Winnetka is an ethnically diverse city located in San Fernando Valley. It was originally a farming community when it started. Today it is an affordable city with many parks and residential neighborhoods. It borders the Topanga State Park which is a popular place for hiking and off road biking. Winnetka’s location in the Valley have made it a town at risk for earthquakes, both mild and devastating, like the Northgate Earthquake of 1994. Due to this, many building owners are required to take part in the Los Angeles city soft-story retrofit mandate. To find out if your building needs to be brought up to code, contact a Winnetka Soft-Story Retrofit Contractor.

After the 1994 earthquake, Los Angeles city officials created new building policies. They decided to implement a mandatory soft-story retrofit program for LA and the surrounding cities. If you own a building that was constructed before 1994, you have probably received a notice to retrofit your structure to meet these new policies. But don’t worry, there are a number of Retrofitting Contractors in Winnetka, like RetroFitting 360, which will make the process easy to understand.

Is your building a soft-story?

A soft-story building is any building that is three, or more, stories high, and is built above ground. On the ground floor of these buildings there are usually doors and windows and some type of commercial, or open space. When they were built they included a sheer wall to stabilize the structure. But, apartment and office buildings built before 1994, may not have a sheer wall that reaches high enough.

Any large open spaces, like parking garages, also need to be retrofitted. During a major quake, if these are not renovated according to the current policies, they will not be safe during the next huge earthquake. The floors can easily collapse on themselves, trapping people inside. A Soft Story Retrofit Contractor in Winnetka will be needed to make sure your building can withstand the ground rolling and shaking when an earthquake occurs.

The steps involved in a retrofitting

First, get your building inspected by a professional Winnetka soft-story retrofit contractor. They will send a contractor out to complete a thorough investigation and create a detailed plan for the repairs your building needs. When this is done, the next step is to acquire the building permits needed before any work can begin.

Once the permits are issued, the contractor will oversee the project and work to make sure that it is completed in a timely manner. The repairs may include adding more steel beams to any open spaces, or adding or extending sheer walls where needed. After the work is finished you will need to have your building inspected by someone from the city.

Once your building passes the city’s inspection, you will receive a full report of the completed project. As you can see, there are quite a few steps involved. The deadline to have the work completed and the inspection done is 2020, so it is important that you choose a Winnetka soft-story retrofit contractor today.