GDE,R240.

4/19/00 8:46 AM

Page 1

A P A
T h e E n g i n e e r e d Wo o d A s s o c i a t i o n

HOMEOWNERS

GUIDE

EARTHQUAKE
SAFEGUARDS

1997 APA THE ENGINEERED WOOD ASSOCIATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY COPYING, MODIFICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR OTHER USE OF THIS PUBLICATION OTHER THAN AS EXPRESSLY AUTHORIZED BY APA IS PROHIBITED BY THE U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS.

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:46 AM

Page 2

A P A
T h e E n g i n e e r e d Wo o d A s s o c i a t i o n

DO

THE

RIGHT

THING

RIGHT

Wood is good. It is the earths natural, energy efficient and renewable

building material.
Engineered wood is a better use of wood. It uses less wood to make
more wood products.
Thats why using APA trademarked plywood, oriented strand board and APA EWS
glued laminated timbers is the right thing to do.

A few facts about wood.

Were not running out of trees. One-third of the United States land base
731 million acres is covered by forests. About two-thirds of that 731 million acres is
suitable for repeated planting and harvesting of timber. But only about half of the land
suitable for growing timber is open to logging. Most of that harvestable acreage also is
open to other uses, such as camping, hiking, hunting, etc.

Were growing more wood every day. American landowners plant more than
two billion trees every year. In addition, millions of trees seed naturally. The forest
products industry, which comprises about 15 percent of forestland ownership, is
responsible for 41 percent of replanted forest acreage. That works out to more than one
billion trees a year, or about three million trees planted every day. This high rate of
replanting accounts for the fact that each year, 27 percent more timber is grown
than is harvested.

Manufacturing wood is energy

efficient. Wood products made up
47 percent of all industrial raw materials
manufactured in the United States, yet
consumed only 4 percent of the energy
needed to manufacture all industrial raw
materials, according to a 1987 study.

Material

Percent of
Production

Percent of
Energy Use

Wood

47

Steel

23

48

Aluminum

Good news for a healthy planet. For every ton of wood grown, a young forest
produces 1.07 tons of oxygen and absorbs 1.47 tons of carbon dioxide.

Wood. Its the right product for the environment.

NOTICE:
The recommendations in
this guide apply only to
panels that bear the APA
trademark. Only panels
bearing the APA trademark
are subject to the
Associations quality
auditing program.

A PA

RED
GINEE TION
THE EN
SSOCIA
A
D
O
WO

RATED

ING
SHEATH CH
2
15/3 IN

32/1D6FOR SPACING
SIZE

RE 1

EXPOSU

000

PS 1-95

C-D

PRP-10

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 3

CONTENTS
Earthquakes and Buildings . . . . . . .4
Shear Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Cripple Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

he massive destruction caused by

Californias 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake jolted many homeowners out of
complacency and into action. As a result,
seismic retrofit has become a popular remodeling
project. Although the quake was tragic, it proved
in a dramatic way what engineers, architects and
builders have known for years: wood-frame
construction is inherently more resistant to
earthquake damage than other types of
construction.

Retrofit Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

New Construction Case Study . . . . .8
Foundations and Foundationto-Wall Connections . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Other Substructure Attachments . .12
Chimneys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
General Hazard Reduction . . . . . .13
APA Wood Structural Panels . . . . .14
Additional Information . . . . . . . . .15

The earthquake also showed that the proper

use of wood structural panels can help a home
survive a major earthquake with little or no
damage. When engineers from APA The
Engineered Wood Association arrived in
California a few days after the quake, they
observed a marked difference between the
performance of wood-frame buildings with
adequate seismic design details and the
performance of homes without such features.
This APA Homeowners Guide for Earthquake
Safeguards shows some of the ways APA wood
structural panels can be used to protect a home,
its contents and most importantly its
inhabitants, from damage or injury during
an earthquake.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 4

EARTHQUAKES
AND BUILDINGS

In an earthquake the ground rocks,

twists, heaves and subsides, changing
direction and speed all the while. Such
violent and chaotic ground movement
sets buildings in motion. Houses tend
to shift off their foundations and some
structural elements may overturn
(Figure A). Houses literally come apart
at the seams, section by section and
piece by piece. But wood-frame houses,
if properly attached to the foundation
and tied together structurally, can resist
seismic loads and reduce the likelihood
of earthquake damage.
The light weight of wood-frame buildings results in less force from inertia.
Less force means less damage (Figure
B). Woods natural flexibility also is an
advantage when seismic forces are
brought to bear. The nailed joints in
wood-frame buildings dissipate energy
and motion.

But woods inherent earthquake resistance must be accompanied by design

and construction techniques that take
advantage of those characteristics.
Wood structural panels nailed to wall
framing add rigid bracing, help resist
lateral loads and help tie framing members together. Bolted connections at the
sill plate/foundation joint help keep the
house in one spot. Securely connected
wall, floor and roof framing also help tie
a house together and make it a single,
solid structural unit. Proper connections are a major factor in holding a
house together during an earthquake.
Modern building codes require seismic
design elements in new construction.
Those elements typically include the
measures mentioned above. Consult
your local building codes for the
requirements in your area. Older houses
frequently need retrofitting if they are to
withstand earthquakes. While this
brochure deals primarily with retrofit
applications, the same principles apply
to new construction.

FIGURE B
WHEN THE GROUND MOVES
This series of illustrations shows, in
an exaggerated way, what a house
goes through during and after a
simple north-south lurch. Illustration
courtesy of Fine Homebuilding
magazine.

Building at
rest; ground
at rest

Southern
lurch begins

Northern
lurch begins

Ground at rest

FIGURE A
THE EFFECT OF LATERAL FORCE ON STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

Ground
at rest;
building
continues
to move

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 5

SHEAR WALLS
FIGURE C

Installing wood structural panels to

create shear walls is the best-known way
to strengthen wood-frame buildings. A
shear wall is more than the sum of its
parts. Its a system a single unit that
ties together the floor, roof, walls and
foundation to give a building greater
resistance to lateral loads. Professional
engineering may be required to design
shear walls for some houses. In most
cases however, nominal nailing schedules recommended by APA for panel-toframing connections will provide
adequate shear resistance (Figure C).
The top of a shear wall is fastened to the
second floor or roof framing and the
bottom is fastened to the sill plate. The
sill plate is in turn fastened to the foundation at regular intervals as required by
local codes.
Most exterior walls of wood-frame
houses can become shear walls. When
retrofitting, remove board sheathing and
apply wood structural panels directly to
framing. In many cases, the original
siding can be re-applied over the panels.

SHEAR WALL CORNER DETAIL

Studs

APA panels
nailed to studs
and to sill plate.

Materials
APA Rated Sheathing or APA Rated
Siding panels are recommended.
Common nails should be used to fasten
APA Rated Sheathing to framing. For
APA Rated Siding, use hot-dipped
galvanized box nails.

Alternatively, a single layer of APA panel

siding nailed directly to blocked and
anchored framing can serve as both
a structural shear wall and as
exterior siding.

Doing the Job

Panel installation should begin at the
corners of the house. Space APA panels
1/8 inch at ends and edges unless otherwise specified by the manufacturer.
Spacing allows panels to expand and
contract with changes in moisture conditions. Nails should be installed
6 inches o.c. along panel edges and
12 inches o.c. at intermediate supports.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 6

CRIPPLE WALLS
FIGURE D

Cripple walls, the short stud walls

between the floor and foundation of
some houses, were one of the most
common points of failure during the
Loma Prieta earthquake. Turning
the cripple wall into a shear wall
reduces the risk of collapse during
an earthquake.

Materials
APA Rated Sheathing or APA Rated
Siding panels are recommended.
Common nails are adequate for sheathing panels. Hot-dipped galvanized box
nails are suggested for siding panels.

CRIPPLE WALL WITH APA PANELS INSTALLED TO CREATE SHEAR WALL

APA panels
Nails 6" o.c. on panel edges,
12" o.c. at intermediate supports.

3/4" vent holes

with 1/4" x 1/4"
wire screen

Sill plate

Anchor bolt

Doing the Job

As with ordinary shear walls, panel
installation should begin at the corners.
The panels can be installed on the
inside or the outside of the cripple wall
framing. Panels should be placed horizontally on cripple walls shorter than
four feet and vertically on those four feet
or higher. If the panels are installed on
the inside of the framing, drill a row of
3/4-inch-diameter vent holes five inches
above the sill plate and a second row
five inches below the top plate of the
cripple wall. The holes should be centered between framing members for
even and efficient ventilation (Figure D).
The vent holes should be covered
with 1/4" x 1/4" galvanized wire screen
to prevent mice from entering the
wall cavity.

Foundation

Failed Cripple Wall

Inadequate cripple walls, like the one pictured above, were a major point of failure in the Loma
Prieta earthquake. Photo courtesy of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 7

RETROFIT
CASE STUDY

Santa Cruz Victorians Become

Seismic Design Laboratory
In 1989, at the corner of Center and
Elm streets in downtown Santa Cruz,
Calif., architect Michael OHearn unwittingly created a laboratory for the study
of wood structural panels in seismic
design applications.
On that corner, at 214 and 210 Elm
Street, were two identical Victorian
style homes. According to OHearn,
the twins were built 90-100 years ago,
by the same builder, with identical
materials and using the same
construction techniques.
By 1984, when OHearn bought them,
both houses had been through multiple
remodels. Although originally designed
as single family homes, 210 Elm Street
had become a five-plex and 214 a fourplex. OHearn remodeled the pair
yet again.
He started with #210, installing APA
Rated wood structural panels as a shear
element on cripple-wall framing. The sill
plate also was bolted to the foundation.
OHearn was well aware of the shear
resistance provided by the panels and
knew of their value in seismic design
applications. The plywood served as
our shear element throughout, he said.

Unfortunately, there was no time to

install new panels at #214 before
Oct. 17, 1989 the date of the 7.1
magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake.
The building came apart in four sections, OHearn said. Five people
were in the house when the quake
struck, but luckily, no one was
seriously injured.

repair, he said. The whole building

had to be jacked up and slid back
together on a new foundation.

By contrast, 210 Elm St., with its wood

structural panel shear walls, suffered
only minor damage.

For homes more than 20 years old

located in areas of seismic activity,
I strongly urge owners to carefully consider seismic retrofit, OHearn said.
Its cheaper to retrofit now than to
repair after a quake.

The one that we had done some seismic structural work on (#210) probably cost us $5,000 to repair. The other
one (#214) cost us $260,000 to

In a sense, 214 Elm Street served as the

control element in this unlikely experiment, the results of which only confirmed OHearns thinking on the value
of wood structural panels in seismic
design applications.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 8

NEW CONSTRUCTION
CASE STUDY

Seismically Safe Designs

Dont Have to Be Boring
When Tom and Chris Gaspich built
their new house, in Aptos, Calif., they
had no idea it would become a testament to the value of wood structural
panels in seismic design applications.
But it did.
Nor did they realize that on Oct. 17,
1989 just three days after the housewarming part northern California
would be rocked by the most devastating earthquake in decades. But
it happened.
When the last aftershocks subsided, the
Gaspich house stood firm while hundreds of other structures in the area
were rendered uninhabitable.
Architect Elsbeth Newfield, of Los
Gatos, Calif., attributes the homes
structural soundness to extensive use of
structural panel shear walls.
The 2,200-square-foot house sits on a
bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean just
ten miles from the epicenter of the
Loma Prieta earthquake. An existing
slab on the 4,900-square-foot lot limited the footprint of the house and
forced Newfield to include an 18-inch
crawl space in order to put the plumbing where it belonged.

While the crawl space raised the house

and improved the ocean view, it also
created a problem. Local codes limited
the height of the roof plate to no more
than 12 feet above grade. To compensate for the loss of 18 inches of height
in the second story, Newfield left the
ceiling open all the way to the peak of
the 10:12-pitch roof.
Theres not a flat ceiling in the house,
Newfield said. The roof is the ceiling.
The unusually steep pitch of the roof
provides a wealth of interior space and a
good deal of visual drama.
Newfield used APA-trademarked wood
structural panels to make up for rigidity
and structural stability lost by eliminat-

ing the second floor ceiling joists. The

shear walls are sheathed with 3/4-inch
and 5/8-inch APA Rated Sheathing,
Exposure 1. The roof sheathing consists
of 15/32-inch APA Rated Sheathing,
Exposure 1. She specified 3/4-inch APA
Rated Sturd-I-Floor tongue & groove for
the first- and second-story diaphragm
floor. Exterior walls are covered with
19/32-inch APA Rated Siding 303,
Texture 1-11.
We literally could not have done it
without plywood, Newfield said. The
Gaspich house shows that wood structural panels can make an earthquakeresistant house architecturally daring
without sacrificing structural integrity.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 9

FOUNDATIONS AND
FOUNDATION-TO WALL CONNECTIONS

FIGURE E
TYPICAL MECHANICAL WEDGE ANCHOR BOLT

While shear walls can strengthen a

house, they are only one of several steps
that can be taken to lessen the likelihood of earthquake damage. Good
seismic design starts with the foundation. Three kinds of foundations are
covered in this brochure: post and
pier; poured concrete walls; and
slab-on-grade.

Nut
Washer
Sill plate

The Uniform Building Code requires

foundation plates or sill plates to be
bolted to the foundation with 1/2-inchdiameter bolts spaced no more than six
feet apart. One bolt must be placed
within 12 inches of each end of each
section of the plate. If an existing house
has no connections, or if the connections dont meet code requirements,
retrofitting should be considered.
Anchor bolts are the most common way
to attach a house to its foundation, but
a thorough inspection of the foundation
should precede bolting. The concrete
must be strong enough to hold the
anchor bolts. If the concrete is weak or
deteriorating and drilling holes for bolts
is likely to cause cracks or crumbling,
the foundation should be replaced.

Foundation

Anchor Bolts
Anchor bolts are manufactured in a
variety of types and sizes. Mechanical
wedge anchor bolts are the type most
commonly used in seismic retrofit applications (Figure E). A metal collar near
the tip of the conical end is what makes
mechanical wedge anchor bolts work.
Once the bolt is in place, a few turns on

the nut will lift the bolt and expand the

collar, locking it in place. Anchor bolts
must be installed before panels are
nailed to the wall framing. Once
installed, the panels will block access
to the sill plate. In new construction,
L bolts or J bolts, inserted when the
foundation is poured, are the most
common type of anchor bolt.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 10

GDE,R240.0

Post-and-Pier Foundations
The most common problem with
post-and-pier foundations during an
earthquake is the tendency of posts to
shift off piers and beams to shift off
posts. Failure at either of these points
can cause the substructure, and sometimes the entire house, to collapse. But
steps can be taken to strengthen post
and pier foundations. Bolting posts to
piers and beams is the most common
method. Lateral support can be
achieved by installing 2x4s as diagonal
bracing from one post to the next.

Predrilled steel T-straps are

recommended for attaching beams to
posts. For attaching posts to piers,
predrilled, shop-fabricated, heavy gauge,
bent sheet metal connectors are recommended (Figure F).

FIGURE F

REINFORCING POST AND PIER FOUNDATIONS

Beam

Nailed structural-panel tie across

beams joints

8d nails

3/8" structural panel gusset each side

Post

Poured Concrete Foundation Walls

In new construction, poured concrete
walls are the most common type of
foundation for supporting raised
wood floors.
In houses built prior to modern building codes the foundation and sill plate
are not always attached, but retrofitting
with anchor bolts can substantially
improve a homes ability to withstand
an earthquake. There are two ways of
bolting sills to concrete foundations:
vertical and horizontal.

Horizontal bolting In horizontal bolting, a structural steel plate is needed to

tie the sill plate to the foundation. The
steel plate is attached to the sill plate
with lag screws and to the foundation
with anchor bolts.

FIGURE G

HORIZONTAL BOLTING

Add a shim between

plate and sill.

Vertical bolting can be accomplished

only if there is enough workspace
between the top of the sill plate and the
bottom of the wall top plate. Horizontal
bolting is useful where space between
foundation and floor is minimal.

Vertical bolting Vertical bolting is the

easiest way to attach a house to its
foundation. Mechanical wedge anchor
bolts are the only hardware needed.
Using a rotating-hammering drill or
rotohammer, simply drill the holes for
the anchor bolts through the sill plate
and into the foundation, then install
the bolts.

10

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 11

Slab-on-grade Foundations
Bolting sills to slab-on-grade foundations requires removal of exterior siding
or interior plaster or wallboard. The
code requirements for bolting slab-ongrade foundations are the same as those
for poured concrete foundation walls
and the job is done in the same way.
Mechanical wedge anchor bolts are the
only hardware needed.

FIGURE H
SHEAR WALL HOLD-DOWN ANCHOR

APA RATED SHEATHING

or APA RATED SIDING 303

Studs

1/4" steel bracket

Shear Wall Hold-down Anchors

Once the sill plate is bolted to the foundation, shear wall hold-down anchors
should be installed at each corner of the
house. While anchor bolts help keep a
building seated on its foundation, shear
wall hold-down anchors help prevent
walls from overturning. A steel bracket,
like the one pictured in Figure H, is
recommended. Anchor bolts are suggested for attaching the brackets to the
foundation. Lag screws or machine
bolts can be used to fasten the brackets
to wall framing (Figure H).

Bolts to framing
size as required

Sill Plate
Bolt to foundation
Concrete foundation

11

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 12

OTHER SUBSTRUCTURE
ATTACHMENTS

FIGURE I
FRAMING ANCHOR CONNECTIONS

The sill-to-foundation attachment is not

the only critical connection. Its important to remember that reinforcing one
connection transfers stresses to the next
weakest connection. Attaching the sill
plate to the foundation, or the posts,
beams and piers to one another, is not
enough to ensure seismic resistance.

Framing Anchor Connections

Framing anchors transmit stresses
between framing members once the sill
plate is attached to the foundation.
They also tie framing members together.
Figure I shows some of the ways framing anchors can be installed to
strengthen connections between floor
joist and sill plate, and floor joist and
band joist.

Floor joist

Band joist
Nails

Framing anchors

Concrete foundation

Floor Framing
Blocking between floor joists will help
prevent the joists from tipping over and
collapsing during an earthquake. Floor
joists should be blocked at all supports
and fastened to the band joist and
sill plate.

12

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 13

CHIMNEYS

Masonry chimneys are sometimes built

on their own foundations and are not
always structurally tied to the house. It
can be difficult to strengthen them and
they frequently collapse during earthquakes. One of the best ways to minimize damage from a collapsing masonry
chimney is to install wood structural
panels on the attic floor. The panels will
help stop falling bricks from crashing
through the ceiling and into the home.

Materials
23/32 APA Rated Sheathing.
Hardware
8d nails.
Doing the Job
Beginning along the wall next to the
chimney, nail panels to ceiling joists. If
the chimney is not along a wall, begin
next to the chimney itself. Install nails
6 inches o.c., making sure panels lie
flat and flush. Where necessary, trim
panels to fit around the chimney and
ceiling edges.

GENERAL HAZARD
REDUCTION

Even in structurally sound, earthquakeresistant buildings, damage from a

major earthquake can be significant and
expensive to repair. The contents of a
building often represent more of a hazard than the building itself. Nonstructural elements, such as plumbing,
mechanical and electrical systems
should be secured to prevent flooding,
fire and electrical shock.
Water heaters and other large appliances, such as furnaces, washers, dryers
and refrigerators, should be bolted or
strapped in place. If these appliances
move during a quake, their size and
weight can cause damage or injury.
Bookcases, china closets and other
pieces of furniture also should be
secured. Heavy or breakable items
should not be stored on high shelves
where they could fall and cause damage
or injury.
Broken gas lines are always a concern
after an earthquake. Many repairable
buildings have burned in fires caused by
gas leaks. Automatic safety valves,
which can be installed at the gas meter,
will shut off the gas during a major
quake and help prevent leaks.

Collapsed Masonry Chimney

Masonry chimneys, like the one shown above, can easily collapse during a quake. Reinforcing
the attic floor with APA panels can reduce the chances of damage and injury due to falling
bricks. While the chimney shown fell outside the house, a second chimney fell inside and
destroyed a bedroom ceiling.

13

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 14

APA WOOD
STRUCTURAL PANELS

The construction systems described in

this brochure are based on designs
using APA wood structural panels. APA
trademarked panels conform to standards based on either the panels
intended end use, or the way the panel
is manufactured. Some panels meet the
requirements of both standards.

APA Performance Standards

Performance standards set requirements based on a panels end use,
while manufacturing standards
prescribe minimum manufacturing
requirements. APA performance-rated
panels are manufactured under the
provisions of APA PRP-108, Performance
Standards and Policies for Structural-Use
Panels, or under Voluntary Product
Standard PS 2-92, Performance Standard
for Wood-Based Structural-Use Panels. The
performance standards establish performance criteria for uniform, concentrated
and impact load capacities, fastenerholding ability, racking resistance,

dimensional stability, and bond durability. In addition to veneered plywood,

APA performance standards encompass
such other structural panel products as
composites and oriented strand board
(OSB). Panels conforming to the performance standard are referred to as APA
Rated Sheathing, APA Rated Sturd-IFloor or APA Rated Siding.

Manufacturing Standards
The manufacturing standard employed
by APA is called U.S. Product Standard
PS 1-95 for Construction and Industrial
Plywood. This voluntary standard was
developed cooperatively by the U.S.
Department of Commerce and the
construction and industrial plywood
industry. PS 1-95 establishes requirements for producing, marketing and
specifying construction and
industrial plywood.
Advantages of
APA Trademarked Panels
APA panels possess a unique combination of characteristics that make them
an invaluable material in seismic
design applications.

14

Strength APA panels resist racking, or

in-plane shape distortion. Because of
their resistance to splits they have excellent fastener-holding capabilities and
can be nailed very near panel edges.
Relative to their strength, wood structural panels are lightweight and easy to
handle, work and install.
Stiffness APA panels resist deflection
when confronted with the movement
and shifting forces of an earthquake.
That means buildings with wood
structural panel roofs, walls and
floors are less likely to collapse
during an earthquake.
Impact Resistance APA panels
improve upon woods well-known
ability to absorb shock. Their
construction and large size
distributes impact loads.
Workability APA panels can be
worked with ordinary tools and basic
carpentry skills. They can be cut,
routed, jointed, drilled, glued and fastened. Panels also can be bent to form
curved surfaces without losing strength.
For more information on performance
standards and grade designations ask for
the APA Product Guide: Grades and
Specifications, Form J20.

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 8:47 AM

Page 15

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

About APA The Engineered Wood Association

APA The Engineered Association is a nonprofit trade association whose
member mills produce approximately 70 percent of the wood structural
panel products manufactured in North America.
The Associations trademarks appear only on products manufactured by
member mills. The marks signify that the manufacturer is committed to
APAs rigorous program of quality inspection and testing and that panel
quality is subject to verification through APA audit.
The audit procedures verify that the manufacturer is in conformance with
APAs standards, set forth in APA PRP-108 Performance Standards and Policies
for Structural-Use Panels, PS 2-92, Performance Standards for Wood-Based
Structure-Use Panels or with the Department of Commerce U.S. Product
Standard PS 1-95 for Construction and Industrial Plywood.
APAs services go far beyond quality testing and inspection. Research and
promotion programs play important roles in developing and improving
plywood and other panel construction systems, and in helping users and
specifiers to better understand and apply panel products.
Always insist on panels bearing the mark of quality the APA trademark.
Your APA panel purchase is not only your highest possible assurance of
product quality, but an investment in the many trade services that APA
provides on your behalf.

Other Publications
While nothing will make a home completely earthquake-proof, the measures outlined in this brochure can make a house more earthquake resistant. For more information on wood structural panels in seismic design
applications, ask for the following APA publications:
APA Design/Construction Guide: Diaphragms, Form L350

$1

APA Design/Construction Guide: Residential & Commercial, Form E30

$4

APA Product Guide: Grades & Specifications, Form J20

$2

Design Concepts for Building in High Wind and Seismic Zones, Form W650 $1
The product use recommendations in this publication are based on APA The Engineered
Wood Associations continuing programs of laboratory testing, product research, and comprehensive field experience. However, because the Association has no control over quality of
workmanship or the conditions under which engineered wood products are used, it cannot
accept responsibility for product performance or designs as actually constructed. Because
engineered wood product performance requirements vary geographically, consult your local
architect, engineer or design professional to assure compliance with code, construction, and
performance requirements.

15

1997 APA - The Engineered Wood Association

GDE,R240.0

4/19/00 9:08 AM

Page 16

EARTHQUAKE SAFEGUARDS
H O M E O W N E R ' S

G U I D E

We have field representatives in most

major U.S. cities and in Canada who can help
answer questions involving APA trademarked
products. For additional assistance in specifying
APA engineered wood products, get in touch with
your nearest APA regional office. Call or write:
WESTERN REGION
7011 So. 19th St. P.O. Box 11700
Tacoma, Washington 98411-0700
(253) 565-6600 Fax: (253) 565-7265
EASTERN REGION
2130 Barrett Park Drive, Suite 102
Kennesaw, Georgia 30144-3681
(770) 427-9371 Fax: (770) 423-1703
U.S. HEADQUARTERS
AND INTERNATIONAL
MARKETING DIVISION
7011 So. 19th St. P.O. Box 11700
Tacoma, Washington 98411-0700
(253) 565-6600 Fax: (253) 565-7265

Addres
eb
s
W

www.apawood.org
PRODUCT SUPPORT HELP DESK
(253) 620-7400
E-mail Address: help@apawood.org
(Offices: Antwerp, Belgium; Bournemouth,
United Kingdom; Hamburg, Germany; Mexico City,
Mexico; Tokyo, Japan.) For Caribbean/Latin
America, contact headquarters in Tacoma.
The product use recommendations in this publication are based on APA The Engineered Wood
Associations continuing programs of laboratory
testing, product research, and comprehensive field
experience. However, because the Association has
no control over quality of workmanship or the conditions under which engineered wood products are
used, it cannot accept responsibility for product
performance or designs as actually constructed.
Because engineered wood product performance
requirements vary geographically, consult your
local architect, engineer or design professional to
assure compliance with code, construction, and
performance requirements.
Form No. R240A/Revised May 1997/0200

A P A
T h e E n g i n e e r e d Wo o d A s s o c i a t i o n