dethemedetheme

by admin

“What crazy weather have we been having lately?!” How often do you hear that saying these days? Well, the weather has been crazy. With wildfires, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes all becoming the new normal, we must change the way we construct our buildings. Due to this growth in natural disasters, building for resistance has become the way of the future for constructing businesses and residential areas. Let’s take a look at what is building for resistance and why it is important.

Bottom Floors Above Flood Lines

Katrina. Sandy. Irma. These are all names that have lasting effects on communities all over. Due to climate change, the polar caps are melting. This is causing the sea levels to rise. As natural disasters become more common, rainfall in already rising sea levels can lead to a catastrophe.

 


Building commercial and residential areas higher up is key to surviving a flood. Starting the floor above where the flood line is will save your business from going under water. Plus it will stop water from rising up under the floorboards to cause the growth of mold and mildew that will eventually destroy the integrity of your building.

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Strengthen the Structure

In this rapidly changing environment, it’s best to construct a building that can take some punishment. For instance, many multi-story buildings are built with the roofs and floors resting on the walls.

 

So, when plates shifting under the ground cause an earthquake, it causes buildings to shake to and fro. Many buildings don’t have much stability side-to-side. This causes the floor and roof to come crashing down onto the floors.

 

Create side stability by making the bottom floor more firm. Be sure to use many steel bolts and grillage into the foundation. You want light siding around the steel beams to give and retract when hit by hard winds. The same goes for the roof.

 

If the siding didn’t give a little, it would actually cause more damage to the property because the siding would be taking the impact of the harsh weather head-on. In order for these lightweight sides to stay on, it needs something solid that won’t move to wrap itself around.That’s where the steel columns come into play.  

Invest in Shock-Crete

Part of the reason why steel beams are a staple in weather-resistant buildings is that this metal absorbs the aftershocks that comes from a earthquake. However, if you are repairing an older building rather than creating one from scratch, putting up steel columns is almost impossible.

 

Therefore, if you already have a building and want to improve its recovery time post-storm, invest in shock-crete. First, steel is put around existing columns. From there, empty space is filled in with sprayable concrete. This wet and dry mixture hardens, keeping the steel beams in place. Furthermore, shock-crete encompasses the steel with the structures already there. Doing this will help keep the integrity of an already standing building that seems a bit shaky on its legs.

 

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Building for Resistance, Why It’s Important