Commercial Retrofit

A commercial seismic retrofit provides existing structures with increased earthquake resistance. Commercial Seismic retrofit is a service we offer.
In buildings, this process typically includes strengthening weak roof-to-wall joints, continuity ties, shear walls, and the roof diaphragm.

In the past, building codes were less stringent compared to today’s standards, so it’s advised to inspect buildings constructed prior to 1998. Another factor to consider is that LA has a high risk for earthquake and seismic activities occur often. That is why it is so important to inspect your commercial property and make sure it is structurally sound. For the safety of your property and for the people in it, take several minutes to read this article:

Earthquake Retrofit Overview

What to Know About Commercial Seismic Retrofit?

We offer commercial seismic retrofitting to properties in Los Angeles.

Types of Buildings we service:

Unreinforced Masonry Buildings
Historical Buildings
Parking Structures
Concrete Tilt-ups
Multi-Family Apartments / Soft Story / Parking with two stories or more

Here are some techniques used when retrofitting these structures:

Roof to wall anchors
Anchor ties across the building
Roof nailing
Shear wall bracing
Anchor plates
Soft Story Reinforcement

Commercial Seismic Retrofitting Approaches

The approach towards Commercial Seismic Retrofit depends on the type of building you have.

Soft story under apartment buildings:

These buildings have an exposed first floor, which serves as a parking area, and usually houses living or business quarters above it. These buildings are vulnerable during an earthquake, ass their instability makes them susceptible to damage or all-out collapse.

Strengthening these buildings usually involves adding a steel moment frame, concrete footing, and draglines to keep the first floor from rotating and collapsing. In apartment buildings, shear walls are commonly added to the existing walls on the interior areas of the parking stalls.

Un-reinforced masonry:

A seismic retrofit for this type of building typically involves adding roof-to-wall connections, continuity ties, and installing a new plywood overlay on the roof.

Seismic Retrofit

Concrete Tilt-Up & Reinforced Masonry Structures:

A retrofit for this type of building generally includes adding roof to wall anchors and continuity ties throughout the building. Sometimes due to the size and shape of the building, steel brace frames are added to the structure.

The concrete tilt-up walls used in many commercial properties are very heavy and exert a great deal of force when they move in an earthquake. The main purpose of retrofitting for these buildings is to prevent the roof from cleaving and thus jeopardizing the integrity of the entire structure.

Concrete Buildings with 2 or more stories:

Due to their weight, these buildings exert a great deal of force onto themselves. A retrofitting to these types of concrete buildings involves the installation of combined modes such as concrete shear walls, caissons, steel columns and other types of strengthening systems.

The goal with each method is to strengthen junctions of the structure, which provides increased strength and resilience.