Now, I know you’re probably thinking that this is sure an odd question to present to a homeowner, especially one who is not knowledgeable when it comes to the internal, structural aspects of their home. But, it is a topic worthy of discussion, without a doubt.
Fortunately or unfortunately, most houses are crippled, meaning that they have a cripple wall. A cripple wall serves as the meat of the sandwich that is the space between the bottom of your house and the foundation, which are metaphorically two pieces of bread. This area can be referred to as the crawl space. While it serves a positive purpose, it is a weak point when a house falls victim to severe movement as a result of, say, an earthquake. It can topple over easily. Attacking this weakness is one of the key pieces of working towards a house that meets standards of seismic safety.
To fix the above, one turns to cripple wall bracing, which is actually a simple process. All it does is reinforce the cripple wall by attaching bolts and plates to areas where the wall meets and is formed. Normally, it is simple wood, for example, nailed to wood with nothing in between. By adding these bolts and plates, the cripple wall becomes much more structurally rigid and can withstand much more flex and pressure. This can mean the difference between a cracked foundation, or much worse, a house that has collapsed.
This is why the term seismic safety and its specialists exist. Most homeowners obviously don’t think through this kind of information. They enter a beautiful home with a realtor and don’t think to ask, “Is the cripple wall braced?” Also, while its the process is simple enough, larger buildings and more expensive projects have builders cutting costs, leading to the problems discussed here.