Tips to build strong houses
Perform a Soil Evaluation
Whether your new house is on pier and beam or concrete slab the foundation is its most important component. Do not try to save money by skimping on foundation construction. A soil evaluation must be performed before a proper foundation system can be designed.
Incorporate Proper Grading
Be sure your builder incorporates proper grading, proper piering for your soil conditions, proper drainage, waterproofs the foundation, and installs a vapor barrier.
- Install Proper Drainage Systems
- Include gutters and downspouts in your home plan.
- Install Vapor Barriers when Needed
- Be sure that pier and beam foundations have vapor barriers installed and are properly vented.
- Inspect your Foundation Yearly
Conduct a yearly inspection of your foundation, driveway, and sidewalks. When drainage or other problems are detected correct them immediately. This is important especially during the first 6 – 10 years after the construction of a new house as it’s during this time the home experiences the greatest settling.
Though however strong buildings are built its not necessary, it will remain for forever. Many earthquakes in different countries have smashed away some of the buildings which were never meant to be collapsed. Its not obvious about what will happen next as natural disaster always comes without information. So, what if earthquake washes all the dreams? Last time in 2015,Nepal had to face great earthquake which turned many buildings into debris.
Why did so many buildings crumble in Nepal’s recent earthquakes, even those that were built under modern building codes? Lax enforcement fueled by corruption and indifference probably played a part, but so did a lack of public awareness about how to build structures that can sway and shake in an earthquake and absorb some damage without collapsing.
Nepal is not a wealthy country, and its residents must rebuild with whatever materials are available to them — reinforced concrete in the cities, fieldstone and bricks in the countryside. Even so, there are ways to build in an earthquake-prone area that can make homes less likely to fail. For those living in remote, inaccessible regions, however, some of these steps may be impractical.
1. Build to last.
Ms. Stephenson suggests that whenever possible, people should build permanent homes from the start, rather than improvising temporary shelter and then trying to improve it later. That approach rarely yields structures with integrity, she said.
2. Choose the ground wisely.
Soil conditions under a structure make a big difference in how it fares in an earthquake. Soft or muddy soil amplifies ground movement and makes foundations less stable. Hard or rocky soil is generally better, though in mountainous areas, steeply sloping ground can be prone to slides, and rock outcrops or cliffs uphill from a building site can break loose in a quake.
3. Plan ahead, and plan conservatively.
Following a prepared plan and a budget will more likely yield a robust structure, with its doors and windows, columns and walls placed sensibly and safely. Making it up along the way — a common practice in rural construction — can lead to unbalanced, incomplete buildings and skimping on materials when money runs out.
4. Check the quality of materials.
Weak materials will result in a weak construction. Ms. Stephenson suggested several simple field testing methods.
To check the strength of bricks, drop two of them from a height of four feet and see if they crack or break. For steel reinforcing rods, try to bend one of them into a square; if it does not bend three times, it may contain carbon and be too brittle for the purpose.
Timber’s flexibility can be very useful in tying together a masonry structure. But deforestation has made good quality lumber scarce in
5. Anchor the building well.
The stronger the foundation, the more force a building can generally withstand in an earthquake, provided it is well anchored to the ground. For a single-story masonry house, foundation footings should be at least two and a half to three feet deep and wide.
6. Tie the building together.
Masonry buildings need horizontal bands built into them that can tie the walls together and make the building move as a unit in an earthquake. Steel or reinforced concrete may be used on larger buildings in urban areas, but in a rural house, it is more usually lumber or bamboo.
There should be horizontal bands at the floor level and at the tops and bottoms of windows, and there should be at least one for every two meters of wall height.
The corners of the building should also have vertical reinforcement.
7. Columns must be secured.
Many buildings collapsed
in the capital, Kathmandu, because they were built with columns of varying sizes that were not anchored properly. The columns toppled easily in the quake.
8. Avoid top-heaviness.
Heavy roofs are dangerous in earthquakes. Roofing materials like stone and ceramic tile should be avoided. Corrugated metal, which has become much more common in rural areas, is much lighter and much safer.
9. Keep water away from the foundation.
Standing or flowing water can weaken a masonry building’s foundation and walls, especially when cheap bricks and other materials of uncertain quality have been used. Good drainage is a must to protect the building’s integrity, especially in a country like Nepal that is subject to monsoons.
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