2010-01-26

earthquake-proofing my adobe-only walls

proj.apt`sanctum/earthquake-proof

1.18:
. since haiti has made earthquakes so visible,
I checked out my area's history for them,
and it has a big one;
worse yet, my simple house holds its roof up
with nothing but brittle adobe!
. the 4 shelving kits might be strong enough
to provide a breaker from falling roof
used as walls for an inner sanctum .
. one problem with the sanctum reusing shelving
while sanctum is still being same size as bed
is finding a way to enter and exit the bed .
. start design from scratch .
1.21:
. more ideas for reusing shelves,
this time getting out of bed is possible
by having the shelves wider apart
from the middle of the cot .
. they are 4 stories tall;
could make 3 stories, and use the extra
shelf' stories for bridging . (see picts)
. place 3-story shelves on all 4 sides of cot-bed,
. the stories fit by pipes fitting sockets
in each corner of shelf;
the pipes of the spare stories
can be cut so that the shelves are
still fitting together by pipe and socket
even when reused as cross beams .
. on the ends there is one corner that isn't pipe&socket'd,
but the other end can be strapped for security .
. chk shelf size for overlap
just a bit slim for current cot;
but, the piping provides a bit of wiggle .

1.22:
. with the cot squeezed in,
there can be some problems getting at shelves;
so bring shelves out from wall
in order to be able to load the shelves
from the non-cot sides
there'll still be plenty of light for plants .
1.24:
. 3 of the shelving systems are black,
and one is white;
I had assumed color was the only diff'
but they use different piping systems;
. the white tubes can be on top,
which means nixing all the black legs,
since there's only 3sets out of 4 .
. reuse the 3 black shelving systems without legs .
. pushed against west wall is the only way to have
dresser drawers access on the east wall .
. if needing more shelves,
the sockets in all shelves are all the same size .

1.25: redo floor matting:
. foam from south.bedroom that was under and around cot
is now replaced by shelving systems wider footprint .
reuse floor matting for walkways around shelving,
and 2 leftovers are put at entrance of house and bathroom .

1.25: custom pieces:
. make template out of paper,
mark 1st pipe cut with paper template .
. test piece for fit .
. mark other 3 pieces with 1st piece and hack marks .
. used a shelf from white shelving system
to add extra layer over head .

1.25: straps:
. the cross-shelves at the foot and head of system
are piped in place at only 2 of their 4 corners .
. used parachute cord to hold the loose corners
on the edges of the shelving they rest on .

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