Older home remodeling in Monrovia, Los Angeles County
Older Home Remodels in Monrovia
In an older Monrovia house with an unbolted sill or unbraced cripple walls, seismic work comes first. Bolting, bracing, fire maps and the city permit.
If an older Monrovia house has no anchor bolts tying its sill to the foundation, or the cripple walls under its floor have no bracing, seismic work moves to the top of the remodel. New wiring, plumbing and plaster all hang on that frame, and a house that shifts in an earthquake can tear them loose. So the bolting and bracing are designed, permitted and inspected before the rooms above are opened.
Bolting and bracing the frame
Anchor bolts are set through the mudsill into the concrete at the spacing the plans call for, and the cripple walls are sheathed with structural plywood nailed on a set pattern. Where the foundation is cracked or crumbling, an engineer decides whether it can be repaired or a section has to be replaced. Posts and beams under the floor are checked for rot and settling, then shimmed or replaced. Any crawlspace plumbing or wiring due for replacement is rerouted during this phase, which spares a later trip under the floor.
Fire maps and the Monrovia permit
Monrovia issues its own building permits, and the seismic retrofit and the remodel can be reviewed as one set of drawings. State fire hazard severity maps include sections of Monrovia, and on a lot inside one, new vents, replaced windows and reworked eaves may have to meet ember-resistance rules. Foundation vents disturbed during the retrofit are screened with ember-resistant mesh. Kept wood windows, casings and doors are protected during the structural phase and repaired after it, so the house keeps its original face toward the street.
What we can do for a house in Monrovia
Whole-house work leads, and every other service is available for the same house.
Cities close by
Planning work on a house in Monrovia?
Tell us about it. We will walk through the house and send a written scope.