Alaska Home Inspectors Forum

[Garrett Goodman]

Beeing from Florida and the son of a GC I am no stranger to masonry, here's my question. I though in seismically active area's you avoided using masonry in construction as is doesn't flex well. with this in mind ive seen an awfull lot of basements and poured foundations. what happens when an earthquake hits? start over? just curious.

My wife and I have decided to stay so we're in the hunt for a house that needs help. Found one or two. One I really like but it needs a lot of help and is an As Is sale. Sellers have their head in the clouds about the value of the home so who knows. what really gets me is they're making cosmetic repairs that will just have to be torn out to fix the root issues.

Thanks for posting what you do it's a wealth of information. and good reading.

[Carol Perkins]

Sorry no one replied to this before now.

Yes we do use a lot of masonry foundations but we also use more steel then required in the IRC. Most poured foundations will have a minimun rebarr of #4 in a minimun of 16 to 24 inches vertical and horizonal depending on the depth of the off set between inside and outside grade. Block willl usually have #5 on the bond and at least every 32 inches vertical, again depending on the ofset of the soils and height of the wall. We do also have slab on grade construction with a whole lot of insulation around and under it. Then there are treated wood foundations but they have a lot of prejudice against them as many were incorrectly installed in the past. We even have foundations that rest on top of the ground so that the heat of the home will not melt the permafrost below.

Good luck on your project.