130 Iowa 157 | Iowa | 1906
The important legal question in this case is whether the owners of party walls may extend the
The appellants contend that under this statute ownership in a party wall is an estate in common, giving to both, parties the equal use of the whole thereof for all of the purposes of an exterior wall, and claim that the title of the chapter “ walls in common,” and the use of the same words in the body of the act, clearly indicate such intention.
The Louisiana statute contained a provision permitting a co-proprietor to place his beams within two inches of the whole thickness of the wall, but if the neighbor wished to affix his beams in the same place or build a chimney there, he could only use one-half of the thickness of the wall. Our statute contains no such provision, and under the familiar rule of construction, its absence therefrom indicates the intent to limit the right to that usually recognized in the absence of express provision. Party wall statutes are of ancient origin and are of much the same tenor and effect, and
There is still another reason why the appellant’s contention should not prevail. The law of party walls is based on the doctrine of lateral support, and is merely a statutory extension of the principle to buildings. All of the adjudicated cases speak of the support that a co-proprietor is en
The appellants contend, however, that each of the buildings will be better supported if the beams are permitted to rest on the entire wall. This may be true in some instances, but only exceptional cases will require more carrying capacity than is furnished by one-half of an eighteen-inch wall, and for such cases the statute has expressly provided. Section 2999. The appellants rely greatly on the case of Weill v. Baker, 39 La. 1102 (3 South. 361), but ás we have shown, the Louisiana Code expressly authorized the extension of beams beyond the center of the wall, and the case is therefore not an authority on the question involved here.
The judgment of the trial court is clearly right, and it is affirmed.