Earthquake Protection for New Home Builds

Why It’s Important to Get Earthquake Protection for Your New Home Build

Expert Advice for California Homeowners

While earthquakes can occur anywhere in the world, California is more prone to this natural phenomenon and has experienced numerous devastating tremors in the past. If you are exploring the idea of a custom home in the Bay Area, you’d be wise to consider getting earthquake protection for your new home build. Ensure a strong structure that keeps you and your family safe.  

Building Earthquake-Resistant Custom Homes

At Flegel’s, we know that building earthquake-resistant homes is not just a cosmetic enhancement. It involves drawing up the right structural design, laying the correct foundation and choosing appropriate building materials that can withstand the stresses of a seismic event. Our engineers and architects follow the structural building practices and regulations defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in conjunction with the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP).

Here are some aspects that we consider while designing and building a custom, earthquake-resistant home:

• Vertical and lateral stiffness: The directional forces of earthquakes may shake your home not just vertically, but also horizontally. We design a structure with the right amount of vertical and lateral stiffness to ensure minimal damage when a quake occurs.
• Building regularity: Regularity is the movement of the building when pushed laterally by the forces of an earthquake. In our quake-resistant designs, the building sways along with the push, to dissipate the energy and prevent any compromise to the structure.
• Redundancy: A critical safety characteristic, redundancy is the fail-safe feature of your home’s foundation. By creating an equal distribution of mass and strength, we ensure that there are multiple strategies in place. If one fails, the next one auto-activates to protect your home against the forces of tremors and aftershocks.
• Foundation: Deep, connected foundations and driven piles are essential for any home to withstand violent earthquakes. Our experts study ground reactions and movements before drawing up plans for a strong, stable foundation.
• Continuous load paths: Properly interconnected structural and non-structural building components create multiple points of strength and redundancies. These put up a united front to dissipate inertial forces and protect the foundation of your home. By ensuring that the components do not move independently, we help in maintaining the same lateral and vertical path as the quake. Achieving this continuous load path goes a long way in protecting the structural integrity of your home.

Hire the Bay Area’s Top Contractor for Earthquake-Resistant New Builds

At Flegel’s Construction Co., we have extensive experience in earthquake protection for new home builds. We create quake-resistant structures with attractive, functional spaces, personalized to your lifestyle and budget. Our superior design capabilities, unmatched craftsmanship and quality touches will make your home truly one-of-a-kind.

You can check out our many successful projects across the Bay Area, including Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose and Redwood City, CA.

Interested to learn more about earthquake protection for your custom new build in the Bay Area? Call 408-269-1101 to set up a consultation or contact us online.

Originally posted at https://www.flegelsconstruction.com/earthquake-protection-for-new-home-builds/