Areas served · Wisconsin
Forensic Engineering in Milwaukee
In and around Milwaukee
What we investigate in Milwaukee
Most Milwaukee losses we investigate trace to a hard winter and old construction: deep frost and freeze-thaw working on 19th-century Cream City brick, and backed-up basements when aging combined sewers cannot carry a heavy rain. We document what actually caused the damage, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
The conditions we see in Milwaukee
Milwaukee runs a long, cold winter, and deep frost and repeated freeze-thaw work hard on the city's older masonry. Much of the stock is 19th- and early-20th-century brick, including local Cream City brick, which is softer than modern brick and needs a lime-based mortar. Repointed with hard portland mortar, the face spalls and the wall deteriorates. On July 22, 2010, the National Weather Service recorded flash flooding across the metro after intense rain, the kind of event the drainage was never sized for.
The buildings sit over aging infrastructure. Milwaukee's older neighborhoods are served by combined sewers that carry both sewage and stormwater, and when a heavy rain overwhelms them, water backs up into basements. Add closely spaced wood-frame duplexes and homes and aged industrial buildings in the Menomonee Valley, and frost, water intrusion, and long-term deterioration overlap in ways that take an engineer to separate.
How we help in Milwaukee
The evaluations Milwaukee cases usually call for
- Foundation, frost, and masonry evaluation
Cracked walls and spalling brick on an older Milwaukee building can come from deep frost, freeze-thaw on soft Cream City brick, hard-mortar repointing, or a defect. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the way frost and water behaved, then document which cause is responsible.
Our structural engineering services- Basement backup and water loss investigation
When a heavy rain overwhelms the city's combined sewers and water reaches a basement, we determine whether the loss came from the backup, from a drainage or plumbing failure, or from a condition that predated the storm, and we tie each conclusion to the physical evidence.
Our forensic engineering services- Hail and storm damage
We evaluate hail and wind damage across Milwaukee, separating fresh storm damage from wear, prior repairs, and conditions that predated the storm.
Our hail damage services in Milwaukee
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Milwaukee
Milwaukee's dense older housing shapes its fires. Closely spaced wood-frame duplexes and homes let a fire spread between structures, and a long cold heating season keeps furnaces, boilers, and space heaters running for months alongside the aged wiring in 19th- and early-20th-century buildings. When a fire follows a hard freeze or moves from one building to the next, the origin evidence is easy to lose, and pinning it down is what the claim turns on.
Our NAFI-certified investigators work the scene to NFPA 921. They examine it methodically, trace the burn and char patterns back to the area of origin, evaluate the heating, electrical, and mechanical systems, and rule causes out until the evidence supports one, accidental or incendiary. The investigator preserves that evidence early, documents the finding, and testifies to it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Heating-system and space-heater fires
- Electrical and appliance fires
- Industrial and Menomonee Valley fires
- Vehicle fires
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Is brick deterioration in Milwaukee from the freeze or from the mortar?
It can be either, and often both. Deep frost and freeze-thaw work on the city's soft Cream City brick, and repointing it with hard portland mortar accelerates spalling. We evaluate the wall, the mortar, and the exposure before assigning a cause.
Can you determine whether a basement loss came from a sewer backup?
Yes. When a heavy rain overwhelms Milwaukee's aging sewers, the backup leaves a recognizable pattern, and we evaluate whether that, a drainage or plumbing failure, or a pre-existing condition caused the loss, based on the evidence.
Do you charge travel to reach Milwaukee?
No. We work Milwaukee-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.