One of our staffers recently attended a great emergency preparedness meeting, so here’s the 411. These questions and more were answered at a recent seminar hosted by Steve Gemmell, owner of Portland based Earthquake Tech.
Steve started out as a remodeling contractor but after a fateful phone call to an insurance company, asking about earthquake insurance for his new home, the then 25-year-old Gemmell had the “Aha Moment” that all entrepreneurial visionaries have. He switched his company over to doing earthquake retrofitting full-time. He initially taught himself how to do the retrofits, and now keeps his company up-to-date on the latest industry standards pertaining to retrofitting.
Steve’s PowerPoint answered all the questions a neophyte might have, and will make a true believer out of anyone. Steve’s honest and straightforward style brings forth his vision of making earthquake prep understandable to anyone. He outlined the different methods he uses for various structures. His system will work for any house, from turn-of-the-century to ultra modern.
Using bolts, steel plates and epoxy his 4 teams of installers have the right materials for any job. Generally speaking (although every case is unique) it’s about fastening metal plates to the foundation and the sill plate of a house, to mitigate the wall twisting torque that will reduce your house to rubble. His other methodologies include introducing plywood, bolts and brackets to help shore-up walls.
Steve has a way of accomplishing the retrofit that’ll fit almost any budget. He also knows the correct distance that the metal plates should be positioned on your foundation, to achieve the maximum benefit. For older homes, before 1970 many insurance companies demand that you have an earthquake retrofit before they’ll insurance your house. Steve is also well versed about natural gas leaks during an earthquake, and has the general know-how to make your house safer should this type of natural disaster strike.
