Mother nature has a habit of bringing unpleasant surprises, such as earthquakes. Thankfully, with a seismic retrofit, you can modify your home’s structure to improve its capability to withstand earthquakes.
You can do a seismic retrofit for your home by including structural improvements to prevent the building, equipment, and people from the damage caused by seismic waves. So what exactly does a seismic retrofit include? Well, this post will explain some of the things that seismic retrofit includes.
Why you need to retrofit your home
Earthquakes can happen when you least expect them. The movements of the earth’s crust may cause severe damages. This is especially true for older homes that were not designed to resist the earth’s moving and shaking.
In such cases, you need retrofitting your home to prevent it from displacing its foundation. Remember that once your home’s foundation is displaced, it’s no longer safe and can be prone to major structural damages during an earthquake.
Unfortunately, the chances of earthquakes happening in Oregon and some parts of the United States are quite high. This is the reason why you should consider seismic retrofitting your home.
What a seismic retrofit includes
Every homeowner should consider retrofitting their homes, especially in areas where the occurrence of earthquakes is common. In this way, you can have a great shelter in place during a major earthquake. Better still, earthquake reinforcement will ensure that there are fewer damages to your home, making it habitable. Below are some of the things that a seismic retrofit include:
Cripple wall bracing
Cripple walls refer to shall walls that are on your home’s foundation and support exterior walls and the floor. Therefore, if these walls don’t have bracing, they can move during an earthquake. Once this happens, there is a high chance of severe damage and possibly injuries to some people.
Bracing cripple walls put more strength to the structures to increase their stability. This process can also help reduce damage to your home.
Foundation bolting
Homes that don’t have bolting in their foundation can shift during an earthquake. The worst part is that such move off from their foundations can cause significant damages and may even require costly repairs.
Hence, with the bolting process, there is the drilling of holes through the sill plate of a foundation and anchor bolts are placed. Quite often, there is limited space to drill, so you need to attach steel plates.
Reinforcing masonry walls
If your home doesn’t have proper wall anchorage, you should always consult a seismic contractor to find out the most effective way to strengthen it. A reliable and experienced contractor, such as the https://greensavers.com/seismic-retrofit-portland-oregon may suggest adding a new anchorage and ties across the roof. In most cases, many contractors can strengthen these walls between the connections of the roof and floor joists.
As you can see, there are various things that a seismic retrofit includes, and retrofitting single-family homes is regarded as one of the cheapest retrofitting improvements available. Also, a foundation bolting process is usually affordable and can be done within a couple of days without you and your family moving out.
