And there were fireworks in the air. No, this is not a love story between two people however it is a safety story to a building in the beautiful city of Santa Monica. Ever since Los Angeles began building multiple story buildings there were risk since we live in a state with unpredictable earthquakes. Here is how you can secure your building. But first, what is a soft story building?
Easy, a building consisting of multi-stories in which the first floor has weak or no walls. For example, a parking with columns holding the building up. Now why would this be an issue if the building was constructed this way? At the time it was originally built it was the smartest way to reinforce a building however today we have technology updates and cases where such buildings have failed causing a "pancake collapse". Such tragedy may cause those in the lower floors to be crushed by the upper floors.
How do you prevent this tragic collapse which can lead to painful, tragic or costly losses?
Sinai Construction has dedicated years in resolving these issues. For this case we removed the existing concrete. Hauled it away along with the existing soil and added a steel column beside these rebar cage to reinforce the structure all together. What this does, it creates a stronger structure to hold against lateral seismic activity. As Angelinos we are aware of this sudden earthquake risk that exist however we have adapted them to our regular life we may not be phased by it. Until tragedy hits with "the big one". To prevent that Sinai Construction is prepared to retrofit your soft story building and provide you as well as your tenants with peace of mind.
Now the rebar has been solidified with this steel column ensuring the infrastructure is secure. Now we can pour concrete, finish by smoothing it out and letting it dry. we are not done just yet, but this project is well underway securing this soft story building.
When you are ready with your questions contact one of our experts to answer them all. We will provide you the best solutions that you will want to recommend us to your friends! Contact us at (323)655.0960 or simply click here for a direct message to our experts.