50 ‘Nightmares’ And ‘Miracles’ Spotted During Structural Inspections (New Pics)

Alpha Structural is a Los Angeles based leader in foundation repair whose mission is “to engineer and build the most precise, practical and responsible repair for our customer’s property, in conformance with State and Local Building Codes and with their budget in mind, so that they may realize their goals concerning the correction of their property.” It was started by David Tourjé, who had built many custom hillside homes in the 1980s and decided to specialize in foundation and hillside repairs due to the increasing demand.  

Alpha Structural has now been going strong for decades, becoming the number one choice for Foundation Engineering and Repair, Landslide Repair, Earthquake and Structural Rehabilitation Contractor in the Los Angeles area. “Our production staff has over 850 years of experience and all of it is hard-core and down-in-the-trenches, not managed from behind a computer,” their website states. “Our in-house engineers and technicians are among the most experienced in all of Southern California. If that’s not enough for you, here are just a few more reasons why you should choose us for all your foundation needs.”

But despite being based in California, Alpha Structural has had an impact on so many people around the world thanks to their hilarious and informative internet presence. With accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Imgur, Alpha Structural has thousands of followers who are eager to view their team’s most shocking finds from inspections and be glad that these things weren’t discovered in their own homes! We’ve been featuring Alpha Structural on Bored Panda for about three years now, and in the past, we’ve been lucky enough to get in touch with them to learn more about their company and the importance of structural inspections.

Alpha Structural previously told Bored Panda, “There are many factors that can affect the repair of a home such as budget constraints, timing, accessibility of workspace, etc. For the most part we would put the responsibility on the contractors that were hired to do the work. Most homeowners are not aware of the repair ‘methods’ used, especially when the work is under the home."

“For example, we’ve seen brick foundations that have been ‘retrofitted’ by bolting the framing to the brick walls. However, this doesn’t serve any purpose as the bricks can’t hold these bolts. Many times the homeowner had no idea that there was any problem performing this type of retrofit on a brick foundation,” they explained. “Without trying to sound cliché, we can say the old maxim, ‘you get what you pay for’ holds true when selecting a contractor to repair, or upgrade your home’s foundation.”    

We reached out to Alpha Structural about this piece as well, and we were lucky enough to get in touch with Ben Reinhart, the Vice President of Marketing. First, we wanted to hear if there had been any exciting updates since the last time we had spoken with Alpha Structural. "We recently celebrated our 30th anniversary!" Ben shared. "Also, we started servicing Orange County and will soon be expanding to Ventura County as well!"

We also asked Ben if it's crucial to have a structural inspector take a look at every building we might be living or working in. "When purchasing a property, it’s very important to do your due diligence," he told Bored Panda. "Get all the inspections; you need to make sure that you’re getting what you expect. We’ve heard all sorts of horror stories about people buying homes, waiving contingencies, and then finding out down the line that they have major structural issues."

"Regarding someone who is already the property owner, they don’t necessarily need to get inspections unless they start noticing signs of structural damage," Ben added. "Large, wide cracks, sloping floors, etc. The best thing a property owner can do for their structure is to make sure they have a good drainage system and keep up with regular maintenance. This will go a long way."

We also asked Ben about any of the wildest things the Alpha Structural team has encountered while on the job. "We come across some crazy stuff. I’d say that one of the most shocking was when one of our assessors found a human skull in the crawl space of a home he was inspecting," he shared. "The skull was complete with a clump of long, black hair and a few chunks of mummified flesh but minus the jawbone. The assessor immediately left the crawl space and notified the police. Surprisingly, when the coroner came, he concluded that the skull was roughly 2,000 years old! It’s suspected that a previous homeowner had found the skull while hiking in Peru in the 1970s and smuggled it back into the country."

We were also curious what type of person would make for a great structural inspector. "Being a structural assessor is a much more exciting job than people would expect. You see all types of buildings, some of which have a very rich history. You meet a lot of people who are experiencing various structural/geotechnical issues," Ben told Bored Panda. "We try to help them find a solution for their problem that fits within their budget. I’d recommend someone who has experience with construction and who likes to solve problems and help people."

Ben also added that, "Cracking in drywall/stucco is very common, especially in SoCal. The best thing people can do to mitigate this is make sure that they have a proper drainage system. Don’t let water pool near your foundation. Cracks that are around ¼ of an inch or wider are more concerning. This is a sign that there may be a structural issue."

If you're concerned there might be a structural issue in your home or you'd like to learn more from the experts, be sure to check out Alpha Structural, Inc.'s website right here!