Structural Work in Mission Hills
Mission Hills raised-floor retrofits and foundation repair: anchor bolts, cripple wall plywood and engineered design where needed, permitted through LADBS.
Is a house already on a concrete foundation still worth bolting down? For a Mission Hills house on a raised floor, the crawlspace answers it. If the sill is not anchored and the short cripple walls are not sheathed, the frame can shift off the foundation in a strong earthquake. We look for anchor bolts, measure cripple wall height and note any plywood before saying what the house needs. If the lot slopes, the tallest cripple walls sit on the low side.
What a retrofit involves
Where bolts are missing, new anchors go through the sill into the foundation at the spacing the plans call for, with steel plates where clearance is tight. Cripple walls get structural plywood nailed on a set schedule, and vents are cut into it so the crawlspace still breathes. If the foundation is cracked or crumbling at the anchor points, an engineer assesses it first, since a bolt cannot hold in concrete that is breaking apart. Plumbing and wiring crossing the walls are worked around or moved before panels go on, and the work stays open for inspection.
LADBS in Mission Hills and around it
Mission Hills is part of the City of Los Angeles, and LADBS issues the retrofit permit and inspects the work. Its inspector needs to see the bolts, plates and nailing before anything covers them. LADBS offers a standard retrofit plan that fits many raised-floor houses, and a house beyond its limits, such as one with tall cripple walls, needs an engineered design. North Hills, Arleta, Pacoima, Panorama City and Granada Hills fall under the same department. San Fernando is its own city with its own building office.
About our structural work workEverything we build in Mission Hills
Structural Work in Mission Hills: questions
Our measurements of the wall's lean, its cracks and whether water still drains from behind it go to an engineer, who makes the decision. LADBS then reviews any reinforcement or replacement and inspects the footing steel and the backfill drain in the field before the job closes.
Ground first: the soils report gives bearing value and the depth of stable material. The engineer then studies the foundation type, the height and bracing of any cripple walls, how the sill is anchored and where runoff goes, since a slope adds lateral load on the downhill side.
Caissons and retaining wall are, by depth and by length. A retrofit is counted differently, by the number of anchors and plates and the area of plywood, each listed. The LADBS permit and any engineering are shown on their own lines apart from the work.
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Tell us about the lot and the job. A builder replies by phone or email to set up a visit.