Sunday, March 19, 2017

Finding A Capable Soft Story Contractor

By Sharon Hayes


Soft story buildings have two or more stories that have a lower floor with wide doors, large windows, big unobstructed spaces and openings where shear walls should be. A soft story has less resistance and generally weaker than those floors above it. Buildings with its ground level being used as parking spaces or for commercial and business uses.

Earthquakes cannot be predicted with precision so preventive measures must be done by the people in order to prevent buildings from collapsing by strengthening their weak floors. The law made it mandatory for buildings to have retrofitted jobs done to it in order to pass the standards they have given and withstand possible earthquakes. You can look for a professional soft story contractor Los Angeles can provide to help you with complying with the law.

Search online for contractors that are specializing in retrofitting in your area. You can also find them on the yellow pages or in advertisements placed in your local paper. Create a list of all those that you have found and start gathering information.

Request for recommendations from people you know and take note of those in your list. This would be a great way of getting an honest opinion about these companies based on the experiences of the people you trust. Their experiences with them will be the basis of recommending someone or suggesting to you to avoid them.

Inquire about their experiences and the number of buildings they already have retrofitted. Visit them if possible and check the quality of work they have done and you could talk to the owners of the building too. Get their opinions about the work done and its quality as well as how fast and clean they did it.

Read reviews and testimonials about them on the internet. This will show you how satisfied their previous customers are and if there are any complaints about them and their work. You could also research more about their background as well in their websites or in any of the online forums that you may find that are talking about them.

Ask them when they usually do their retrofitting job and for how long it will be. Discuss with them the usual time that your tenants will not be in the building so that they could do their work during those times in order to avoid distracting them. You may also inquire if you and your tenants need to move out while they are doing their job for safety purposes.

Inquire about the estimated total cost they will ask for these services. Take into consideration the profits you and your tenants may lose during these interruptions. If the cost is not affordable for you, there is an option for public financing that the government offers as an assistance.

Soft story is usually used for parking spaces so it may be possible for you to not able to use it for a while during the retrofitting. A compensation from the government will be given so you could park in other parking spaces and pay the fees there. Comply with the program and avoid having to face the law if you are unable to do it. This would also make your building safer and stronger for all of its occupants.




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