Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Plumbers Lloyd Bird (left) and Jeff Sharp of Shamaina Plumbing install vents inside a home under construction to replace a house that was demolished as a result of damage caused by last year's earthquake.

Opportunity rises
from demolished home

South Sound family chooses to rebuild rather than repair

CHRIS CLOUGH, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Thursday, February 28, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Crumbled chimneys. Fractured foundations. Damaged drywall.

For many homeowners, these were the primary casualties of last year's Nisqually Earthquake.

For Mike and Jeannie Dahl, their whole house was a lost cause.

"Between dealing with the different bureaucracies -- insurance, FEMA, the Small Business Administration, demolition and asbestos abatement -- it seems like the quake happened five years ago," Mike Dahl said.

The Dahls had lived in their two-story, 3,300-square-foot home on Sherwood Drive in Olympia since 1977. The house was built in 1964.

"It had a 12-foot wide fireplace that was 4 feet deep and two stories," Dahl said. "The chimney cap shook off in the quake and made an 8-foot by 3- foot hole in the cathedral ceiling."

Dahl said the home was well built, but the wave action from the quake and fill dirt that was insufficiently compressed probably were a damaging combination.

"We're on a slope, and it just hit us at the wrong angle. The FEMA guy said we won the quake lottery -- unfortunately, it was a costly one," Dahl said.

The home was damaged throughout -- from the roof to the basement floor.

"When we finally had a contractor out to look at the house, he said it would cost $298,000 to repair," Dahl said of the monthlong evaluation process.

Starting over

Instead of repairing a 1960s home, the Dahls opted to start from scratch.

"We looked at the cost to repair and the cost to replace, which was a little more," Dahl said. "We decided to replace."

Because the house was insured, there was no help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Because they chose to rebuild rather than repair, the Dahls, after months of paperwork, were unable to get a loan from the Small Business Administration.

Instead, the Dahls augmented their insurance settlement with a home loan and started building a new two-story, 3,700-square-foot home in October. It's slated for completion in July.

The design has earthquake proofing at or near the top of the list of each feature.

For example:

- The footings are 6 inches wider than code, and extra steel rebar is woven throughout the foundation.

- The house has more shear walls for support.

- Compression and pin piles, which run between 6 and 18 feet deep under parts of the foundation and provide stability in the event of an earthquake, are part of the plan.

"We don't want to go through an earthquake problem again," Dahl said.

The Dahls aren't alone.

Richard Erwin, of Erwin & Associates, said he is still busy with masonry work, such as repairing chimneys.

Stronger homes

Erwin said he now sees homeowners paying more attention to preventive maintenance.

"We have, in general, a lot of folk that have made adjustments, such as putting gussets on posts and beams under the house to better tie them together," Erwin said.

"In older homes, we've also tied houses to the foundation, which wasn't part of the code when some of them were built."

Erwin said the quake raised awareness, which could be a silver lining.

"A lot of people took a careful look at their houses for the first time after the quake," he said. "The upgrades bring the older homes up to current codes, and that will help them fare better in a potential quake."

And, as the Dahls attest, earthquake insurance is a helpful backup, particularly when a home is severely damaged.

"There were anxious times, but overall State Farm did an outstanding job for us," Dahl said. "The insurance wasn't that much -- $200 or $300 a year -- but it would have been devastating if we didn't have it."

Chris Clough is business editor of The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or cpclough@olympia.gannett.com.

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