What Happens If Your House Is Not Retrofitted

retrofit your buildings to withstand the tragedy

Earthquakes occur suddenly and without warning. The motion on the earth's crust can cause severe damage to older homes. Homes built before 1980 are especially at risk because many were not built to resist shaking and moving. Tuesday morning’s 4.2 magnitude earthquake could be a bright warning before the “Big One” and a light picture of what happens if your house is not retrofitted.

4.2 Magnitude Earthquake

This 4.2 magnitude earthquake and its aftershocks occurred through the LA area early in the morning, without any immediate report of damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey showed that the earthquake at about 4:30 a.m. local time struck just over a mile north of Pacoima, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. The area shuddered with aftershocks following the quake, which was about five miles deep.
Some geographics believe that earthquakes of that magnitude might cause cracks in windows or plaster and shake items off shelves generally depending on the condition of structures.
However, often, the reaction to such a jolt could be outsized in LA and its surrounding communities, home to about 18 million people.
Tuesday Morning's earthquake
“It is a normal size earthquake for California.” “You get these from time to time, but they are not as common in the Los Angeles area, where lots of people feel this. That is why there is so much interest.” - Said John Bellini, a geophysicist with the National Earthquake Information Center.

Why Retrofit Your Home?

The answer to why retrofit your home is - to keep your home from being displaced from its foundation through retrofitting. In other words, making the building safer and less prone to major structural damage during an earthquake. 
If you own a property, it does not matter if it is an office building or an apartment complex, you will want to be sure your building can withstand the damaging effects of earthquakes. For making sure your property is safe you may need a service of seismic retrofitters.

It is well known that California is such a seismically active state, and it just a matter of time - when a quake is going to strike next? If you want to learn more about it, check out our article about the forecast map of the frequency of massive earthquakes. So if you are a property owner, it is your responsibility to know whether it is up to current safety codes or a hazard for your tenants.

Benefits of Retrofitting

Retrofitting single-family homes is considered one of the cheapest seismic improvements available. A foundation bolting process usually costs a few thousand dollars and can be done within several days without the residents moving out.
While there isn’t a standard cost for earthquake retrofitting a home, the range is usually about $3,000 to $7,000. Larger homes, those built on hillsides, and those with basements or rooms over garages will typically cost more to retrofit. Many houses that require only bolting cost about $3,000.

Three reasons why retrofitting is necessary:
  • Properly retrofitted houses are made stronger against earthquake shaking and damage. This means your house is safer, and you’ve reduced the chance of injury or even death in a devastating earthquake.
  • You have invested a lot of time and money into your older house. Without a seismic retrofit, the repair costs you’d face after a damaging earthquake could be very costly. Think of it this way: it’s a lot cheaper to retrofit your house now than it is to repair it after an earthquake.
  • If you have not seismically retrofitted your house and an earthquake damages it, it could take years to repair, and you may have to take out a loan to make repairs. Also, keep in mind that people often have to move out of their home during repairs, and rental costs typically go up in affected areas following a major disaster. That means you could be paying repair costs, rental costs, and your mortgage all at the same time!

Retrofit Inspection

As we already know, retrofitting is an inclusive construction project designed to evaluate buildings' stream seismic performance. The foundation, structural integrity, as well as torque are measured to find out the building's performance during seismic activity. Things like soft-story retrofits are for helping to ensure the soft-story buildings, which are so common in Los Angeles and other large cities in the United States. These kinds of retrofits can increase seismic performance and the earthquake protection of buildings essentially.

Contact us and Army Of Builders will take a quick full survey of a client's first story to discover any high-risk spaces and areas, also grading the health of your structure.
Fill your details now, within one day.

Here you will find another article if you want to learn more about seismic retrofitting, earthquake engineering, and anything about your buildings, such as the strength of it, earthquake-prone zones, and more.