Seismic Retrofitting Services
Retrofitting Basics
Sill Attachment
The most basic and well-known part of the retrofitting process involves bolting or attaching the sill plate. The sill is the piece of lumber that bears directly on the concrete.
Retrofitting Basics
Sill Attachment
This can be performed with a side plate attachment if there are clearance issues or by direct bolting.
Retrofitting Basics
Sill Attachment
This can be performed with a side plate attachment if there are clearance issues or by direct bolting.
Retrofitting Basics
Floor Attachment
After the sill is properly attached, we need to move up the home, and connect the wood framing, floor joists, or cripple walls to the sill. If there is no cripple wall, we use a shear transfer tie or framing angle to connect directly to the floor framing.
Retrofitting Basics
Cripple Walls
If your home has short walls between the floor framing and sill, you have a cripple wall. These are a weak point in the framing and need to be addressed with reinforcement. Shear grade plywood — there is such a thing, and you can’t get it at Home Depot — is attached to the cripple walls with specific nails at a specific pattern. This reinforces the wall, and allows the wall to transfer lateral loads down to the sill.
Mobile Home Seismic Attachment
Secure Seismic provides and installs mobile home reinforcement products from Central Piers. Central Piers’ Seismic Piers are a purpose built and designed product for providing lateral foundational capacity for modular homes. These piers, when installed, keep your mobile home from sliding away. They are reasonably priced and quick to install. A typical installation on a double wide unit can be completed in one day. They are engineered and approved in most jurisdictions, and work to keep your home in place while in some cases qualifying you for insurance.
Earthquake Actuated Natural Gas Shutoff Valves
We install automatic gas shutoff valves from Little Firefighter. These products are required by law in parts of California. One of the first things experts say to do in an earthquake is shutoff the gas. Fires are a huge cause of destruction and damage after an earthquake. In the event of an earthquake, the last thing you are going to be thinking about is heading outside to your gas meter and shutting if of—and that’s assuming you are home when the earthquake happens. These shutoff valves are automatic, and all but immune to nuisance trips, They have been around for decades, and have been built to be bulletproof and reliable.
Furniture & Appliance Fastening
We’re Here to Help
Reinforcing and retrofitting your foundation is a great start, but consider having the rest of your home evaluated as part of a hazard hunt. During a seismic event, furniture and appliances can become unstable and tip over. This can strike and injure people directly or block exit routes and trap people inside.
