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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 [...]

Pasadena is about to be a much safer place to live. The City Council recently passed a new Soft Story ordinance renovation law that would mandate the renovation of older, wood-frame residential buildings that were built between the' 20s and' 70s. Although initially given 5 years to complete the refurbishment of the Soft Story, the Pasadena City Council extended the deadline to 7 years in [...]

The climate of your place plays a major role in the kind of base your home will have. California is mainly known for its Mediterranean climate, which means that it has warm, hot summers and cooler and rainier winters. Due to these changing conditions, the foundation of a property can suffer some damage as a result. When it comes to damage to the base or [...]