House shakes in the wind... Any tips?

[stfu&gbtw]

With the vast array of skills and knowledge around here, figure maybe someone has an idea what to do about this....

I live in a three story house, perched on a saddle between two mountains at about 9500' above sea level. We get wind out of the south, west, and north, in excess of 125 mph on a pretty regular basis in the winter. 141 mph is the record... When the wind gets up to around 100 mph, the house really starts to move.

The reason the house is so tall, is it allows for the solar panels to be above the trees during the winter. Obviously that is the single biggest contributor to the increased windload, but there's really nothing to be done about it and the solar pay off is huge. The only thing the original owner and builder did to increase stability in the wind was to double sheath the exterior. I'm sure it helps, but there's got to be a better solution.

I have siding project coming up, and was thinking to side the whole house in diagonally oriented 1x8 or 1x10 boards. Some other people have conceived of exoskeleton type solutions, sheathing the interior of the house with plywood, structural tie downs, concrete corner pilars with cables tied off to the frame, a freestanding brick or cinderblock exterior sheath, and other even less plausible solutions...

It's recently become apparent that we're going to stay here for quite a while, and the wind movement in the house is the biggest detractor from the overall quality of life living up here... The budget is not infinite, but if there is a great solution, we'd make a major investment in it. $50k would not be out of the question if it meant the wind movement and noise were reduced by 80+%...

Any ideas?

[Hugh Conway]

shitshow's newest thread.

[Scotsman50]

You're fucked.
Accept reality and put windmill on top of house. Wind power + Solar power, you are now a power generator: Reap rewards from power sales...save it up.. and buy a new house.

[stfu&gbtw]

You're fucked.
Accept reality and put windmill on top of house. Wind power + Solar power, you are now a power generator: Reap rewards from power sales...save it up.. and buy a new house.

Not grid tied... unless I start selling batteries, there will be no sales... besides which, I'd rather listen to the wind than a wind turbine. And the house isn't going to be sold... the situation has a couple of downsides, but the 270 degree views and being surrounded by 10,000 acres of national forest aren't easily replicated.

[Foggy_Goggles]

What exactly do you mean "it shakes"?

Do you have any cracking drywall or nail pops? I'm assuming you have a metal roof. Is the house engineered for those wind loads? Do you have anchor bolts? What does the exposed framing look like? What I'm getting at is do you have legitimate structural concerns or is it just noisy?

[ill-advised strategy]

Couldn't you sink some quickcrete anchors and run some heavy cable out at 45ish degree angles from structurally sound points high on the house?

[stfu&gbtw]

What exactly do you mean "it shakes"?

Do you have any cracking drywall or nail pops? I'm assuming you have a metal roof. Is the house engineered for those wind loads? Do you have anchor bolts? What does the exposed framing look like? What I'm getting at is do you have legitimate structural concerns or is it just noisy?

I mean, it SHAKES. Like, flat screen tv swaying back and forth, water sloshing around in the toilet, coin operated vibrating bed type of shakes... Shook a picture off the wall once... There is only one small crack in the interior drywall in an obvious weak spot between two windows. Structurally, I believe it's sound. I have copies of all the engineering documents from when the house was constructed, and the conditions are not unusual for this neighborhood. Most county code specs 130mph wind as the rating. A neighbor on the other side of the mountain had a structural issue that resulted in several cracked windows and a long crack in the interior drywall on the windward wall. Tearing that wall open revealed a studpack where there should have been an 8x8. There isn't anything like that going on at my place. But it's noisy and unsettling and it'd be worth a fair investment to reduce the effect.

Couldn't you sink some quickcrete anchors and run some heavy cable out at 45ish degree angles from structurally sound points high on the house?

I could do that, but I'd rather not have the cables sticking out from around the house.

[SB]

move

1234

[El Chupacabra]

I live in a three story house, perched on a saddle between two mountains at about 9500' above sea level. We get wind out of the south, west, and north, in excess of 125 mph on a pretty regular basis in the winter. 141 mph is the record... When the wind gets up to around 100 mph, the house really starts to move.

Curious: do you lose a lot of shingles/ siding/ solar panels/ anything not nailed down outside? Cars? Trailers? Firewood? Livestock?

These wind speeds are what the storm speeds are like over the sierra crest. The only buildings I've seen up on those exposed ridgelines are things like the tops of ski lifts, anchored into the ground and built like bunkers.

[Viva]

Open all windows on the facing and opposite side when the wind is blowing hard. Pick up a few paperweights, too.

[stfu&gbtw]

Curious: do you lose a lot of shingles/ siding/ solar panels/ anything not nailed down outside? Cars? Trailers? Firewood? Livestock?

These wind speeds are what the storm speeds are like over the sierra crest. The only buildings I've seen up on those exposed ridgelines are things like the tops of ski lifts, anchored into the ground and built like bunkers.

Not really.. the roof that was on the house when we bought it was some rolled bs... pieces would rip off and blow away. We replaced that with a 130mph rated asphalt shingle deal that hasn't moved an inch. At that altitude, the air is thin enough that it doesn't move cars and other large items. It did pick up a wood picnic table one night, throw it 30' across my deck and through the railing on the other side. Those are tied down now... lol...

[Lone Star]

my wood frame house on a barrier island is often exposed to or inundated by the surf. I'd like to my house to be less effected by this. without putting it on stilts or rebuilding, how can I avoid these problems? ps this is also really loud can i make it quieter?

[splat]

Cinderblock siding.

[skiballs]

See resonance frequency of structures.

[GeoMatt]

How do I say this nicely.... your house is fucked. Structurally speaking of course.

I have the same geometry issues - three stories (up to 45ft vertical wall - no roof included in that number), over 8,000 ft elevation, on an exposed ridgeline, and have seen up to 120mph gusts. My place was engineered well above code (deep pilings in granite, larger than spec'd framing, extra straps/braces, etc....), and it doesn't move anything like what you are seeing. Still likes to creak a little now and then, but I consider that normal.

Very unlikely that you can fix the issue through structural modification without spending alot of money - I'm guessing $150k+. You could always try to construct some kind of exterior wind break, but that will take your view away and create som odd asthetics for the property.

[irul&ublo]

[BmillsSkier]

See resonance frequency of structures.

The brown-note for buildings?

[mud]

My place up in Nederland use to shimmy around in high wind loads, nothing as bad as toilet water shaking but you could really feel the gusts in winter.

It's a SIP house built in '75 way over engineered back then but not up to current code. I ended up tearing off drywall on interior walls parallel to exterior walls then sheeting with 3/4 OSB to create shear walls where they were needed then covered back up with 1/4 drywall.

Did that up and downstairs and it stopped the wiggle. My next step is getting window hurricane storm shutters to drown out the wind scream.

[stfu&gbtw]

My place up in Nederland use to shimmy around in high wind loads, nothing as bad as toilet water shaking but you could really feel the gusts in winter.

It's a SIP house built in '75 way over engineered back then but not up to current code. I ended up tearing off drywall on interior walls parallel to exterior walls then sheeting with 3/4 OSB to create shear walls where they were needed then covered back up with 1/4 drywall.

Did that up and downstairs and it stopped the wiggle. My next step is getting window hurricane storm shutters to drown out the wind scream.

The interior sheathing sounds like a great idea... also sounds like an enormous PITA, but whatever, if it stops the shaking, it'll be 2-3 weeks of a disaster area followed by relative peace and quiet. Maybe I'll try to set up the whole project for next summer.. do the siding and the interior, and tear out all the carpet while I'm at it. There's a construction project to be done in the master bedroom as well... will probably tear that open before the new floors go in as well.

For the interior walls, did you sheath both sides?

[rideit]

Just start drinking more in the morning...stops the shakes.

[spindrift]

Build a big wind scoop into a tunnel at the ridge and then loop so the air shoots up near your place so it creates turbulence and deflects the wind from hitting the house full force. Simple

[jamal]

The only quick/easy thing I can think of is to pull off the drywall and add thicker plywall and more nails. Basically make the house heavier and stronger. Other option would be to do something like drop some steel columns next to the house and tie them into the structure.

[Pow4Brains]

Put plate structural bracing (~10 gauge sheetmetal 6" wide) on a diagonal across the studs, preferably encompassing more than one floor and from corner to corner if the window layout allows for it. Attach with Teco nails and screws for good measure (note screws are not allow by code and are not as strong but will help keep it in place better/longer IMO. Use the big ass ones with a thick shank like they use for decking). Then stucco the whole house with rock veneer around the perimeter. Aside from the wind, it has been amazing how much it has cut down the noise at our place. Note, I am NOT a structural engineer, the conditions you describe warrant having someone look at it.

Good luck.

Edit - As Mud pointed out OSB or ½” plywood at the corners is a minimum, I assumed your place is fully sheeted under the siding (preferred).

[plugboots]

Contact Annie Proulx.

[mud]

For the interior walls, did you sheath both sides?

No just one side laid lengthwise with blocking between the studs to add some strength. Use 1 3/4" staples instead of nails, staples are stronger.

Another option I thought of but figured it was overkill would be to build concrete block walls on each corner of the house then plaster it over so it looks like those old adobe homes in NM. Kinda like this fence is staggered although I would stagger it to the ground. All tied down with footers 3 or 4' into the ground.



Probably would need to drill thread rod into the cali corners or figure some other simpson attachment to hold it all together to the house. Have the forms stagger down from each corner starting about halfway up the second floor alternating each corner so its perpendicular to the opposite corner. Total overkill and unnecessary which is probably why I just built shear walls instead.