In the 1850s, buildings were mostly rectangles with a historic facade at the front. In mercantile buildings, wood joists supported the roof, ground and first levels, to add extra support lateral restraint steel anchors may be needed.
When this happens we work with structural engineers and architects to design the wall ties Then we go to Brown’s Welding & Machine Shop in Bells, Texas, run by father and son team Bert and Ted Brown to fabricate the anchors.
Their facility is in a rural area, and may not look to be the most hi-tech, however they do have a CNC machine for specialized jobs. Their knowledge and wisdom makes it possible for them to fabricate almost anything out of steel. Their skill sets are amazing and certainly have enabled us to stabilize many buildings using the anchors created in their shop.
All of these photographs were taken by Alan Pettingale using a drone in a confined space.
