# reinforcing house against earthquakes



## vintage

Does anyone have any suggestions on who to use to have reinforcing done to the house to protect against earthquake damage? Has anyone had this done, what prices have you been getting? 

Bill in Capestrano.


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## Goingtoitalia

Hello Bill,
I had a builder add a chain through my the attic of my roof. The first thing that he had suggested during my remodel. It was pricey for the goods, a chain, four steel plates a couple of bolts and nuts. approx.1,500 euros, it was buried somewhere on the list may be less but not more, but it probably saved my place during the quake. They also do "corners" some type of steel surround on the upper corners of your house, do not know pricing. The new or revised building code has them adding a layer of mesh over the brick arched ceilings and encasing it it in cement. Very pricey. They also do steel rods in the ceilings and through the walls. If your house is a "ruin type dwelling"like a three level, 200 sqm. place looking at 50,000 euros to replace damaged walls, ceilings and add all the new refits.


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## Madame Wells

Ciao Bill,

I don't know if this will help or not. When we redid our house, we had steel beams put in by our contractor on the lower level. (Kitchen , Dining room, living room.) 9 beams in all to reinforce the upper floors. It was about 15,000 euro's. Now, I'm not in a Earthquake prone zone like Abruzzo, but we do have tremors from time to time. About 6 years ago, after we finished our house, we had a strong one in the middle of the night that woke up the whole town. (8,000 people) My house was the only one that did not shake on our block. My neighbor's house window cracked and my mother in law, who lives in front of us, suffered minor cracks in her walls. My house was built in 1862 and had not had that much work done to it since it was built. You might want to have your contractor check the strength of the upper level if you are redoing a 2 store dwelling. He can give you a good estimate on what it will cost based on the strength of the building, labor, material and zone cost. And don't forget the VAT. This is something you don't want done under the table. Good Luck,


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## italy

vintage said:


> Does anyone have any suggestions on who to use to have reinforcing done to the house to protect against earthquake damage? Has anyone had this done, what prices have you been getting?
> 
> Bill in Capestrano.


You could go along to the comune and ask their technical officer to come along with you and see whats required.. as a start.. its a sort of a piece of string question .. all zones in L'Aquila have had procedures tightened up since the quake in that province.. its something that should have been in place before but rules were ignored.. 

however by calling anyone in to look at the condition of your property there is a risk that it will be declared un-inhabitable until remedial work is performed to make it secure.. Capestrano oddly is classified as zone 2.. however surrounded by zone 1s it make its very susceptible to high levels of damage.. so suggest if you have a friendly person that knows another friendly person that can cast a professional eye over your place this might be the best approach .. because if you have bought a place with no structural work on re-enforcing being carried out once you do decide to get this work started until its completed it will be declared unsafe to live in... and then once work has been done it has to have the new certificate issued by the comune..

its a bit of a can of worms you are opening here..so approach with caution.. bearing in mind of course that you want to live in a safe property...


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## italy

Madame Wells said:


> Ciao Bill,
> 
> I don't know if this will help or not. When we redid our house, we had steel beams put in by our contractor on the lower level. (Kitchen , Dining room, living room.) 9 beams in all to reinforce the upper floors. It was about 15,000 euro's. Now, I'm not in a Earthquake prone zone like Abruzzo, but we do have tremors from time to time. About 6 years ago, after we finished our house, we had a strong one in the middle of the night that woke up the whole town. (8,000 people) My house was the only one that did not shake on our block. My neighbor's house window cracked and my mother in law, who lives in front of us, suffered minor cracks in her walls. My house was built in 1862 and had not had that much work done to it since it was built. You might want to have your contractor check the strength of the upper level if you are redoing a 2 store dwelling. He can give you a good estimate on what it will cost based on the strength of the building, labor, material and zone cost. And don't forget the VAT. This is something you don't want done under the table. Good Luck,


you touched a bit of a sore with me.. Abruzzo as a region is not any more earthquake prone that virtually any other region in Italy.. in fact 54 % of italy is at a high risk.. and this includes all the regions that have the Apennines running through them .. and basically all areas that are to the West of that line... one long black area.. so its a bit of a fad of mine but specifically L'Aquila the province of Abruzzo to the east of the Apennines is a high risk area.. there are many areas of Abruzzo that are at low risk.. for instance the Province of Teramo has no class 1 seismic zones and was used by the Italian government as a safe area to move the homeless from the quake area... in fact many of them now deciding they would rather live there anyway.. as quakes continue in the L'Aquila/Lazio/umbrian borders along that eastern Apennines area.... sorry dont mean to be fussy and i agree with you assessment in general... especially about being wary of costs without vat being quoted..


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## Madame Wells

italy said:


> you touched a bit of a sore with me.. Abruzzo as a region is not any more earthquake prone that virtually any other region in Italy.. in fact 54 % of italy is at a high risk.. and this includes all the regions that have the Apennines running through them .. and basically all areas that are to the West of that line... one long black area.. so its a bit of a fad of mine but specifically L'Aquila the province of Abruzzo to the east of the Apennines is a high risk area.. there are many areas of Abruzzo that are at low risk.. for instance the Province of Teramo has no class 1 seismic zones and was used by the Italian government as a safe area to move the homeless from the quake area... in fact many of them now deciding they would rather live there anyway.. as quakes continue in the L'Aquila/Lazio/umbrian borders along that eastern Apennines area.... sorry dont mean to be fussy and i agree with you assessment in general... especially about being wary of costs without vat being quoted..


No need to be sore. I have lived over 15 years in Italy and have experienced 5 earthquakes in 5 different regions. The worst being in the region of Trentino-Alto Adige. So I'm aware of earthquakes in Italy. I was comparing Abruzzo because L'Aquila is the capital of that region. I live in the Province of Cremona in Lombardia. Yes, we have earthquakes here, but look at how many on this board are asking about reinforcing their houses in the Abruzzo region. The bottle line no place is safe from earthquakes. I'm from Chicago and I felt a major one in the 80's there.(It's not know for them and yet many people don't know it's on a major fault.) I also would think codes for renovation and building are stronger there and in the Marche, Lazio areas of Italy. I can tell you from experience in the Lombardia region it never comes up when redo a home.


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## oldjerry

So do I.


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## vintage

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I intend on doing the chains and steel plates that pin the corners. My house is in very good condition, it just needs minor things done like paint, tiles on the terrazzo. 

PS to Bruce, my wife (Terri) just sent you a friend request on facebook, so we could see your pics.

Bill


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## Goingtoitalia

Hi Bill and Terri,
I added you on Facebook  I think that doing the chain and corners will be good, if your house didn't suffer during the last quake chances are pretty good, that it will good for the next one. How was the weather in Capestrano???? How often do you plan on going to Italy? How long ago did you buy? I heard that quite a few places, businesses in Capestrano got damaged, I didn't see much my last trip there..... Not to be, jaded, but I think that a lot of people took advantage of the 600 euros per person per month, if you were displaced, thinking that maybe more than a few capitalized on that offer. As I know the Italian economy isn't that healthy.....


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## vintage

Goingtoitalia said:


> Hi Bill and Terri,
> I added you on Facebook  I think that doing the chain and corners will be good, if your house didn't suffer during the last quake chances are pretty good, that it will good for the next one. How was the weather in Capestrano???? How often do you plan on going to Italy? How long ago did you buy? I heard that quite a few places, businesses in Capestrano got damaged, I didn't see much my last trip there..... Not to be, jaded, but I think that a lot of people took advantage of the 600 euros per person per month, if you were displaced, thinking that maybe more than a few capitalized on that offer. As I know the Italian economy isn't that healthy.....


Hi Bruce,
I saw the pictures of your house on facebook, I am jealous, can't wait to get a new bathroom in our house like that. We just have a small bathroom that you have to go out the front door and then enter the bathroom through its own door. It's a long walk at night from the bedroom, down the stairs and out the door. We have an extra room upstairs that is a good size for a master bath.
I visited Italy oct 09 alone to tour with HAI, I saw quite a few houses in our area, I looked at one in Ofena, it was nice but more than I wanted to spend. After emailing home many photos, Terri and I decided on Capestrano. We went back to Italy in Jan 2010 to purchase the house, and then again at the end of March, Terri spend a few weeks in the summer there alone. We will be back at the end of January, and very soon hope to start spending 90 days there and 90 days here.
The weather was great, a couple days its was cloudy with a little rain, and that day it snowed on top of the mountains, but it all melted by the end of the next day. 
Bill


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## Goingtoitalia

vintage said:


> Hi Bruce,
> I saw the pictures of your house on facebook, I am jealous, can't wait to get a new bathroom in our house like that. We just have a small bathroom that you have to go out the front door and then enter the bathroom through its own door. It's a long walk at night from the bedroom, down the stairs and out the door. We have an extra room upstairs that is a good size for a master bath.
> I visited Italy oct 09 alone to tour with HAI, I saw quite a few houses in our area, I looked at one in Ofena, it was nice but more than I wanted to spend. After emailing home many photos, Terri and I decided on Capestrano. We went back to Italy in Jan 2010 to purchase the house, and then again at the end of March, Terri spend a few weeks in the summer there alone. We will be back at the end of January, and very soon hope to start spending 90 days there and 90 days here.
> The weather was great, a couple days its was cloudy with a little rain, and that day it snowed on top of the mountains, but it all melted by the end of the next day.
> Bill


 Hi Bill,
It will be nice to enjoy my place on the next trip.... I have stayed many times in Carrufo and in Ofena on my trips to see my place and do the TV show. It will be different to finally add my touches to the house and get settled. I stayed at my place the night that I bought it on a blowup mattress. It was fun to be a world away from home, yet feel at home. 
Hopefully, we can meet up, it has been a pleasure getting to know the other English speakers in the area. My girlfriend tells me that I have to start learning Italian (she knows a little already) so when we go, we can make more friends. 
Take care


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## vintage

Goingtoitalia said:


> Hi Bill,
> It will be nice to enjoy my place on the next trip.... I have stayed many times in Carrufo and in Ofena on my trips to see my place and do the TV show. It will be different to finally add my touches to the house and get settled. I stayed at my place the night that I bought it on a blowup mattress. It was fun to be a world away from home, yet feel at home.
> Hopefully, we can meet up, it has been a pleasure getting to know the other English speakers in the area. My girlfriend tells me that I have to start learning Italian (she knows a little already) so when we go, we can make more friends.
> Take care


Hi Bruce,

Could you private message me your contact info, I have some questions about renovating the Italy house that I would like to discuss with you.
I also am in the process of putting more pictures of my house in my profile here, Hopefully will have them up later today. Terri and I read your facebook profile, it's interesting that you are also interested in home improvement and construction. I own a old historic home in florida that we have renovated, it is from 1909. And of course the food and wine thing. I have a wine cellar in italy that has all the equipment for making wine, a very large crusher and press, the holes in the floor for the juice to go in and plenty of room for kegs. I would like to get this up and running sometime, let me know if you are interested in helping me out with this, because I can't be there all the time, I need to find other people who can help with the wine while I am not there. Of course all you can drink wine is part of the deal.
Bill


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## Goingtoitalia

vintage said:


> Hi Bruce,
> 
> Could you private message me your contact info, I have some questions about renovating the Italy house that I would like to discuss with you.
> I also am in the process of putting more pictures of my house in my profile here, Hopefully will have them up later today. Terri and I read your facebook profile, it's interesting that you are also interested in home improvement and construction. I own a old historic home in florida that we have renovated, it is from 1909. And of course the food and wine thing. I have a wine cellar in italy that has all the equipment for making wine, a very large crusher and press, the holes in the floor for the juice to go in and plenty of room for kegs. I would like to get this up and running sometime, let me know if you are interested in helping me out with this, because I can't be there all the time, I need to find other people who can help with the wine while I am not there. Of course all you can drink wine is part of the deal.
> Bill


Hi Bill,
Contact me direct at [email protected] I have a friend that makes his own olive oil and wine in a town two away from you..... He would be a good source for making wine and such....
Happy Thanksgiving,
Bruce


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## vintage

Goingtoitalia said:


> Hi Bill,
> Contact me direct at [email protected] I have a friend that makes his own olive oil and wine in a town two away from you..... He would be a good source for making wine and such....
> Happy Thanksgiving,
> Bruce


Thanks Bruce, I will send you an email after thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving
Bill


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## pugwashington

Goingtoitalia said:


> Hi Bill and Terri,
> I added you on Facebook  I think that doing the chain and corners will be good, if your house didn't suffer during the last quake chances are pretty good, that it will good for the next one. How was the weather in Capestrano???? How often do you plan on going to Italy? How long ago did you buy? I heard that quite a few places, businesses in Capestrano got damaged, I didn't see much my last trip there..... Not to be, jaded, but I think that a lot of people took advantage of the 600 euros per person per month, if you were displaced, thinking that maybe more than a few capitalized on that offer. As I know the Italian economy isn't that healthy.....


Hi Bill,

I have a house in Ofena and we are planning to go and live there when we get our house fixed after the quake. It does all seem to be going ahead. So maybe we can meet up with you one day. The minimum I would say is to get the chains done and if you need a new roof get that done properly with mesh. The floors can also be a bit of a problem depending on the construction of your building. There is an interesting artical on the web about what happened to the houses in the quake in L'aquila I would recommend anyone to read it. Especially anyone who thinks that their house survived the quake and is therefore it OK. They were just lucky unless they have had work done.

http://www.istructe.org/eefit/files/EEFIT web report on Aquila Italy Earthquake.pdf 

It is important to get cracks properly repaired as any kind of crack is food for damage in a quake zone. When a shock wave meets a crack the energy gets tunneled downwards making what was a superfical crack into a serious one. Its important to get them repaired with mesh not resin. What you are aiming for is a uniformity of transmission of energy. In these old houses the external cement is part of what holds them up.


There is also a lot on the web now about how the quake has affected other fault lines in the area following the quake. 

I would also add that you should never take away the plaster to expose the brickwork as you are weakening part of your houses antiquake structure. I have heard of several people doing this. The cement like plaster is what is supposed to stop the domed ceiling falling on you.

Pam


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## vintage

pugwashington said:


> Hi Bill,
> 
> I have a house in Ofena and we are planning to go and live there when we get our house fixed after the quake. It does all seem to be going ahead. So maybe we can meet up with you one day. The minimum I would say is to get the chains done and if you need a new roof get that done properly with mesh. The floors can also be a bit of a problem depending on the construction of your building. There is an interesting artical on the web about what happened to the houses in the quake in L'aquila I would recommend anyone to read it. Especially anyone who thinks that their house survived the quake and is therefore it OK. They were just lucky unless they have had work done.
> 
> http://www.istructe.org/eefit/files/EEFIT web report on Aquila Italy Earthquake.pdf
> 
> It is important to get cracks properly repaired as any kind of crack is food for damage in a quake zone. When a shock wave meets a crack the energy gets tunneled downwards making what was a superfical crack into a serious one. Its important to get them repaired with mesh not resin. What you are aiming for is a uniformity of transmission of energy. In these old houses the external cement is part of what holds them up.
> 
> 
> There is also a lot on the web now about how the quake has affected other fault lines in the area following the quake.
> 
> I would also add that you should never take away the plaster to expose the brickwork as you are weakening part of your houses antiquake structure. I have heard of several people doing this. The cement like plaster is what is supposed to stop the domed ceiling falling on you.
> 
> Pam


Hi Pam,
Thanks for this info, very good! Everyone should take a look at the link you put in your post, it really gives you an idea of what could happen to your own house and how to prepare for it. When I scrolled down to photo 33 I thought it was a pic of my master bedroom, I am pretty sure we have the same wardrobe. We were considering removing the plaster on the dome ceilings, but we will be leaving that in place now and just paint it white, much easier anyways. How often do you go to Italy?
Bill


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## pugwashington

vintage said:


> Hi Pam,
> Thanks for this info, very good! Everyone should take a look at the link you put in your post, it really gives you an idea of what could happen to your own house and how to prepare for it. When I scrolled down to photo 33 I thought it was a pic of my master bedroom, I am pretty sure we have the same wardrobe. We were considering removing the plaster on the dome ceilings, but we will be leaving that in place now and just paint it white, much easier anyways. How often do you go to Italy?
> Bill


My house was damaged in the quake - so am waiting for all the work to be finished so not going very much at the moment. My architect is talking next spring - but I am not that hopeful. I am still argueing with the company I had the house insured with - re getting compensation because I have to stay in hotels now - they dont want to pay out.

Any way will try to contact you before our next trip. Do you lice there all the time?
Pam


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## vintage

pugwashington said:


> My house was damaged in the quake - so am waiting for all the work to be finished so not going very much at the moment. My architect is talking next spring - but I am not that hopeful. I am still argueing with the company I had the house insured with - re getting compensation because I have to stay in hotels now - they dont want to pay out.
> 
> Any way will try to contact you before our next trip. Do you lice there all the time?
> Pam


No we live in Florida, but try to visit as much as possible. We will be there for the first 2 weeks of January. 
Bill


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## bunty16

pugwashington said:


> My house was damaged in the quake - so am waiting for all the work to be finished so not going very much at the moment. My architect is talking next spring - but I am not that hopeful. I am still argueing with the company I had the house insured with - re getting compensation because I have to stay in hotels now - they dont want to pay out.
> 
> Any way will try to contact you before our next trip. Do you lice there all the time?
> Pam


Did you know that you can claim compensation from the goverment 80% for internal work 100% for external, go to your commune and ask about it, not sure if you have missed deadlines, what is your home classed as post earthquake? You do not need to be a resident to get this help, I have it from the horses mouth so to speak.


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