A Stores’ Ceiling Collapses. No Injuries!

10/3/2022 (Permalink)

A SERVPRO of Yuma technician is hard at work cleaning up plaster and insulation debris.

A Plaster Ceiling Falls in a Downtown Store

In the Yuma Area, we have many old buildings that were constructed with lath and plaster. In recent years many of these old ceilings have been covered with insulation and plasterboard to modernize their appearance and improve on insulation efficiency.

Our technicians recently responded to an emergency property damage at a business in downtown El Centro. It was a souvenir and gift shop housed in a building that is almost 100 years old. Their lath and plaster ceiling had been retrofitted many years ago with sheets of plasterboard.

At closing time, the customers were at the checkout counter near the front door when a large portion of the plasterboard ceiling collapsed. The heavy coat of plaster spread across the sheets of plasterboard and a layer of blown-in insulation fell onto displays, shelves, and the floor below. Nobody was injured. SERVPRO of El Centro and SERVPRO of Yuma (sister companies)  are performing the cleanup and the build-back. 

How did such a property disaster happen without a major earthquake?

The Imperial Valley experiences dozens of small earthquake tremors every day. The constant vibration loosened the nails and wore away the plaster from around the nails that held the plasterboard to the framing and the original ceiling above. Current building codes and construction processes use screws to securely anchor plasterboard. Unfortunately, screws were not used at this location.

Manmade property disasters happen every day that’s why we business owners here in the Yuma area know that SERVPRO is ready 24/7 to be of assistance.

Please, call anytime for help at 928-247-1180