Seethis GW thread, with pictures.

is your basement under you garage??? Is it under the powder room...which way would the steps be going?

jkom, You seem the to be the only one with an understanding of the structural bracing necessary in an earthquake territory. The earthquake issue poses very real and expensive challenges in updating old houses. Do folks in other parts of the country not worry about crumbly concrete? I have only lived in the Pacific NW. It is actually quite common to see old houses lifted up on jacks and have the foundation re-poured and the house set on a new foundation. Our GC told us that it costs 50K-100K to do that. Since that is quite commonly done, my DH's proposal is to rotate the house at the same time if physically possible! In a $1mil house, it is a doable proposition. We live in a remodeled 1950s house right now. We took off all old lap-sheathing under the old siding, placed structural plywood sheathing with bracing everywhere. We had to get engineer's sign off prior to starting the project... We bolted framing to the foundation in the basement before finishing the basement. Our current house has been 'earthquake retrofitted'. It cost A LOT of money without really increasing the value of the house. When you go to sell the house, most people (young buyers or people from elsewhere in the country) don't realize what it takes to do that. We have friends in the SF bay area, CA that bought a house with the idea of total remodel. When they started to rip out things, they discovered that the foundation was damaged beyond repair and the previous owners covered it up to sell it. They actually demolished the house, then rebuilt on the lot. They sued the original owners... Our friends ultimately won the case. I think our friends with really deep pockets may have ended up paying more money in legal fees than what they got out of the settlement because they were MAD about the fraud. These things happen, buying things that are beyond what one had anticipated. I am putting a big padding number to not be surprised, hence my $500K to $750K number to update structurally to not have a total loss.... Anyhow, old houses with structural issues in an earthquake territory is a sad thing. There was an amazing old house on a steep hill in my neighborhood with really a stunning view. WAY WAY better than the one we are considering. The house was used as the Italian Consulate in its heyday. It even had a ballroom. Due to structural issues, the person who bought the house ended up donating the property to the city and the house was demolished, and the lot subsequently became a park. I think the tax break they got from the donation was easier to swallow than what it could have cost to restore. One of the due diligence we need to do is to see if we can get a reasonable earthquake insurance on this property. Many old houses in Seattle cannot get ANY earthquake insurance unless you do the extensive earthquake retrofit. For those folks not familiar with earthquake premiums, you buy separate earthquake policies in addition to the regular home owners insurance. The premium is usually equal to the regular home owners insurance. The deductible is generally 20K or more on an earthquake insurance. We have multiple rentals and we carry earthquake insurance on all of them. It costs several thousand $s every year for that! After what happened in Japan and Katrina, we are unsure if the earthquake insurance will actually be helpful if the city was a TOTAL disaster to the point where bridges fell down, tall buildings tumbled. But alas, we play by the rule and hope that the insurance companies also play by the rule.

look at what lacusine did. It looks like her appliance garage opens and then slides in on one side. Would that work for you? Here's a link to the thread Here is a link that might be useful: link to craigslist