A new Malibu construction company, Scale the Heights, Inc., will serve the needs of people who own premium and luxury properties and seek the best possible protection against one of the growing threats to houses in the canyons.
(prHWY.com) August 13, 2012 - Seattle, WA -- A new Malibu construction company, Scale the Heights, Inc., will serve the needs of people who own premium and luxury properties and seek the best possible protection against one of the growing threats to houses in the canyons.
"We have the technology to beat Mother Nature at her worst," declares Scale the Heights president Hank Forrester, a longtime southern California contractor. "Our patented NestLifter® system will preserve treasured homes for property owners who want to preserve their biggest investment."
Malibu has seen an increasing
incidence of mudslides due to deforestation, fires, and overdevelopment in the canyons above Malibu Beach. High-end residences in Trancas Canyon, Malibu Canyon, and other ridges and valleys have regularly been damaged or destroyed by slides above Pacific Coast Highway.
"We've lost quite a few homes due to topographical instability in recent decades," said Malibu city manager Drew Ellefson. "A big slide in 1994 near Las Flores Canyon took out a bunch of homes as well as shutting down State Route 1 for months."
Forrester says Scale the Heights has devised a combination of an alarm system and a mechanical elevator that raises home foundations above a plummeting mess. "The minute the ground starts to shift, a network of sensors near the top of each canyon activates the system for the residents down the slope," he said.
Once houses have had it installed, NestLifter® can raise them a minimum of 10 feet above their normal ground level, explained Joe Macklin, chief engineer for the firm. "It's a swift but solid response to potential disaster, dependent on hydraulic lifts that are anchored more than 40 feet below the foundation," he said.
Once the homes have moved above harm's way on concrete-and-steel platforms installed by the company, they can remain there until the mess has been cleared and the ground reinforced. Then NestLifter® lowers them back to the desired level.
"I couldn't say it's cheap," remarks Jan Hartmaison, who lives in a split-level off Kanan-Dume Road and had the Scale the Heights team come in to install the NestLifter® system in her home. "But it sure beats the cost of losing everything you own and having to hassle with an insurance company to help you start over from scratch. I saw what that did to friends."
Wildfires are the next threat that Forrester and Macklin intend to tackle. "What we're discussing with the city and regional fire departments is installing a giant sprinkler system near the crest of each canyon," Macklin said. "Something that automatically switches on the minute a fire trips the sensors. We think Malibu construction should be up to the challenge."
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