Building Safety

Our homes are engineered/built to the 2009 IRC (International Residential Code) and also the 1999 SBCCI (Standard For Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction) since most of Alaska is in a wind zone higher then what the IRC covers. Then we've implemented the adopted local MOA (Municipality of Anchorage) code amendments.

The MOA adoptions are to help protect against Earthquake (Seismic), Snow and Wind loads that effect us here in Alaska.

The Mat-Su Borough doesn't require builders to follow the MOA adoptions, but there's a reason the MOA has taken these building safety steps to protect the public.

1964 Earthquake ring any bells?

In additional to our 1-year limited warranty we also have a 10-year structural warranty and the added materials and hardware really make a difference in the structural integrity of the building. Safety first...

Shop and compare the quality of construction when looking for your new home and see the difference in what's behind the sheetrock.

What does earthquake design do?

The lateral loads generated by an earthquake or high winds travel through the sheeting and diaphragms using an intentionally designed path for these lateral loads to follow. This is different then the vertical loads that travel down to the foundation in the framing members.

If is very important to have a complete path from the roof to the footing. Imagine three feet of wet snow on your roof and your home swaying back and forth in an earthquake. If your home is well designed and built to the International Residential Codes (IRC) and the code adoptions of the Municipality of Anchorage by the Building Safety Division it will channel the forces evenly through the walls to the ground. Homes poorly designed are more likely not designed for lateral loads at all and will incur more damage.

Engineered loads are given carefully designed paths to the foundation. These load pathways include shear wall hold-downs, nailing and proportion of wall height to width ratio (aspect ratio), wall-to-wall straps and tie-downs, diaphragm blocking and nailing, drag strut splice, and roof-to-wall anchors. The lateral forces need a complete and continuous system that carries the loads evenly and take them to the foundation. A weak spot in the path stopd the loads from following the designed path.

A seam not properly nailed can cause the loads to travel through a different section of the wall. This extra load will cause deflection that will cause cracks or even fail completely. Live loads traveling to the ground pass through a sheet of OSB until it reaches the edge of the sheet. At the edge it transfers to the nails, then into the stud, then to the nails in the next sheet and not continues through to the next sheet.