Areas served · Pennsylvania
Forensic Engineering in Philadelphia
In and around Philadelphia
What we investigate in Philadelphia
Philadelphia holds the oldest housing stock of any major US city, and the losses reflect it: aged party-wall brick moving under freeze-thaw, and riverine and urban stormwater flooding along the Schuylkill and Delaware. We determine what failed and document it to hold, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
The conditions we see in Philadelphia
Philadelphia County carries a Relatively High FEMA National Risk Index rating, driven in part by riverine and urban stormwater flooding along the Schuylkill and Delaware. The county has 141 repetitive-loss flood properties, 34 of them severe. When remnants of Hurricane Ida stalled over the region in September 2021, the Schuylkill crested at 16.35 feet, its highest reading in more than 150 years.
The city holds more older housing than any other in the country: roughly 55 percent of units predate 1950, with brick rowhouses close to 70 percent of the stock (Census/ACS). The defining form is continuous blocks of party-wall brick, much of it balloon-framed, in IECC zone 4A, where a winter design temperature near 13 F drives freeze-thaw cycling through aged brick and mortar. Flood saturation, frost, and long deterioration overlap, and separating them is the engineering question behind most local claims.
How we help in Philadelphia
The evaluations Philadelphia cases usually call for
- Rowhouse and masonry evaluation
A crack in a party-wall rowhouse can trace to a failing shared bearing wall, freeze-thaw on aged brick and mortar, flood saturation, or a defect in an addition. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the conditions together and document which one caused the damage.
Our structural engineering services- Flood and water loss investigation
After a Schuylkill or Delaware flood, or an urban stormwater backup, we determine what the water did to the structure and whether the damage came from the flood, a pre-existing condition, or a construction defect. Every finding is grounded in the physical evidence.
Our forensic engineering in Philadelphia
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Philadelphia
Fire moves through Philadelphia's rowhouses far faster than through detached homes. Shared party walls, balloon framing that runs unbroken from basement to attic with no floor-level fire stopping, and joists that abut in the common wall let fire conduct into the buildings next door, and vacant structures with broken-down party-wall fire stops carry it further. Reading origin and cause correctly across a shared wall is what protects the claim or the case.
Our NAFI-certified investigators work to NFPA 921: a systematic scene examination, burn and char patterns traced back to the area of origin, and evaluation of the electrical and mechanical systems, carried through to whether the fire was accidental or incendiary. We preserve the evidence before it is lost in the debris, then document the finding and testify to it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Rowhouse and party-wall spread fires
- Vacant and abandoned-building fires
- Electrical and appliance fires
- Vehicle fires
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Why does fire spread so fast between Philadelphia rowhouses?
Shared party walls, balloon framing with no floor-level fire stopping, and joists abutting in the common wall let fire conduct into adjacent buildings. Vacant structures with degraded party-wall fire stops make it worse, so origin and cause has to be read across the shared wall.
Can you assess flood damage to an old rowhouse after the water recedes?
Yes. Much of the structural evidence remains after a Schuylkill or Delaware flood. We evaluate the foundation, party walls, framing, and finishes to document what the flood caused versus what predated it.
Do you charge travel to reach Philadelphia?
No. We work Philadelphia-area cases from our Omaha lab and Los Angeles office with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
Have a loss that needs answers?
Tell us what happened. An engineer, not a call center, will review your case.