Another storm hits Vegas and another wave of videos showing it essentially raining inside the casinos.
I dont get it - they dont know how to build roofs in Las Vegas? I understand flooding - I dont understand the leaky roofs. It seems like several of them have an issue with it.
Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
Another storm hits Vegas and another wave of videos showing it essentially raining inside the casinos.
I dont get it - they dont know how to build roofs in Las Vegas? I understand flooding - I dont understand the leaky roofs. It seems like several of them have an issue with it.
Apparently, even the soundest construction doesn't fare well in an environment of constant temperature extremes--plus, in the desert, stuff dries out and cracks. Even if it's perfectly sound, the materials a roof is built from aren't intended or designed to bake in the sun all day every day.
Phoenix and Tucson have problems with leaky roofs, too, even in major structures, when their monsoon season hits. Turns out that a roof that gets rained on occasionally is less likely to leak than one that sits for months and months without a drop of moisture. Wood and other materials get a chance to absorb water and flex, whereas something that's bone-dry, when it contracts and expands with drastic temperature changes...cracks.
That, and a lot of the older casinos were built with some pretty crappy drainage systems.
I don't pretend to be an architect or architectural engineer. I'm not a structural engineer or roofing consultant. That being said, the materials used in any roof design would definitely include the weather, extereme or not, in the building. Those materials would be made for use in Las vegas temperature environments. Expansion and contraction of the materials used in construction are included in structural design of any building. Ever hear of expansion joints?
What proof do you have to support your statement about Phoenix and Tucson having a problem with leaky roofs? I lived in the Phoenix metro area for 32 years. The only time there were leaking roofs it was due to poor construction, if new, and poor maintenance if older. Wood, if properly maintained, shouldn't absorb water at all. A roof that is properly maintained shouldn't allow water buildup to the point of collapse. When drainage is blocked and water is allowed to pool past the structural weight limit, what do you think is going to happen?
How many of the older casinos blueprints do you have access to? How do you know that their roofs have crappy drainage systems?
This isn't a personal attack on you, just a rebuttal of the reply to PJ's question.
PJ there are either design flaws in the leaking casinos or the materials used were wrong or improperly applied. Maybe both. There really is no excuse for there to be leaking like that.
Originally posted by: PackerBackerAZ
I don't pretend to be an architect or architectural engineer. I'm not a structural engineer or roofing consultant. That being said, the materials used in any roof design would definitely include the weather, extereme or not, in the building. Those materials would be made for use in Las vegas temperature environments. Expansion and contraction of the materials used in construction are included in structural design of any building. Ever hear of expansion joints?
What proof do you have to support your statement about Phoenix and Tucson having a problem with leaky roofs? I lived in the Phoenix metro area for 32 years. The only time there were leaking roofs it was due to poor construction, if new, and poor maintenance if older. Wood, if properly maintained, shouldn't absorb water at all. A roof that is properly maintained shouldn't allow water buildup to the point of collapse. When drainage is blocked and water is allowed to pool past the structural weight limit, what do you think is going to happen?
How many of the older casinos blueprints do you have access to? How do you know that their roofs have crappy drainage systems?
This isn't a personal attack on you, just a rebuttal of the reply to PJ's question.
PJ there are either design flaws in the leaking casinos or the materials used were wrong or improperly applied. Maybe both. There really is no excuse for there to be leaking like that.
The reported cost for the building of the Circa, was 1.2 Billion - one would think that the general contractor, McCarthy, would have built the property soundly. Apparently they did not.
You would think they would take a lesson from Bugsy Siegel. I believe a leaky roof was the last straw that made the mob initiate the order for him to be killed.
As coincidence would have it, I was in a meeting with an experienced Las Vegas building inspector last week, in connection with our HOA's irrigation system problems. He volunteered that everything wears out much quicker in the Mojave, including roofs and air conditioning. And I personally know for a fact that our asphalt doesn't last very long.
And Las Vegas weather is very different from Phoenix weather. You know those iconic saguaro cactus you see all over Phoenix and the Senora Desert? Have you ever seen one growing wild in Las Vegas? Not likely, because Vegas gets less than half the rainfall that Phoenix does, and I'm quite sure, is much drier overall.
Even though I'm not an air conditioning technician, I know that an a/c unit works harder in a humid environment than a dry one. Therefore, an a/c unit in Las Vegas would last longer and run more efficiently than in Phoenix.
A roofing system may not last as long, but with proper constuction and maintenance a roof should never leak.
Show me anywhere in the US where asphalt lasts for any length of time. Our asphalt roads should be able to last more than 10 years and we're lucky to get two before the pot holes show up. I may be a little cynical on this subject..
The Sonoran desert is the only place in the world the Saguaro cactus grows. There is some evidence that climate change is harming their health. Hopefully we won't lose them.
