Seismic Retrofitting is the modification or correction of existing foundations and structures to make your home more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes. In the past 25 years, with a much better understanding of seismic demand on our structures since the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area.
It has been determined that there is a great need to seismic retrofit our homes. It has been noted that most homes built before the late 1960s to 1975 were not designed or built with any seismic engineering, detailing, reinforcement prevention for seismic protection.
What should always be of concern when seismic retrofitting is these improvements to structures are improvements that can help correct and prevent more damage to existing homes that have foundation or structure problems caused by just being old or soil that has failed underneath or hillside water changes or homes that have no French drain system and water has eroded the soil and caused damage to the home structure or foundation.
In many of the single and two-story homes built before 1960, the sill plate that sits between the concrete foundation and the floor diaphragm or stud wall was not bolted in. It was not a common practice back then o, or required by most city building codes. And also, a lot of the attachments at that time were not corrosion-proof and have corroded to the point of weakness.
A sideways shock can slide the house entirely off the foundations or slab. The correction of bolt attachment alone is the most common, essential, and cost-effective retrofit needed if it does not exist at this present time. It can be just what is needed for the prevention of severe damage to your home from mild to severe earthquakes or present land movement. This preventive correction alone, which was done on many homepre-198989 earthquake in the Marina District in San Francisco, was discovered to be the difference between many homes that did not incur damage during the 1989 earthquake in the Marina District in San Francisco.
Mares & Dow Construction & Skylights has been working with structural engineers over the past 40 years, and we can help find the most cost-effective, safe strategy and technique to seismic retrofit your home.
Transform your seismic retrofit in El Cerrito, CA, with our expert remodeling services. From simple updates to complete renovations, Mares & Dow Construction & Skylights has the expertise you need. Contact us for a free estimate and let us help you create the bathroom of your dreams.