Disaster-Resistant Home Designing - Safety First
Disaster-resistant homes designing means that you design the homes in a way that you are better prepared to avoid damage, suffering and death casualties.
13/03/2019
Disaster-resistant structures are highly recommended to cope with different catastrophic weather conditions. Severe weather conditions happen when torrential rains, heavy dust devils, tornadoes, hurricanes, and twisters go out of control. These are parts of common natural phenomena that appear to be occurring more frequently. Striking weather patterns force homeowners to think about how best to design their homes against them.
Irreparable destruction caused by Irma, Katrina, and other catastrophic hurricanes are enough to make most people believe that no measures will be enough to save your property. However, that’s not necessarily the case.
Disaster-Resistant Home Design: How to Combat Catastrophic Environmental Changes
First, one must figure out essential measures to minimize the total impact of the calamities on your home. With a view to coping with these natural disasters, effective measures have to be taken. The best preventive measure will be to design your home in a way so that it will resist the force of the calamity. We have also worked out some home designs to help you in this regard:
1. Hurricane-resistant home design
When weather conditions go bad, your home's windows and doors can cover your entry points if they are made of powerful material. Your windows should be made of a thickly wielded net, which shields against the fast blowing gusts of wind. Also, it’s imperative to make sure that windows and doors are installed at the right points of the house to resist hurricanes. The more technically and tactfully oriented a house is, the more resistant it will prove.
2. Flood-resistant home design
Excessive torrential rains and poor drainage system invite regular flooding. Hurricanes and tsunamis in coastal areas may also bring about a flood. Floods, just like other catastrophic natural calamities, can be extremely dangerous and damaging. Moreover, they also destroy properties, fields, crops, plants, and other valuable assets.
To prevent these huge losses, especially lives and property, you should follow these tips:
● Build your home
on stilts, an old traditional method in the
various places prone to flooding like Thailand,
New Orleans, etc.
● Raise your home above the
waters and protect it just by building a sturdy
and waterproof wall.
● Doors and windows
should be fully flood-proof. Dry waterproofing
is especially necessary to keep the water out of
the house.
● Spalling of bricks in the house
can force the topmost layer to peel off the
bricks, thus causing leakage. It lets water come
in from different sides. Fortunately, if you
have a
brick repair kit, you can easily cement
potential leakage spots on your own.
3. Earthquake-resistant home design
Natural disasters are often unexpectedly imminent and dangerously threatening to communities nationwide. Some areas in particular are highly prone to earthquakes. Earthquakes are characterized by sudden jolts in the ground caused by the shift of tectonic plates in the Earth.
When earthquake-resistant homes or buildings are designed, special flexible iron rods are used to bear the jolts caused by an earthquake.
To assure the seismic safety of the houses, you should consider these important earthquake-resistance factors:
● For walls
and foundation, mortar will be the best.
●
The height of the wall above the floor to the
ceiling must be considered technically.
●
The size and placement of doors and windows in
walls must be given utmost importance.
● The
level of the eaves of sloping roofs should be
kept in market.
● The junction of walls in
every corner should be given due weight-age.
● The wooden beams must be used in roofs and
floors.
The following materials should be used to combat the shock of deadly earthquakes:
● Light-weight aluminum.
● Laminated glass
panels.
● Post-consumer recycled plastic
panels.
All these elements can help the whole structure withstand the heavy jolts caused by an earthquake.
4. Fire-resistant home design
A fire-resistant home is a strategic priority for the residents and builders alike. With the climatic changes on the rise, severe weather conditions like acute cold and hot weather can cause severe damages to properties.
Due to the rise in wildfire, the builders and homeowners are forced to fuel the need for designing fire-resistant homes. A fireproof-home is equipped with passive fire protection shields, fireproof exterior walls, roofs, windows, and doors.