Earthquake Retrofitting, Are you and your home ready for an
Earthquake Disaster?
Welcome to Cal-Quake Construction,
the earthquake readiness experts. Here you'll find useful
information on earthquake
readiness and earthquake
retrofitting for
your home. Also, hints on how to prevent or limit damage to your home, and life
saving tips to keep you and your family safe.
The CAL-QUAKE team has well over 150 years of combined experience preparing homes
for earthquakes, and repairing earthquake damage.
CALL
1-800-351-2969 FOR AN APPOINTMENT
Services Offered By Cal-Quake:
Foundation
Repair
When an earthquake happens,
the foundation is often where much of the damage begins. A basic
residential
seismic foundation and crawl
space inspection will provide a first visual indication of your home's ability
to withstand the stresses of an earthquake.
Home
Bolting - the solution for sliding failure.
Sliding failure occurs when a house is not securely bolted to the foundation.
The sideways movement of an earthquake can cause the entire building to literally
slide off its foundation (while often remaining otherwise intact). Sliding
failures are usually prevented by ordinary foundation bolts and framing anchors
that tie the foundation to the building's base.
Cripple Wall Reinforcement
Cripple walls are short walls that connect your foundation to your floor base.
Unreinforced cripple walls can be destroyed by the sideways movement created
by an earthquake. The result can knock your home off its base foundation
and do tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Plywood reinforcement on the
inside face of the cripple-wall studs provides increased strength and can
save a house from considerable damage during a quake. Securing Girders
Homes are often supported by a post and pier foundation. Large beams run under
the home's floor joists and are held up by posts. Each post rests on a concrete
footing or pier. This type of foundation is very susceptible to a complete
collapse during an earthquake. To better resist seismic forces, the solution
is to tie together all the foundation's components, including the beams,
posts and piers.
Soft
Story Repair
Many homes or commercial and apartment buildings have what is called a "soft
story" condition. This describes any building that has a habitable room
or rooms above a garage, carport, or delivery bay area that was not designed
to transmit shear or lateral forces to the story above. If garage walls are
not designed to handle the tremendous forces of an earthquake, the entire structure
may collapse.
