Earthquake Retrofitting and What You Must Know About It

by Eric French Professional Writer If the building has not been retrofitted, an earthquake can cause serious damage to a home, especially. By adding new components to make the building stronger, Retrofitting is the modification of a structure. Using the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the seriousness of structural issues in residential neighborhoods varied considerably from house to accommodate dependant upon the steps each homeowner had delivered to fortify their residence.

Statistics show repeatedly that during seismic activity, houses which have been retrofitted will have less damage compared to a home that hasn't been reinforced. It was the case inside the Long Beach earthquake of 1933, which contributed to the structural failure of brick buildings without reinforced masonry walls, including many school buildings in your community. Buildings with reinforced concrete had very little, if any, structural issues. Within the aftermath from the magnitude 6.25 quake, California's Riley Act was adopted, which required local governments throughout the state to establish building departments and inspect newly constructed homes and businesses. Throughout the years that followed, new building codes were implemented requiring the bolting of the wooden walls for the structure's foundation.

Specially in areas like southern California it is extremely essential to think about the dangers of earthquakes. As a way to minimize and prevent damage to a property throughout an earthquake, and the potential of the costly need for foundation replacement, it's crucial that you consider earthquake retrofitting. In past times, 50 years or higher ago, buildings were mainly designed architecturally to endure one kind of load-gravity, which only creates an up-and-down pressure or motion.

Lately, however, it has been widely recognized that a lot of earthquakes create pressures on a structure moving back and forth, developing a lateral load. Thus, older buildings, originally designed just to adequately support gravity loads, may collapse on account of the lateral pressure of an earthquake.

House bolting is a method of retrofitting wherein a house is securely fastened for the foundation. By increasing the home's resistance to ground motion, it reduces the potential for earthquake damage. Any house built just before 1950 that has not been retrofitted, is definitely not connected to its foundation; it can be simply resting on the home's concrete base. Within an earthquake, structures such as these can simply slide off from their foundation and collapse. Most of the homes that fell away from their foundation or were damaged during the Northridge quake were not bolted for the foundation.

A different way a home's structural integrity may be improved is by bracing cripple walls. A cripple wall will be the wall between your first floor of a home and the foundation. The walls make the crawl space which is often found underneath a property. Cripple walls are generally only paid by exterior wood siding or stucco, and are considered the weakest element of a building. Bracing the walls with plywood improves their strength and assist in preventing your home from swaying during the quake. For more information please visit earthquake retrofitting

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Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

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