IS YOUR HOME AT RISK?
HOMES WITH PONY WALLS
A pony wall is the wood-framed wall between the foundation and first floor of a building.
A home built before 1980 with pony walls likely needs pony wall bracing in addition to foundation anchor bolts and extra framing connections.
Pony wall bracing is element “B” in the "ABCs of retrofit." Bracing involves covering walls with plywood and nailing the wood securely to prevent collapse of the house into the basement or crawl space in the event of shaking.
As the earthquake shakes the house laterally, un-reinforced pony walls are vulnerable to collapse. Reinforced pony walls withstand shaking to a much greater degree.
RETROFIT FROM THE OUTSIDE
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For homes with no crawl space or with finely finished basements, it is possible to remove siding to do the retrofit work from the outside. Of course, this is not possible if the house has brick veneer siding, metal siding, or asbestos in the siding. Otherwise, the restrofit process is straightforward. Siding is carefully removed, sheathing taken off, the retrofit work completed, and siding restored to a paint-ready condition. There may be a small amount of siding that breaks in the process, but most can be readily replaced.
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An additional complication comes for homes built before 1978, which may have lead in the paint used. If this is the case, the EPA has an established protocol for containing lead that must be followed. This adds to the cost of demolition, but is legally required. This protocol requires masking off any shrubbery, covering the ground around the house with plastic to catch any paint chips, cordoning off the work area, wearing protective suits, gloves, and masks, and disposing of all the demolition waste in a safe way, following specifications. A-FFIX Retrofit is skilled in this type work and follows EPA rules carefully.
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