The House That Fell

Kim and Dapper Davidson were building their dream home at 3115 Estero Boulevard. You couldn’t miss it, not only was it right on a busy stretch of Estero, they had also built an I Love Fort Myers Beach Flip Flop sign on their property that became a selfie spot on the island. Now their property is a photo opp for all the wrong reasons as their dream came crashing down during Hurricane Milton last week.

And to add insult to injury the town has put a stop work order on their rebuild and revoked their permit to build. The town says “a new permit must be applied for showing corrective action designed by a Florida licensed architect or engineer.” 

Joe Orlandini was the builder before the house came tumbling down. It’s the only house that fell during Hurricane Milton on October 9th. Orlandini was also the builder when Town Council candidate Greg Scasny was slapped with a stop work order on his rebuild when proper inspections were not completed.

So how does a home like the Davidson’s just fall like it did. We asked Studio AD’s Albert Dambrose and Allan Development Group Scott Allan for answers.

Dambrose said it’s important to know that the Town of Fort Myers Beach did not approve what was being built. He says the town approved a two-story concrete structure, not wood  “The wood posts were not properly connected to the foundation system. The upper wood floor system was not properly installed to the top of the wood columns. The bottom of the wood columns was connected to the footers with anchors used for short decks, not to hold up a two-story house. Those connections have no lateral stability. Essentially the house was sitting on the ground like toothpicks trying to stand up on your coffee table.” 

Allan said he and his team passed by that house every day on their way to job sites. “We watched the columns set on top of the footer, braced with a bucket strap. I use bucket straps all the time, but they are on interior columns for mezzanines that do not need to meet hurricane wind code. I’ve always wondered what engineer and/or builder would authorize such a rogue plan to set timber posts over top of a footer without any embedment in a Coastal A flood zone. I cannot imagine someone is so stupid and I cringed for the next storm, no matter the severity of wind or flood because it wouldn’t take much.  Now that the home is on the ground, I can’t imagine how compromised the structure is given a house’s ability to “rack” under duress. When a structure racks, the structural integrity is compromised. I feel awful for the homeowner who was severely let down by their builder / engineer. My only guess is that this home foundation was built not according to its plan and if there is any justification for a lawsuit, this house has such merit.” 

The Davidson’s tell Beach Talk Radio News they’ve been talking to Fort Myers Beach building inspector Joe Specht about what they can do next and they will most likely need an attorney.

Local journalism is hard work. If you appreciate the most in-depth reporting on Fort Myers Beach, please support what we do HERE by Venmo, Zell or PayPal. Thank you.