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If left unchecked, home foundation cracks can cause structural damage and be expensive to fix. Discovering a crack in the foundation of your home can be unsettling. You may wonder if the crack is an indication of further damage. Luckily, not all cracks are the same and there are some simple guidelines to help you judge. Looking at a foundation crack can tell you a lot about potential [...]

If you've been looking to strengthen your home and make it more resistant to earthquakes, you can now sign up for the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program (EBB). Registration for the EBB program will run from 19 February 2020 to 19 March 2020. The EBB program provides homeowners up to $3,000 in retrofitting their homes to protect the property in the event of a major [...]

What is Earthquake Retrofitting? Earthquake retrofitting Los Angeles buildings involves securing each structure to its foundation to prevent displacement and structural damage during an earthquake. Many buildings in Los Angeles built before 1980 weren't constructed to adequately withstand seismic movement. As a result, these older buildings are more susceptible to structural damage during an earthquake.  Luckily, major structural damage can be avoided. Earthquake retrofitting makes properties [...]

Throughout recent decades, engineers have learned how to make buildings safer after years of studying what happens to structures during earthquakes. Concrete is a long-lasting option, but concrete tilt-up buildings built in the last century present safety risks. Over time, concrete will break, so it is critical that it be checked regularly to minimize maintenance costs and reduce structural risks during the earthquake. Here are [...]

Are your tenants worried about this? If your building is one of those listed below, you might as well have to be. Structures generally considered to be at risk for damage or collapse in major earthquakes include: Soft Story: wood-framed structures with an open ground floor usually used for underground parking, with one or more floors of housing units above. Extremely popular as a means [...]

The San Fernando Valley, Hollywood and Westside areas will experience the greatest impact of the new law in Los Angeles requiring the refurbishment of wood-frame apartment buildings to better withstand major earthquakes, according to the Times data analysis. City inspectors spent about two years developing a list of 13,500 so-called Soft Story buildings that are likely to require seismic reinforcement. These apartments, which feature flimsy [...]

Seismic activity in Los Angeles is nothing new, Southern California has been waiting for "The Big One" for years. This is something that the Californians have to contend with, but in 2015, the City of Los Angeles passed Ordinance 183893 and Ordinance 184081 creating minimum requirements for Soft Story buildings that are deemed to be at risk of structural failure during the earthquake. The aim [...]

Buying a home is a major investment. If you've been looking at properties that were constructed before 1930, there's a possibility these buildings may have some kind of foundation issues. Here are four things to look for when searching for older real estate: 1.doors and windows that stick: while this may not sound like a huge issue–let alone a deal breaker–when the doors and windows [...]