts. Put a glass on a table, then balance a book, then another glass on top. Now tilt the book.. the top glass now falls down...

[@thoughtful_criticiser]

There's a guy who used to work at the building on maintenance, gave an interview. He said that the sump pumps for the garage were always failing due to the volume of water ingress. He said it was sea water and the other buildings didn't have the same problem.

[@sewistnotsewer]

Your analyses of this collapse are the most thorough I've seen.

[@ArtHoward]

There's another channel called Building Integrity you would also enjoy.

[@jeffhaddox2239]

It’s amazing how much can be seen with just a passive Recording.

[@jonwhick3073]

That let's you know how bad things were if its showing up on a choppy video whats deep in the walls and ground

[@tayzonday]

Thanks for this.

[@daver1161]

Fancy seeing you here my friend.

[@GirtonOramsay]

What KZbin channel don't you watch Mr. Chocolate Rain? I see you everywhere

[@dragonfistX200]

You are everywhere chocolate rain man

[@GamerGirl_BRE]

CHOCOLATE RAINNNNN☂️🎶

[@REKM-cw6ie]

The legend himself.

[@tennamurfett7158]

@ 4:53 The bottom of the column to the right appears to have discoloration at the bottom where the yellow paint is and at the crevice where the bottom of that column is level with the parking garage cement floor there's a noticable darkness too. Other colums in that parking garage appear to have the same discoloration under the yellow paint. I wouldn't doubt if this building had serious mold problems as well. I've seen some basements that had excessive damage from flooding due to heavy seasonal rainfall, mild flooding from rapid snow melting, and from frequent sewer back ups. The areas where the water repeatedly flooded throughout years & pooled over weeks or a few months, and/or had seeped into the cinder blocks and concrete flooring would have the same darkness/discoloration like what is shown in this video. The millions of dollars spend on those condominium apts for luxury living should have also been spent on the safe upkeep and proper maintenance of the building.

[@nofuxgiven611]

I deal with water damage alot in my field of work being a drywall finisher. And just by watching this lil ciip i can tell you that there was a massive water deposit below this garage. First big red flag was the columns. You can see where water is pooling under the garage by the water saturation on columns. Water will rise up through a porous material and absorb into it. The streaking on the stains is a dead give away as water finds a path faster in some areas then the other of the same material due to inconsistency of it. The ground of the garage is done in marine cement or at least has a top coat of it where the pillars are not. Imo small sink hole grew over the years and it hit the tipping point. The small pools of water are normal in a building of this size paint peeling as well. The cracks can be normal in most cases due to overweight vehicles but also could be signs of the ground below giving way. This was a freak accident caused by mother nature and a common sinkhole/erosion. Real question is who knew about this before the collapse.

[@dans1676]

Jeff you should also do late night radio. You've got that smooooth voice.

[@3x3mm]

Great radio voice!

[@lesmorris10]

Guy sounds like Ray Liotta..smooth..

[@leticiamartinez4808]

I agree!

[@kabbystevens5167]

Column 106 in garage has ‘water staining’ on the bottom in the yellow area that makes contact with the garage floor. On 104 and 52

[@mrx4036]

Yes, I was going to comment that a lot of the columns have water marks above the floor level. It's seen through the paint. That would mean the columns are absorbing water upward or the columns are wet at the base from the water traveling downward from the upper surface. There's way too much water in that area. The waterline is at least 5-6 inches off the floor

[@jeffostroff]

Ye sit is everywhere!

[@timward2406]

Yes literally every column has damp rising up

[@johnbrowneyes7534]

Yes! Noticed the water marks on the base of the columns.

[@lizziebakeoven3225]

I noticed that as well

[@nk361]

My theory on it is that the columns didn't fail, but the ceiling slabs did fail, which led to increased stress and sideways forces on the columns that were meant to hold vertical stresses. I think the pool deck was not sloped correctly (along with other things) which made it so that the water from the residents coming out of the pool, on their way back to the building and the rain over time moved inward towards the building rather than outward off of the concrete. This caused cracks, leaks, erosion of rebar, and shifted stresses. The horrible patchwork and panels put up to divert falling water from cars only forced the water to build up and travel within the concrete even more. I suspect that more patches were put in place since this video that further held water in to damage concrete. Another thing I find really odd is that there were no horizontal beams under the pool deck (may not have been elsewhere too) which is part of why the pool deck easily fell around the columns. If the pool deck was entirely separate from the bottom level of the building, I think only the pool deck would have collapsed. What makes me really annoyed about it all is that this was a very overpriced place to live because of the location and view. That means the landlord was making far more money than it took to actually run the building purely out of demand. Yet, it seems like they were extremely cheap and negligent when it came to protecting the lives of the residents in the building. Disgusting.

[@rendaowe]

I will never walk through a parking garage the same way again. I have seen things about new construction that seemed odd. I won’t second guess myself again. Thank you for such great detailed break down of what you think happened and the evidence you used to come to that decision. I don’t believe that anyone could argue with what you have come up with. Congratulations.

[@edwinodus]

When I first watch the video, I was looking down and expecting seawater leaks weakning the columns at the foundation. After watching your analysis, it now seem the pool deck was turned into mush by water leaks. Hence, it gave way and pull the 5 or 6 critical columns with it

[@gracieg7601]

The scary thing is that there’s several more of these condos on that same beach built by that same company. Some reveal water in the parking garages when there hadn’t been any rain in weeks. That’s bad bad.

[@fgrau7376]

You would really have to contemplate moving at this point. Scary

[@gracieg7601]

@@fgrau7376 I’ve already heard people saying that they would move out of the beach condos.

[@jacktheaviator4938]

There are buildings all over the Mississippi gulf coast with this same type of water damage. I have been saying for YEARS you could not pay me enough to live in a multi-story building near the ocean. Salt water and rebar are mortal enemies.

[@TT-hq1hl]

In my experience, it is rarely the Contractor. Contractors follow a design done by licensed engineers. Further, the engineers count on proper maintenance to be performed as a building ages and condo owners are never easy to convince that repairs, that cost extra money, are needed.

[@michaelwerkov3438]

@jakesgrl6378 when?

[@robertrust441]

At 28:00, I think the water gushing down from the pipe is very far back into the pool deck area, likely almost as far back as the pool itself, probably in the area of column 28 or a bit further in. The dimmer bottom half of what appears as water falling is actually the reflection of a brighter upper half stream of water coming down from the ceiling and pouring on a large pool of water on the ground. We see the less bright reflection coming towards us a ways, then we see some concrete debris, which is at the line of the row of columns 20 ft beyond (away from camera, to the east) the facade of the bldg. The ceiling above this area is the highly deteriorated, water-penetrated slab and beam, paint peeling, plastic corrugated sheet containing area directly below the private patio deck area that is in front of unit 111 and is half filled with planters. As we come towards the camera, we see another space with water, then the row of columns directly under and supporting the facade, with the column on the right side (as we view in from the ramp) possibly failed, or at least part of the ceiling, maybe a beam. So it's possible that three of the four columns that form the patio area square that is in front of unit 111 and also for the facade of unit 111 have failed. This would help explain why the walls in unit 711 (directly above 111) as shown by its deck door window video camera shifted to the left slowly, then collapsed shortly later. Two or three columns of the four columns below the patio area of unit 111 (two of which formed part of the facade of the bldg) may have failed, leading to the failure of the patio and pool deck slab above and beyond them, then the parking area slab below the uncollapsed part of the building, and then a pause for 7 minutes or so while stresses built up and the building deformed enough, at which point the facade came crashing down, proceeded by rows of columns and the floors above them, successively progressing to the north wall, column row by column row, eliminating the middle portion of the entire bldg. Then the now unstable east bldg section came down 5 to 10 seconds later after slowly leaning into the pool deck area, leaving only the elevator-shaft-supported/shear-wall-protected southern portion of the bldg standing.

[@marblox9300]

I never realized how vulnerable CONCRETE was. I always thought concrete was the strongest material. Very scary to think such a structure could have rusted and weak rebar.

[@PeaceMeBish]

It is strong. It’s just not strong when it’s allowed to sit in seawater and is built on land that’s marshy.