Does Your Building Have “Tuck Under” Parking?

If your building was constructed in the 1970s or 80s, it may have tuck under parking. This is when the building has an open ground floor which is used for parking. Most of these buildings are wood frame.  The problem is that the open ground floor, sometimes called “soft-story construction” makes the building top heavy. The upper floors will act like a solid block, forcing the horizontal displacement down into the weaker first floor. In the event of an earthquake (or in some cases extremely high winds), this can cause the top part of the building to collapse down onto the parking floor, often sliding laterally in one direction. This can result in extreme damage to the building and almost certainly result in the destruction of any vehicles in the tuck under lot.    Read the article……………………..