Luckily, no one was hurt, but if someone had been standing there a serious injury could have occurred.

This part of the wall abutted the home on one side and a gate on the other. Unfortunately, the wall wasn’t tied into the home nor did it have any real reinforcement from its foundation. When you look at the way this piece was built back in the 70s, it’s amazing that it held up this long.

Many people in the remodeling field are not a fan of regulations, and they’re right. Bad codes, incompetent inspectors and unnecessary bureaucracy can cause major problems in the field. But the other side of the story is just as true. Good building restrictions are designed to protect all of us. A perfect example is the 2008 tragedy in China when 10,000 children died in an earthquake because it leveled multiple schools while other nearby structures remained standing. As it turned out, construction companies had cut corners when building the schools and corrupt officials turned a blind eye.

As flawed as our system is, many of the codes we live with are there for good reasons, and no doubt have saved millions of lives.