Home & Garden Columns
Quake Tip of the Week
Retrofits – A Deep, Dark Secret?
Are you one of those folks who think that a retrofit is this huge, complicated project which involves re-building your foundation and making major structural changes under your house?
If so, think again. In the majority of cases, a retrofit is really a pretty simple process that involves three basic stages:
1) The bracing of the cripple walls with plywood.
2) The bolting of the braced cripple walls to the foundation.
3) The attachment of the floor of the house to the braced cripple walls.
All three of these must be done properly for the retrofit to be effective in a serious quake.
To learn more about the terminology and the steps involved, go to the best website I’ve ever seen on retrofits: www.bayarearetrofit.com
Remember, when the Hayward fault ruptures, there will be around 150,000 homes which will be uninhabitable. Don’t let yours be one of them.
Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing and kit supply service. Contact him at 558-3299 or see www.quakeprepare.com to receive semi-monthly e-mails and safety reports.
