วีดีโอ

I understand that the threaded rod should extend 12 inches into the foundation. Even with a rebar cutting bit, my contractor was only able to get 6” down. He epoxied them in. Short of removing them and starting over, is there anything else that can be done? Thank you!

Simple question, does shearwall start at the bottom on top of the concrete slab or overlap on the side of it.

-_-

yea, I see so many 35. dollar roto hammers

Thank you. We are planing a seismic retrofit of a 1400 sf lake cottage on a steep lot. The foundation is accessible on the down hill side of the house. This leaves 50% of the foundation only accessible from outside the house. Any suggestions?

A condo unit that my family owned before - well the 1st building collapsed during an earthquake. we were traumatized by that that we decided not to live in a condo ever again.

I got EBB approved recently. I was only going to install the universal retrofit foundation plates per code and thought that would be sufficient. However, watching several TH-cam videos it looks like code also requires upgrading mud sill bolts on older homes (mine was built in 1965) and drilling vent holes in cripple wall plywood and would like to know if that’s accurate. Thank Donald

How do you handle floor to cripple wall connection when there is neither a rim joist at ends, or any blocking between , the floor joists sitting on top plate - perpendicular to the cripple wall? Add 2x blocking & use L90s? Or hurricane type ties at the joist/plate connection? Both?

You are a fantastic educator. Thank you so much for this video. I learned so much by watching it. Would you please explain what is the "reverse block method"? It was ranked as the second best method in the letter you referenced. Thank you for your time.

Are you sure transferring all of that energy from a earthquake into the structure and the occupants in that structure is the best answer for serving a earthquake? The reason the houses that slid off their foundations look so intact is because the energy did not transfer from the foundation into the structure. Actually decupeling the foundation to allow the structure slide across the foundation but not fall off of the foundation.

Great video. Thanks.

Awesome video! I have a house that was built in 1919 in El Granada. I have cripple walls and need to retrofit. This video helped a lot. Thank you! By the way you mention special plywood for the shearwall? What would that be?

Excellent video

Great Video, I just qualified for the Earthquake Brace and Bolt program so I'm trying to learn as much as I could in a short amount of time. This video was better than the ones on the EBB website. I do have a question: For a post and pier foundation, with a masonry perimeter (stone & mortar), can you anchor the mud sill to the stone wall? Or will you it be best to create new cripple walls along the interior of the crawl space? Thank you!

5:47 Guys Can anyone find a video of table shaking earthquake test in this minute of the video?

I reside in Oregon where we are vulnerable to an expected and extremely powerful earthquake due to the Cascadia subduction zone off our coast. Though our building codes may differ. I found this video to be very informative on how to mitigate home damage from seismic activity

what is the size of the shake table ?

I was wondering- if my house has no cement foundation and is just on rocks on the ground and some post and pier could I just put a foundation in that comes up to the mudsill plate and eliminates the cripple wall? I am in Eugene oregon.

And I’m in bed, on a second story watching this video in Los Angeles. Sooooothing.

According to Simpson blog, and some documentation there are alternatives to nails, like the SD and SDS screws and depending on the coating can be pressure wood safe. I’m still in my prep phase for some DIY repairs on the cripple studs and adding retro walls. Theese videos are great ice breakers before I start reading my southern Cali fema guide.

This is awesome but what should you do to maximize safety from earthquakes? I live right near one! I was going to put on those Simpson ties so I won’t waste my money on these. I have beams supporting a 1-1/4” plywood floor so now floor joists. What should I do?

All this talks about is what NOT TO DO, how about WHAT TO DO ???

would have helped more if you showed the CORRECT way to do it and not shighting on others work

Once a shear wall is that narrow it becomes a post and is rated at zero.

Is there a minimum length for the shear wall section? Using your example, if I use 10d@2" OC and a 24" wall will it support a 1740lb seismic load?

The test showing the stick construction without plywood sheathing was a little biased. There was no lateral bracing on the building, which is what plywood sheathing provides, of course its gonna rock and move. And also, it didnt even look like that sheetrock was fastened to the wall.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why American homes only last about a decade.

I wasn’t always clear in the video whether the retrofit added a plywood/osb panel on the inside or outside of the wall. Would welcome that clarity in a reply if you’re able. I came to the conclusion that generally you depicted interior panels, not exterior. In my case I’m residing a house, so I plan to install on the outside if decide to add.

Thanks for the info--for homes that don't have cripple walls--just a wall on top of a rim joist on top of a sill plate, how does one secure holddowns? Do we drill through the sole plate down to the mudsill and foundation, bypassing the rim joist? Also, what's the prescribed retrofit of securing the wall to the rim joist?

Does the spacing between the blockings matter in the design of the shear wall? Say I have 3 rows of 4' x 8' OSB, does it matter that I have 4' - 4' - 2' going up or 4' - 2' - 4' ? I have a feeling that it does.

Your a hack trying to justify your past shoddy work. I wouldnt put my dog in a house with no metal post connections. You need to drop your tool bags and sell oranges on the freeway😂

Imagine eating a very delicious hot soup 🍜 at 5:57

Do you know if these can be used on a CMU foundation?

Is fixing the sinking perimeter walls enough or shall we combine attention on both …. I have the case in my crawlspace , the middle piers are kinda sinking not because the soil is softer there but precisely at the bottom of the perimeter foundation walls sinking or tilting cause of water badly diverted around the house foundation walls on which each end of the main girder is sitting. So the support sinking the girder is kind of sliding out of its place n push down on the piers supporting it in the middle .. question is how do you get the perimeter walls issue fixed … I mean once the job of getting the rain water away from the house ? Please give us some guidance there your video threw all my courage down into the deepest spot of the crawl space

Not helpful at all cause you’re developing above n beyond the wrong done communally done by lots of contractors under guidance of structural engineers but you’re not giving us a clue of how to address failing piers on old houses if not this way … at least if you have it give us an alternative so that we can learn how to address this issue better… thank you

Extremely helpgul Howard. Thank you.

If a rodent can fit in a hole it will certainly try and if it is big enough they will succeed.

This may be a silly question, but is the air gap created by the plastic piping completely open to the outside? Is that gap an entry point for rodents?

Great video 👏

Good idea!

Use extra reverse v support of wood to give more support.

You must experiment in another way. We play with rubber ring, make larger rubber ring same as wood, support the rubber ring from earth to top, put it around wood, then it will not spilte easily. The first floor wood will come on rubber as well as on wood. Make wood home as per as design. Rubber ring will support if ever wood try to fall. Second. Use tyres on ground floor in a zic Zack position use three layers, fill the earth in each layers, tyres will not allow jerking waves to pass. When ever earth quack come, breaking of earth occur in line. Third. If person in poor, they can use tyres for support around wood instead of ring. Fourth. Use rubber sheet below wood. Fifth. Use triangular coupling to support wood. Rubber ring are not available at present in market so use playing rubber ring . Japan faces, land slide,earthquake and tsunami flooding at the same time. Jay bharat.

Just curious what city building code this is?

Maybe the supports were installed for support purposes only and not for seismic retrofitting. A lot of houses that were built a long time ago may require additional support over time. Personally I feel the photos were used out of context to make the video, since the drawings or plans do not mention for seismic activity but they also do not mention for structural support. I would think you need some type of shock absorbers or the house to be on rollers to handle serious seismic activity. Posts or no post are not going to save the house from an earthquake. The perimeter of the house would be more important than the middle when it comes to seismic activity.

I am very please I could help you. Please subscribe.

It is not old growth redwood. You probably have plywood siding which means you don't need to do anything.

My house was built in 1986. Are the studs in that house considered old growth lumber? Wondering if I need to use 3” spacing for my edge nails on my shear wall.

Thank you. This is great information for anyone doing a retrofit.

You are welcome. Be sure to subscribe.

Thank you for this information. I have a soft story and split level house in Pismo Beach.