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TOP OF
LIST What is a ‘Mechanic’s Lien’ and why is it
important to have one?
TOP OF
LIST What is Plan Set A?
Some discussion areas on the City Of Berkeley Plan Set A and the
first correction of it by the Structural Engineers Association of Northern
California. Seismic improvement builders with a working minimum of at least 100
competed permitted jobs will have very very strong comments on this plan out of
Berkeley. Simple telephone calls out of the phone books will confirm many of the
topics here. Most all professional experienced builders dislike this plan and most
of them will not bid or perform this important work accordingly. **** Please note that most of the Berkeley Safety Commission who
conjured this plan up and the engineers who have made the first corrections of
it are very nice and well meaning people. ECS/J. Gillett has worked with many of these fine people in the past
and will work with them in the future. Everyone makes mistakes now and then. This Plan A is considered a
perfect storm of them by many people who work under houses in crawl spaces for a
living. The reasons that this plan is very harmful to most property
owners, first time builders, those building immediately after an emergency, do
it yourselfers, to Realtors@, and to city building departments among other
is: 1. Liability issues 2. One Size Does Not Fit All 3. Extremely expensive above other established
plans 4. Written by elites who do not understand most old
home conditions well. 5. Inflexible rules 6. Completed work is rarely in complete compliance
with the Plan A. "Lawsuit City". Of the dozen pre-WWII framing types and the many after up until the
middle 1980s when rigorous plan checking was required to build new in California
state wide, the plan address just the very most rectangle or simple structures.
The 80s requirements account for wind loads and seismic loads. The standards
change and only experienced decent builders and regulated engineers should be
considered for assessment of complex shaped buildings. ECS/J. Gillett estimates
that about 40% and more in some cases of property in the local cites in the Bay
Area should be analyzed by experienced engineers. Often times the buildings require little work if any. The Berkeley Plan Set A is just a very restrictive rewrite in essence
of a proscriptive code championed in the early 1990s and found about worthless
for a large variety of reasons, some of the above apply. Just the lovely city of
San Leandro, their building department in what was then the world headquarters
of a large steel strong tie company there also, the city, stayed with the
proscriptive code for small wood frame buildings. It was labelled as voluntary
yet building in any other manner took so much work that most top builders
stopped working there. ECS/J. Gillett became so tired of having to explain the
severe problems with the plan each and every time a permit was called for, that
they will not work in that town unless the bid is on a large engineered type
job. The improved by engineers plan uses warehouse type plywood where
Berkeley specified Structural grades known for special glues along with all
select lumbers and other factors. The engineered wood Association or APA can
provide more information. Overnailing past the outside of the plywood layers into mystery
warehouse plywood is always a problem. This is just one of the methods in which
the engineers made the plan worse. Again, talk to the top builders. The very long runs of weak plywood as opposed to short strong
capacity walls increase labor, material costs along with ease of work which in
often very tight crawl areas is a considerable expense. The framing work behind the shear panels requires more work in
general than the shear diaphragms. Keeping that work contained keeps property
owners costs down also. Then again, the steel and glass engineers who have worked on the plan
lately may not care much for their work costing $2000 more per job than other
well know ways to build with. Some of these people are approachable. Any local city council
member who has recommended this method as the only way to build with should be
able to provide any property owners with a reason to spend extra thousands of
dollars needlessly. Call them. The Bay Area quickly ramped up to the general availability of Struc 1
and 2 plywood after the 1989 Loma Prieta seismic event. Other areas of the
country can also. The advantages of avoiding the problems of overnailing in
general alone are a reason to build with it. It makes the work of city inspectors much more efficient. Plywood is graded A through D for finish and sub species of lumber 1
through 4 or 5 in general. Your seasoned builders who offer hands on classes can
explain all of this. Please note that in modern engineering, most engineers put themselves
in for nation wide awards for doing volunteer work such as "improving" local
ordnance's. Their thinking is that these ordinances will go nation wide. Hence
using a plywood available at any lumber warehouse instead of what the top
builders use. It would take to much work to have the better grades of
lumber specified for better building practices. The plan A is aimed at people who read and understand not only
blueprints but the workings of building and design department and various
standards including abbreviations. These complex plans are a real world real time disaster for the first
time builders. Also to consider that the building trades have many people who do
not read or rite well. In the blue print size of 24X36" these plans are hard to read. In the
ASO correct shrunken head size as on most computer screens, it looks more like
Chinese blind stitch sewing work. Blind Stitch has been illegal in California
for a few decades now. Most home computers cannot make it appear much better
than just about illegible. Maybe FEMA can hand out magnifying glasses, who knows.
The example drawing on the first page shows about all of the plywood
walls built in the corners of the buildings. Top builders do not do this.
The corners are the areas most likely to have large utility lines such as sewer
pipes and electricall raceways that have to be moved or framed around along with
entry way doors, major diagonal bracing along with on any slope being the
hardest area to access. It is better to move back into a section of the
crawl space where the work can be done sitting up when possible.
There are well known procedures for this and could be much better spelled out in
the plans. While the modern buildings on slopes have at least 18" of clearance,
it is often half of that on older buildings. Competitive builder start
charging triple for those areas. The latest plans have some written directions about not having to
work in the corners, it is often found on the 5th or 10th reading of the plans.
More often than not it is found after the plans have been approved and only when
the work is attempted does the idea of working in better locations along a crawl
space become apartment. The builders such as ECS/J. Gillet who work with first time
builders and others as a public service hear of these horror stories on a very
very much too real basis. The joys of revising plans at a city building
department are memorable ones. The Plan Set A is very very rigid in its allowed materials, and
schedules for fasteners. It traps builders in to one brand of strong ties
only in general such as foundation side plates for anchoring. It allows little
or no use of hold down devices of all types, effective nailing patterns and
schedules, vent hole patterns, and many many unbuildable or outright undesirable
practices not utilized by experienced builders in this field.. We at ECS hear a great amount of comments about apparently the
writers of this plan have never actually built a single job in a tough to work
in crawl area. For instance, anchor bolts go in at irregular intervals due to
foundation defects such as cracks, rotations, dropout/voids, soft areas, placement of
brackets, existing framing and funny at best reframing work etc.. The plan requires that vent holes be bored or drilled exactly above
each and every bolt. Well, the anchor bolts are almost always inspected for condition
before permission to close is given in writing. Besides being grossly redundant,
the appearance of the walls gos to heck like this and it is dangerous as
well as ordered on the plan. The looks of finish shear walls is important for the value of the
property and the value of a job well done. Regular well spaced vent holes
look good. Irregular up and down holes at random widths looks like a boat
rocking around on heavy seas. It makes the work look just plain foul and
as performed by rank amateurs. The plan orders the bolt holes be run in directly on top of the
bolts. Catching a rotating cutting tool on the top of a long bolt thread
is a good way to break an arm. Again, the top builders refuse this plan for many many more reasons
than this. The few plans sent in marked up by the builders who work with design
engineers often times are about unreadable due to all the notes.
Apparently they don't get read. Plus the "refinements" to the Plan Set are
performed on a volunteer basis... ECS/J. Gillett has constantly asked that no one without at least 100
wood frame seismic jobs completed work on this plans. Apparently that
would make much to much sense. In structural condition assessments for plan compliance concerning
legal actions, it takes very little deviation from any blue prints to show
culpability for defective work, incomplete inspections, and negligence. Features
such as listed joist hangers that don't fit older buildings could trigger that
condition when the correct fitting yet different bracket is installed. In
older buildings there are many walls and framing styles that these plans have to
be added to such as in about a half dozen different stud wall to floor joinery
methods that are missing from the plan as currently drawn. Plus to build
in some areas requires much better nail patterns than drawn here on the plans
the range of deviation from the approved plans is about limitless. So once extra work is added to the plan there are grounds for legal
claims against the builders, the city inspectors and plan check people who
allowed it, the Realtors@ who sold the property as "proofed", the past owners,
the people who dreamed this plan up etc. to start with. Most blue print work from good engineers is assigned a process called
special inspections where a testing laboratory at around $1000 per residential
job is reqired to count nail spacing and the placement of strapping including if
every nail hole is filled with the right nail and so on. This eases the work of the city site inspectors who may have 20
buildings to inspect in two or three hours of any given day. These plan sets fall into a space between quick site
inspections and full special inspection work. It exposes city site inspectors to
charges of having missed a single bracket or worse. Engineers who design for complex wood frame work have "hold
blameless" type contracts that shield them against small nuisance problems up to
larger claims. Broken plaster and masonry which will occur in most
buildings that remain standing can now be charged against the Plan Set for all
who are involved as there is not warranty or declarations of expected levels of
damage for this work. After a major E,Q. event, along with the demand for housing for
residents, the amount of lawyers descending on the area afflicted will be large.
This is a major reason why local good builders will not touch this plan. Better
legal language is urgently needed for the plan. Seismic work when not with full blue prints for complex buildings
with calculation pages is an over the counter simple permit process. Plan Set A
turns that over the counter process into in some cities into a two week wait.
Were all the over the counter trades such as plumbing, electrical, or
HVAC to go to some quasi plus blue print standard, the local building
departments would have one month waits and lines out the doors. The notes to
call your local building department and schedule a meeting with the counter
permit people to put in anchor bolts is truly stunning in its ineptness.
This plan disrespects our hard working site inspectors out in the
field. Often these people have many buildings to look at in a short amount of
time every single day. Along with the fact that most large cities do not defend
their inspectors well against even simple legal challenges, this plan
disrespects our site inspectors badly. Plan Set A is a recipe for disaster on many angles. Most of the good
builders will not bid on it leaving the work for termite type operations usually
using unskilled day laborers. ECS sees a great amount of
this work that while it passes a city inspection is weak or not done very
well. Home building inspectors are also ones to talk with about the
level of skilled work found in some trades advertised as pest work. Call
around. The Plan Set has been touted as a relief for confiscatory taxes such
as the transfer tax robbery cities engage in at time of title transfer. Getting
some relief from these fees may not be worth having some poor slap dash plywood
nailed badly according to the plan installed into your new property. While this plan is voluntary, many cities where the building
departments budgets are driven and controlled by various council members, those
who may have had their names mentioned in a local news paper along with how this
new revolutionary plan will save all buildings from problems in an earthquake
and just how swell the council member is, blah, blah, blah, it is almost
impossible for all except an experienced builder to get another type of over the
counter permit for shear wall work with complying with the Plan Set A.
Anyone considering this work is well advised to take a hands on type
class in the work from experienced engineers and builders. They may also want to
get consultation on getting the permits without all the problems associated with
the Plan Set A. At one time in the now
distant past, engineers used a standard of "would I build it in my own house"
. Just spending the extra thousands of dollars for the long runs of boiler
plate type very weak lumber warehouse plywood along should answer that issue
much less working needlessly in the worst areas to build in in a tight crawl
space, for starters. TOP OF
LIST
Which types of soils will perform best in
an earthquake?
TOP OF
LIST
Surfing the web, I came across an article
about 'Base Shear'; is this important to consider in
retrofitting?
TOP OF
LIST
How do I know if I need to hire an
Engineer?
TOP OF
LIST
How do I pay and/or work with an Engineer?
TOP OF
LIST
How can I make sure my home inspection
tells me what I need to know?
TOP OF
LIST
What is a blueprint, and how is it
different from a sketch?
TOP OF
LIST
I am interested in having a tankless (or
on demand) water heater installed; What should I know?
TOP OF
LIST
I have been told acoustic ceilings often
contain asbestos; is this true?
TOP OF
LIST Aside from retrofitting my house, what
do you recommend I do to prepare for the 'big one'?
TOP OF
LIST
How do you know if blocking is properly attached to the mud sill?
TOP OF
LIST Why is it important to know about lumber
end-grain orientation?
TOP OF
LIST
Should I used kiln dried
wood?
TOP OF
LIST
What is the typical delivery charge for
lumber?
TOP OF
LIST
What kind of nails should I
use?
TOP OF
LIST
I am trying to use a gel
epoxy to secure my anchor bolts, but it is very stiff and slow to come out of
the tube; what can I do about this? TOP OF
LIST
When I walk around the perimeter of my
property I see little bugs flying out of the ground. What are
they?
TOP OF
LIST
When nailing lumber, what is the
difference between ‘checking’ and ‘splitting’?
TOP OF
LIST
What are the differences between using
A-35 or L90 clips?
TOP OF
LIST
I want to replace the exterior siding on
my property using screws; what type do you recommend?
TOP OF
LIST
I want to protect my hearing; what should
I use?
The Mechanic’s Lien Notice is required by law in the
State of California, and it should be on the front page of any contract you
sign. It should be followed by a Mechanic’s Release at the end of the work,
which will state that all workmen, material suppliers, and material men have
been paid in full. This protects against low-cost contractors that hire low-cost
immigrant labor, only to dump them when they demand higher wages or basic worker
protection. Also, injured employees are your responsibility without a Mechanic’s
Release; this may result in claims against you 20 years from now.
The Mechanic’s
Lien law is very specific in the state of California: any contract without a
lien notice on the front page is in violation of the CSLB laws. HOWEVER, at the
end of every job and before any final bill is paid, as for and receive a
mechanic's release. A release can be simple and short, such as: "All workmen,
material suppliers, and material men have been paid in full." Jim says to record
this document to protect yourself from any future claims against your property.
Plan Set A is a
prescriptive seismic upgrade plan that was drafted by the Structural Engineers
of Northern CA (SEoNC) and first adopted in Berkeley in April 2007. Plan Set A
is a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to impose a ‘one size fits all’
approach to every seismic retrofit, when the fact is that there are a dozen
different styles of framing construction in pre-World War II buildings alone.
Any contractor doing seismic work will use Plan Set A infrequently, as there are
better, more cost-effective plans that are readily available. A first-time
do-it-yourselfer can easily be misled into costly and time-consuming mistakes by
blindly adhering to Plan Set A. By making the work much harder and more
expensive than it has to be, Plan Set A usually slows down or stops retrofit
work. Consider Plan Set A to be a ‘work in progress’ that builders dislike for
many reasons.
Plan Set A is limited to buildings where the stud wall
height does not exceed 48" at any one point on the building perimeter, and the
structure is a Single Family Dwelling (SFD) that does not exceed two stories in
height, and has conventional lumber siding. Jim says that 40% or more of the
wood-frame residential buildings he looks at are complex in load path, and they
would benefit from an experienced engineer's analysis; often times there is
little work required.
Cities such as San Francisco have very rigorous
standards of design that qualify work as a seismic retrofit. Nailing up sheets
of plywood on stud walls is not a seismic retrofit, and, in some cases, can
actually overstress the floor above.
To get an idea of just how much builders dislike Plan Set
A, do a simple phone survey of seismic builders in the White Pages, or just talk
to Jim in person. Plan Set A is an unmitigated disaster of high costs and
unnecessarily difficult work.
TOP OF
LIST
The disaster of the city of Berkeley Plan Set A disaster
planning.
Jim Gillett welcomes your well thought
out ideas on how to eliminate the disaster of the Berkeley Plan Set
A.
Softer soils, such as Alluvial Plane soil, usually
transmit seismic energy well. There can be large spikes in seismic energy
wherever there is an interface of bedrock and Alluvial soil, such as MacArthur
Ave. @ 72nd or the intersection of College Ave and Claremont. Damage will be
greatly intensified in soft soils during moderate or large seismic events.
Alluvial Plane type is typically much better than Esturine Mud or uncompacted
fill. Various State and Federal agencies can help you with maps of soil types in
the Bay Area.
California Geological Survey
Maps
USGS Map - "Soil Type and Shaking Hazard
in the Bay Area"
The
term 'base shear' is just one isolated and distinct form of the specialized
engineering terms that are used to in Lateral Force Analysis. It is associated
with the engineering concept of 'overturn', which is usually calculated for
individual dwelling units or sections of buildings. Base shear should NOT be
used as the only criteria in a final design, since the base force is just one
part of lateral force engineering work. Beware: letting any contractor do design
work on a complex, wood frame building is asking for trouble. Be very careful of
any person who is not licensed by the state of California as an engineer who
claims to have design knowledge. One of the marks of a top builder is knowing
when to recommend an engineering review of a complex structure.
At one
time, engineers were held to very high standards for performance and cost
management. More recently, however, in Jim's experience, a large number of Bay
Area engineers design in a manner that does not
properly address cost management. Engineering trade groups do not have the
organizational wherewithal to pursue 'rip-off' type engineers who do not earn
their fees and leave many consumers with the most expensive methods of work.
Click here for an excellent resource on when to call an engineer and what to
look for in an engineer's design:
Should You call a Contractor or an
Engineer (by Tony Demascole)
Never, never pay an engineer up front. Wait
until the initial documents have been delivered to you and you have reviewed
them before you cut a check to any design professional. The top engineers who
come out for a preliminary inspection will typically follow up with other
services, such as taking measurements, calculating loads, and drawing up
blueprints and calc pages. However,
Often times the local wino sleeping under a freeway
overpass can deliver a better service, Jim says.
Yes, there are local
engineering societies, but there are never any resources devoted to enforcement,
except for codes of conduct which are violated one by one by these boiler-plate
rotting corpses. Every day, the worthless report that you paid $395 to $1,000
for will rankle you more. Most engineering groups such as SEAoNC are primarily
concerned with large steel and concrete buildings, and they have little time for
wood frame construction work and standards. For these groups to police any of
its members seems like a lost cause. Phone calls placed to the groups
headquarters go unanswered, or you are referred to some obscure committee that
will never respond to you.
When an engineer delivers to you a worthless
document (such as the one I described), DO NOT PAY FOR THIS GARBAGE. And don't
fall for the dodge that the actual engineering work will be forthcoming at a
later time, or when you pay a higher fee. Many of these fraudulent operation
engineers will never answer your phone calls after the initial attempt to fleece
you. State licensing groups in Sacramento that monitor these professionals will
be more than glad to hear about the attempted ripoff being perpetuated on you.
Jim routinely sees engineer's reports that have cost $399.99, then lead to
$30k - $40k of work; The top full-service design engineers are usually paid from
$4k - $6k for a full analysis that involves a full inspection and blueprints.
Since the job costs can often be lower, the is often the more cost-effective
approach.
Buyer beware with engineers. SEAoNC is absolutely no help
in this matter. If you're in doubt about these 'Dirty Half Dozen' engineers,
call James Gillett at ECS in the afternoons.
Some inspections are
more thorough than others, and cost is not always a good indicator of results.
The most cost-effective home inspection is the one that addresses your specific
concerns. Good inspectors will form the report to address any issues of
condition or existing work, and, if necessary, suggest that the issue of concern
be re-inspected by a specialist in that field. A quickie-type inspection, on the
other hand, would just flag some of the items, at best.
Inspections for
seismic condition should include the difference between: 1. The standard
single-family dwellings that are on two stories or less and rectangular, and 2.
A complex building type that would benefit from an inspection by an honest &
experienced engineer. The $400 engineered walk-thru inspections are well known
for boiler-plate type recommendations that will often suggest very high
construction costs. On the other hand, an engineer who analyzes wood-frame
buildings and their load paths will often minimize needless disruptions to work
in the lower-level dwelling units. One might assume an engineer would always
suggest ways to keep work to a minimum, but that is not always the case with a
walk-thru. Never pay for an engineer's report until it arrives in the mail; when
it is three pages long and two pages are filled with disclaimers stating that no
engineering work was performed, you have been had and you should keep the report
fees. To promise to provide engineering services, then give the customer three
pages of fluff is in violation of many trade and professional groups' (such as
SEAoNC) code of conduct as well as most local law codes. This form of bait &
switch is very prevalent in the Bay Area real estate industry also, says
Jim.
Basic inspection information on a seismic upgrade or retrofit work: the
nailing pattern on both the edge and field nailing, such as, 4 inches on center
at the edges and 6 -12 inches in the middle of the field pattern.
An absence
of vent holes in top and bottom of the plywood panels between the stud bays
usually indicates that the work was built without permits and some extra
inspection may be required to determine if the lumber blocks (which fasten the
plywood to the mudsill) are well fastened. Remember, seismic work is unregulated
by trade groups as a specialty; this means that any builder can proclaim
themselves an earthquake expert. Also, often the highest cost written contract
is no indicator of top-notch work.
For a quick test of inspectors (or
builders), ask them to define a complex building site. Ask them at what point
they call for an experienced engineer. Are they are more concerned about getting
work than making sure your home is protected in an earthquake? Can they inform
you what to look for in an engineer's design? Have they ever been stumped by a
building's condition or design, and decided an engineer was needed? It is
critical that when dealing with a complex structure, that you always get a
licensed engineer's input that not only allows competitive bids, but answers all
insurance requirements also.
An inspector should look for connections about
plywood shear walls that use metal straps, usually called "L reinforcing angles'
or L-90 types (about 9" long) that are often installed with palm nailers. These
straps often times require lumber blocking to be fitted between the floor
joists, and this work is not easy. This detail is often missing on many retrofit
jobs , especially those performed by builders with little experience in
structural work.
Have your building inspector explain the difference between
boilerplate and hand-crafted seismic work. Call ECS too see some examples of
their previous work, or have J. Gillett write up a report (for a fee) that will
indicate what previous work needs to be replaced, what can be improved upon, and
what (if any) part of the previous work is OK.
A blueprint is a format
document, usually 24" x 36" that has an exact scale to it, such as one inch
equals one foot. Often times the blueprint is divided up into lettered sections
with specific details, such as the top view or side view. While many
computer-generated sets of blue-prints often have similar looking views, there
are still many established engineers and designers who draw blueprints by hand.
Most blueprints come with a separate set of calculations.
Blueprints are
different from sketches. Sketches are associated with over-the-counter type
permits that are issued without design review: repair or upgrade work, such as
new plumbing lines or new electrical service. Many cities do not ask for either
sketches or blueprints for over-the-counter permits.
Sketches typically will
have just a simple 'sight line' measurement, indicating, for example, that the
building is 46' long and 32' wide. Some cities will want the distance to the
adjacent property line on a sketch. Supplemented with an easy-to-read detail of
work description, sketches will do for most over-the-counter work. Usually two
or more copies are required in ink or photocopy, with your name, address, and
contract number at the top of the page. Of course, all sketches should have a
north arrow (an N with an arrow pointing north).
Most cities will have
at least one major Blue Print and Supply company. There is an urban corrollary
that they are usually located in older brick or tilt-up type warehouse
buildings, which, of course, perform very poorly in a seismic event.
Jim says: When it comes to quality upgrades to older
houses, there are few better than having hot water on-demand for all
sinks.
Water heaters keep 30 - 50 gallons of hot water available at all
times; for a typical residential family that bathes or showers four times a day,
the hot water heater is the usually largest single user of energy in the
household. Tank water heaters often show signs of either water pipe connections
leaking or exhaust vent gas pipes being corroded, things that need to be dealt
with at property transfer time. Often times the monies in escrow or set aside to
brace these antiquated monsters can be better utilized.
To cut the gas bill
in half or more, and to have full time, on-demand water for as long as is
required, install a tankless, or on demand water heater. The size for a two
bathroom house is the 240 gallon/hour model. The cost of these units to
tradesmen (before installation) is around $1,000. They can be mounted anywhere
near their point of use, such as on outside walls, or on-wall inside the
bathroom. Modern units are quiet and come in a variety of shapes and
models.
The do-it-yourself work to install one of these units is one of the
easier home improvements a builder can make. Shop around for installation costs
such as from handymen services. Beware: many plumbers go to town on their bids
here, charging money for services they are not familiar with.
When redoing the plumbing in a house, consider adding
under-the-sink, electrical powered "flash" type water heaters. They deliver
almost instant hot water for dishwashing. The under-sink flash heaters require
an electrical circuit be placed there. Often times, in older housing stock, the
knob and tube wiring is upgraded at time of purchase; it's a good idea to have
the electrical lines and outlet boxes (for flash heaters) installed at this
time. These units pay for themselves quickly with greatly reduced gas bills, not
to mention the 'green' credentials you'll want to gloat about.
Acoustical ceilings are a
premium wall and ceiling finish that are distinguished by a rough 'cottage
cheese' finish. No, asbestos was never used in this type of finish , but, when
in doubt, call for a basic and quick inspection from a building professional in
that trade. The vermiculite used in acoustical ceilings is from the same sources
as talcum powder and sand aggregates in general. Jim says: before you tear out
an acoustical ceiling that still looks good, consult a builder experienced in
that trade (they are listed in the phone book). Some rooms have very bright or
loud sound characteristics; following a trend to tear out a 'popcorn' ceiling
may leave your entertainment room with so-so acoustics.
It will take the Sherriff's Department and the National
Guard time to establish the rule of law after a massive damaging urban disaster
(such as the 1906 earthquake). Some citizens may want to consider and plan for
the protection of their families and their property. Also, it is better to have
a 5 gallon sealed bucket of water and a 30 lb. bag of rice stored in the
basement than to go hungry and thirsty; after the food and water supply lines
built on soft ground fail, it could easily be a week or two before distribution
of essential stores is returned to normal. Without emergency supplies, you might
have to trek miles to stand in long lines for these supplies.
Jim says
that, along with a power generator, the well-stocked emergency supply kit will
contain triage and first-aid equipment, as well as shovels for slit trench
digging and plastic rolls to cover broken windows. Some cities such as Oakland
and Berkeley have neighborhood groups with caches of emergency equipment.
Berkeley Office of Emergency
Services
One of the laws passed after Katrina was the
'Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act', which was signed into law
10/9/2006. This law protects gun owners during emergencies, and it supersedes
any local agency's tyranny. This is a private matter for every household to
consider.
Chabot Gun Club
Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP)
Jews for Preservation of Firearms Ownership
Many lessons
have been learned from the Hurricane Katrina event. In the event of a major
event on the Hayward fault, worst-case scenarios indicate up to 200,000 homeless
people without food or water; after Katrina, there were 7,500 people homeless.
Jim says: the difference in scale is very difficult to
comprehend.
For the Do-It-Yourselfer:
Construction Techniques, Building Code Help, and Materials
Advice
The lumber blocking at the base of the
shear walls must withstand age, seasoning, and someday, the sliding and uplift
force . The mudsill lumber will often shrink, curl up, or split around nails.
Often, a block secured in place with 4 or 5 nails will have lifted a sufficient
distance off the mud sill such that you can see daylight underneath it when
viewed from the side. In retrofit work, often times an anchor bolts are
installed directly down through the lumber block; when built this way, nails are
not required. Blocking that does not have an anchor bolt going through it should
have 10 – 15 nails carefully installed in each block in order to connect them
adequately to the mud sill. 4 or 5 nails per block is worthless. Expect to pay
at least $300 for a builder to come back and set up power tools so he can cut
open a panel and check for block condition (grain orientation, condition of the
fastened blocking, etc.) Many of the seismic jobs I inspect have blocks that
pull up from the mud sill easily. A homeowner can easily do this test with a
flat, right-angle pry bar. Just test one or two of the blocks; if they pry up
and out easily, then they were not securely fastened. Sometimes there is a shear
wall adjacent to a front porch area that is open, allowing for inspection on the
rear side. Also, I’ve been asked whether staples are an appropriate method of
fastening lumber blocks in place. As part of a solid general building standard,
ECS recommends against using staples to secure lumber framing. Simply put, the
large amount of staples required to keep a block in place are difficult to
install without driving some of the staple legs into large lumber grains, which
will lead to splitting of the block, especially as it ages. As pre-drilling is
required with today’s modern lumber, staples are not recommended by ECS, since
you can’t pre-drill for them. If you can find a state-licensed engineer to put
his stamp on a set of plans using staples for high-strength retrofit work,
please let me know about it. Sinker nails (nails with a green vinyl coating) and
staples are frowned upon by most building departments (see
"What kind of nails should I use?"
)
The nailing process can break and split lumber,
especially today's large-grain modern lumber, which is harvested from very small
trees. Splitting ususally extends completely through the lumber blocks or long
stud, and is caused mostly by large fasteners such as framing nails in the same
grain. It is not unusual with today's green certified lumber to have two nails
one foot apart that are in the same grain, causing the block to split apart. Jim
says: it is not unusual to look at 122 'two-bys' in a bundle at a lumber yard
and only be able to select about a dozen for good building practices. There is
no free lunch as far as 'green' (small tree) wood. Areas such as the rain forest
in Canada export fine older trees, and they renew just fine; it is only here in
the U.S. that we prefer junk.
Old grown lumber with tight grains does not
have this problem as much as modern lumber. In a more seasoned section of
lumber, the older growth rings move towards the exterior of the tree, and the
sap gets compressed to a very small mass. It is important to look at the
end-grain orientation of studs, posts, beams, or any 'Structural' rated lumber,
as the builder needs to insure that edge-facing lumber is placed accordingly.
The best, most experienced builders will realize that the plywood nails should
nail perpendicular to the framing and preferably to the tighter sap wood side.
Working with modern lumber (since 1997) requires more skilled builders and
dedicated labor to achieve good work.
Beware of pest-control operators
who want to remove long lengths of wall studs, as these studs may be
well-seasoned old-growth. A wall rebuilt with green, wet Douglas Fir will
shrink, sometimes as much as 1/4" per foot, and ultimately pull walls, floors,
and window openings with it. Countless fine older buildings are compromised by
this slipshod termite work. Jim says: in seismic work we often see more damage
caused by repairs to the building from pest workers than any insect ever
did...
Hiring any builder who does not stop and study end-grain
lumber is a false economy.
Moisture content is
important; the lumber needs to be neither too wet nor too dry, otherwise
splitting will occur. This is where experience working with lumber is very
important. Moisture meters will one day be an important part of wood-frame
construction work, when they become affordable (the $50 price point, approx. 10
years from now). "K.D." as marked or kiln-dried studs are prone to splittng with
the nailing schedules used in seismic work. Good builders will select lumber for
moisture content.
For those property owners considering having a company
install just anchor bolts and framing, then completing the retrofit at a later
time: this is not a good idea. The framing will become very dry in just a few
weeks during the warmer months; this might result in rampant splitting when the
shearwall panels are nailed on. Many companies will proceed to drive nails
through bone-dry (& large grain) framing lumber, without removing a panel or
two to check for split or ruined framing; this means nobody knows if the work
will provide sufficient resistance to earthquake forces. A conscientious seismic
builder in this age of very large-grain lumber that dries and splits easily will
not operate in this manner. Remember that the framing work you pay for can
become worthless just a few weeks after it is put up unless the shear walls go
up shortly after the framing work is done.
The
lumber yard will typically charge $90 for delivery to a job. However, in a
competative market, ask for a mid-week, off-hour delivery time (some yards will
do this). Also, some lumber yards won't charge for a delivery when it is local,
such as Beronio Lumber, which delivers free to most of SF, and Ashby Lumber,
which delivers free to the Ashby flats area. Also, larger orders can sometimes
have the charges waived; ask an experienced builder whom to contact at local
lumber yards.
Senco nails are the
only ones I trust, & they are the only ones we use @ ECS. Cheap nails made
in China (some large lumber houses sell them) have no long-term performance
history. I have seen some off-shore built nails where the heads would separate
from the shanks in a surprisingly high percentage of fasteners. The Simpson
Strong Tie N-10 nail is the best nail of that type and has been a hallmark of
ESC work for decades. There is a distinctive logo on the N-10 nail head. ECS
also recommends the N-10 for joist hanger nails. These galvanized nails are not
inexpensive, yet they offer many quality traits such as very good resistance to
corrosion.
You might have seen a warning out at lumber yards to use
special bolts, nails and other fasteners in today's lumber; this is because the
new Green alternative lumber is much more corrosive to metal fasteners (such as
bolts and nails), so the fasteners you use must be galvanized. They are much
more expensive: a standard 5/8" anchor bolt is $2.00, while the galvanized
product is closer to $10.00. Remember that the new pressure-treated sill plates
rquire a galvanized nail, as the standard 'bright' nail will corrode quickly in
the now code-required pressure-treated lumber. Go to the
Simpson website
for more information.
Vinyl coated nails
(sinkers) go in very easily; conversely, they slip out well also. Vinyl coated
nail are are frowned on by city building inspectors and most experienced
builders. There is also a relatively new type of nail with a painted head on it
with purple and green paints for different lengths. Those fasteners may not be
appropriate where there is high humidity, such as under leaking porches. The
paint has been seen to run in color, then the nail head rusts. There are many
specialty nails to use (such as galvanized) in damp or pressure-treated lumber.
Warm the gel tubes up for about an hour
before use, either by placing on top of a water heater tank, or close to a
halogen work light. You might also get better results from using other brands
(besides Samson). Also make sure to use the large-diameter nozzles, as the small
nozzles are too restrictive. Pourable, two-part mixable epoxies can work well
also, and can be had for around $125/gallon, about half the price of the gel
epoxies. For critical uplift loads in engineered work (on complex buildings) we
add aggregates to our epoxies also. Commercial and large-scale users of epoxy
will use large, pneumatic-powered cartdge guns that take large-diameter
cartridges. This additional expense is justified for work on apartment
buidlings, but not for single-family residential work. And there are differences
in the dispenser - caulking type guns are required for 'Gel'-type epoxies. A
hands on class (such as the one offered by the
Berkeley Education Center
(BEC) do a good job of explaining the benefits of
different epoxy types.
Most likely they are either flying
ants or termites; to learn how to deal with common pests, take a ‘Home
Maintenance’ class at any small local teaching shop such as the
BEC in
Berkeley. If you need to take action right away, call a reputable local exterminator.
It is best to confer with some seasoned builders
to get a feel for the distance between checking and splitting. Modern
large-grain lumber can check like crazy away from the nail entry point and still
be structurally sound.
When in doubt about the condition of the lumber,
pre-drilling of the nail holes is often required. This is one more reason to
avoid the lowest cost bid. It is not unusual to see Hurricane or 'L' reinforcing
angle straps that re nailed to lumber with splits extending out from the
large-diameter nail holes. Some buildings that are very sun-baked will require
pre-drilling. Buildings that have hot water heaters very close to the framing
(such as a boiler room) will also require most of the framing to be pre-drilled,
otherwise there will be rampant splitting of the existing lumber.
Again, only a
builder with experience will be able to ascertain this.
Two
widely used reinforcing shear clips are the Simson LS-90 and the A35. With
today's large-grain building lumber, you need to avoid 'toe nail' connections
(where nails are driven into the wood at an angle, sometimes near the edge). Toe
nail connections can lead to grain splitting and ruined lumber, so always drive
nails into the wood at an angle of 90 degrees (perpendicular) to the grain of
the lumber. As such, I recommend using L-90 shear clips, as they have nail holes
over 1 1/2" away from the fold. In 2009 the LS series of shear clips cost around
$3.00 at Home Depot. NOTE: Use a palm nailer, such as the Dan-Air brand, to
install L-90's, as it easily allows work into snug locations such as joist bays.
None; your wood-frame building is put
together with nails, because in addition to tensile strength, nails are ductile
(they can be bent back and forth repeatedly without failing). This is desirable,
since your wood-frame building moves for various reasons: wind loads, settling,
and of course, seismic events. Screws have great tensile strength for resistance
to pull-out force, yet when bent just 10 degrees and returned to 0, most screws
will break.
Loud, low frequency sounds such as
jackhammers or rotary hammers (for boring holes into concrete) require both a
foam insert and a full circumaural outer set of headphones, whenever possible.
Questions to Ask a Potential Builder
TOP OF
LIST
What type of plywood do you use? What does CDX mean? How many layers of plywood should there be?
TOP OF
LIST
What is the exact drill size for the nails you are using when you pre-drill to prevent splitting?
TOP OF
LIST
How will you provide electricity for your power tools?
TOP OF
LIST
Where will you/your employees go to the bathroom?
TOP OF
LIST
Is spot repair for dry rot or termites included in the estimate?
TOP OF
LIST
How long have you been retrofitting homes? How long have your employees worked for you?
TOP OF
LIST
Have you ever had to correct your own work? What were the problems with it?
TOP OF
LIST
Are you a member in good standing of the Contractors State License Board (CSLB)?
TOP OF
LIST
Have you ever worked for State or local government in the Expert Witness Program?
TOP OF
LIST
How many workmen does your company have? Will you actually be working on the job?
Lumber such as "Two-By" (2" X), "Four-By" (4" X), etc, is graded for condition. Plywood is graded for appearance and condition.
Plywood is graded for finish from “A” to “E”. Some CDX looks B on one side and E on the other, while a lot of it looks like E on both sides. Top builders will discard certain sheets of plywood (such as grains running in one direction) to insure that their customers get a quality job.
'CDX' plywood is much different than 'CDX Structural One': with CDX Structural One, the finish is 'C' on one side and 'D' on the other; the glue is exterior (X) type, designed for exposure to the elements. Delamination of 'exterior grade" plywood is not a problem, but CDX plywood can delaminate its layers when wet. Structural one and two are all #1 or #2 hardwood species types.
With plain lumber warehouse CDX, there also could be a problem if you drive a nail through the outside lumber layers, as many economy plywood’s have pulp or cellulose in between the plywood layers. It is more important to use Structural One CDX than have a certain number of layers, as the thickness of the plywood is a red herring. For example, 3-ply 3/8" Structural One CDX is stronger than 5-ply 3/4" 'plain' CDX.
Structural One CDX is the best plywood to use for shear wall work. Groups such as the American Plywood Association (also known as the Engineered Wood Group) can offer much more detailed information for existing products and industry standards.
When dealing with very dry or modern, large-grain framing lumber, the engineer might require the lumber to be pre-bored, since this wood can split with the insertion of a nail no matter how fast or true it is driven. As a rule of thumb use a pre-drill that is about 1/2 the diameter of the nail shank (or smaller). For a nail with a 3/16" shank, uses a 3/32" pre-drill. If your builder does not know what the exact drill-size is, he will probably attempt to weasel a small percentage of splits past the inspector.
Yes, pre-drilling will increase the labor costs of a project; but the costs of re-doing poor work (from the lowest bidder or unskilled labor) will be much higher.
A professional builder will bring in their power from the service drop (the solid pipe where the power lines come into your house from the utility pole). They should attach a GFI (ground fault interrupter) power distribution box. Draping extension cords out of open windows is dangerous and will probably leave more of a mess behind. Older houses often have few (if any) outlets that are safe to handle heavy power loads. In any contract you sign, there should be some detail about how the power will be supplied, whether entry to your dwelling will be required and at what times, etc.
You are paying good money for your work, so it is your right to add anything you want to the contact, or even the margins of the contact. Once the builder accepts the bid, those conditions are binding. Insist that the workmen stay out of the house and keep the dust out of the property by keeping the windows closed.
If you are told that all the workmen will just hop around on one foot all day, don’t believe it. By not paying the monthly service charge of about $250/month, your contractor puts that money in his pocket. Beware, as this is often a sign of other cost-cutting methods that will result in less than quality service for you. For the builder who is too cheap to bring in a port-a-john or include one in a bid: check to see that all debris is hauled at the end of the job and not left in the crawl space.
If your builder just brushes off concerns about the workmen, or tries to change the subject, it may indicate the amount of respect the workmen will have for their boss, and for the project in general. And don’t buy into the Global Warming jive should some of the trees in the back yard turn yellow then die off some time after completion of the job.
I include this wording in my contract – but many builders do not. This then becomes an easy way for a builder to recoup an extremely low bid.
Lowballing is the practice of winning a contract with an extremely low initial cost, then 'discovering' that there is a required repair to complete the work, thus bringing the total job cost more in line with what more honest builders would actually bid. Also, many contracting companies specialize in finding pre-existing conditions that require substantial extra work (above and beyond the scope of the original contract conditions. These companies will then stop work according to the terms and conditions of their duties as 'guardians against bugs', so that, unless an unusually large contract is signed, the work cannot go on (per 'bug control' law). When you are checking referrals, screen for this type of extra work - while no one may want to admit over the phone that their last contractor was much more expensive than they originally planned on, they will often tell you if the project grew from the original plan.
Also, when you hire a termite company to do seismic specialty work, they might not only find flying bugs, they are bound by state regulations for pest work to remove lumber back a certain distance from any damaged areas. A carpenter not bound by those laws may find less work if any to be performed for you.
Every 5-7 years a builder decides to get into the structural repair/seismic upgrade business, originating in everything from lawn maintenance to mattress testing. Many don’t realize how difficult it is to do quality work on old, wood-framed buildings, and that their employees must first apprentice for 3-6 months, so they wind up going back to their kitchen remodeling or lawn maintenance business. My standard for hiring crew members has been to require a minimum of six months experience. I consider someone who has completed a minimum of 100 supervised jobs to be a seismic safety experienced builder. Also: anyone with workmen should be able to name the men who will be doing the work.
When talking to builders, take a look at their hands. If you don't see some splinters or calluses, chances are you won't ever see them on the job again. A primer for new homeowners would to watch the movie “The Money Pit” with Shelly Long the actress. It was very popular and dealt with armies of unsupervised builders in a property needing some work. If you see the movie, try to spot the general contracter character. This can be an educational film.
While there may have been prize fighters who never lost a match, it is extremely rare for a builder to never make a mistake. The builder you may want to choose is the one who did correction work without trying to pass the costs (or blame) to the customer.
Some builders have simply walked away from previous companies names when sub-standard work has found from poorly trained and supervised workmen in their employ. Unfortunately, there is long trail of messed-up work, such as the Berkeley company that, for two years, installed plywood panels with 'bugle head' screws (instead of nails) in many properties there. Using bugle head or any other type of Phillips head screws is a huge mistake that will eventually lead to localized failures of shear walls in any large seismic event. These companies will then simply added 'Inc.' to the company name to avoid doing the proper corrective work: removing the screws and installing ductile nails instead. Work such as this still ranks as some of the worst cover-ups in the seismic industry in the Bay Area. More than one seismic builder has operated like this. The very worst builders are those who threaten to sue the property owners, and, in general, avoid their responsibility to correct their really slipshod work; some even have fled out of state where they cannot be served for CA small claims actions or CSLB actions.
When mistakes are brought to light, a good builder will do the upgrade work for a fair trade price, or correct mistakes for a fair trade cost, usually without making a profit on the job. Earthquake Construction Service/J. Gillett had some workmen who, after the Loma Prieta event, would regularly over-drive a percentage of nails beyond the outside boundary layers. This meant returning to three job sites and removing/replacing the plywood, primarily for looks. In a stand-up basement, looks are important. ECS/J. Gillett has also diligently tried to contact all customers who only contracted for anchor bolts in the 70's and early 80's, as this is a false insurance: in a large event, only the mud sill will be held in place and the rest of the stud wall can still fail.
On the other hand, the seismic field is filled with people writing blogs from their mother's basement outside of Tulsa, claiming to have sold their business to a local builder, who now supposedly has the equivalent experience of someone who has actually been doing seismic work since the 1906 quake. And beware the builders’ who employ very suave salespeople.
Always verify the answer on the CSLB website ( CSLB ), or call them @ (800) 321-CSLB. In the event that you have problems with your contractor, the CSLB can be invaluable in resolving them. The CSLB is like a big wheel: it moves slowly, but it is bound to cover a lot of ground. Complaints are responded to with forms, and, after some time, an inspection of your claim. Sometimes, after finding a problem with the work, the original builder will be offered the chance to fix the problems or pay for them. While some careless builders may discard CSLB mailings, the CSLB letterhead gets the attention of each and every licensed builder in the state. The CSLB just may be one of the best-performing state agencies we have.
And, of course, the CSLB is always interested in people representing themselves as state licensed & bonded contractors when they are not. Let them know about builders skirting city permit requirements and other professional building standards. The bad builders you help corral out of the repair pool may save poor or bad work from other fine buildings besides your own.
Good builders are asked not to advertise this qualification, yet, when asked, they can explain the program for you. The Expert Witness Program is a service offered to property owners by the Contactor’s State License Board (CSLB). The CSLB moves slowly yet in a steady pace to completion. Resolution of problems is their code. It is one of the better performing agencies we have.
Seismic work is usually in hard-to-access crawls spaces and muddy basements. So it is pretty common for builders to hire workmen and not do much or any of the work themselves. The problem is that builders with crews will often rush work; they cannot allow premium hand-fitting work to happen, as this translates to greater crew hours, and more workman's compensation insurance costs (for every $100 earned by the workmen, the law states that $25 or more must be paid per workperson to the State Compensation Board fund).
On the other hand, building contractors working by themselves are self-insured and bonded by the state. They will take the time to do the job right. In any type of basement where the work will be viewed by people, the single-person seismic contractor is the best bet for work that is high quality and sharp looking.
When a customer has time, a builder with great experience and pride-of-work can be found to do seismic retrofits. Make sure to shop for any and all work for your property. Taking the time to vet the bids for good material and current references is often hard tedious work. Generations from now, the future heirs of your property will be grateful for you diligence.