By Guest Blogger Chelsea Padgett
Are you an art collector? Or even just have antique and collectible valuables. Here’s major help for you!
If you live on the West Coast, chances are you have experienced at least a tremor or a small earthquake and you are fearful of losing or having damaged your cherished collection. If you have your paintings or mirrors held onto the wall with just a nail that will not suffice in a bigger earthquake… like the one they are expecting in the Great California ShakeOut Take this mirror, which just came into the lab, for example…
The corner has been broken clean off. Not only items such as this can fall of the wall, antiques can fall of shelves, out of cabinets, or anywhere they have not been properly secured to. Most people who live in California do not think of earthquakes on a day to day basis but when they do they think of extreme cases in which complete cities will be devastated and ruined. Normally that is not the case but your collectibles can be destroyed.
This article will prepare you for the unexpected moods of Mother Nature, things you won’t find anywhere else. We do not write about health and safety issues, building structural problems, economic matters etc.
However we are addressing your safety, last thing you need is for your child’s cement hand imprint flying towards your head or falling from above.
Here is an earthquake fact: Notice in the photos of the earthquake damage that you see on the news and/or the Internet that not all homes, building etc are completely destroyed. Yes, there is an epicenter that gets hit hard. But not even all the buildings in the critical area get hit hard… and there are millions of people in the surrounding areas that are “just” rattled. Not only could something flying around the room be dangerous, losing treasure family/personal items and be heartbreaking. IT ALWAYS PAYS TO PREPARE in order to:
- Keep things from flying around in the air during the earthquake for personal safety
- Protect important historical items
- Save financially valuable items
- Protect and save emotionally valuable items
- Know ahead of time what will impact your home of business if you lose it.
Why worry about these items while an earthquake is happening if you take these easy steps, you can worry about your safety during a disaster instead of grandma’s favorite floral vase.
Surprisingly, an easy, fast, do-it-yourself anchoring technique can save you in all of these five needs of being protected mentioned above… in all of these problem areas… this will help you BIG TIME! Here’s 1:30 sec quick fun interesting video: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
Repairing a rip
Do you have art collection care questions? Call Scott Haskins 805 564 3438
Art and antiques appraisal questions? Call Richard Holgate at 805 895 5121
Follow us on Facebook at Scott M. Haskins and at Save Your Stuff
Keywords: collectibles, memorabilia, antiques, save your stuff, Scott Haskins, Museum Wax, earthquake preparedness, hurricane preparedness, ShakeOut, family history, artwork, earthquake supplies
It is true that there’s a good chance you will not to be caught in a collapsing building. I don’t have art but I’ve got around 15 guitars, some violins and a piano. If they were to get damaged , I would be heartbroken. Good reminder. I have to keep my guitars in a more stable manner.
Thanks for leaving a comment Dan.
Thanks. Great info.
When/If an earthquake hits, you are probably not going to be thinking about your antiques, collectibles, heirlooms, etc. But you will definitely be thinking about them afterwards. You won’t realize how much you miss them until they are shattered and gone.
You are right! Thanks for leaving a note. We like working with Belfor. We feel honored that you trust us and consider us your experts.
Excellent post. I can’t say I know anyone personally who had lost anything in such a severe earthquake but my uncle’s home was swept away by a tornado and he lost everything! Thankfully he turned out fine other than emotionally shaken up. But his house was torn apart as well as his collectibles. He was never able to retrieve them. This is an excellent read! People need to be prepared for disasters like this to happen at anytime!!! What will happen to your collectibles? Keep them safe.
People need to realize the importance of preserving their collectibles and paintings regardless of where they live. California is an earthquake zone and Florida is a hurricane zone. If they are damaged they can never be replaced.
I used to live in California and now live in WV. Other than some tremors I never had the experience of enduring the aftermath from an earthquake thankfully. But the risk is always there. Surprisingly not enough people are aware of how severe it can be. They need to be educated and all of the points about preserving collectibles must be conveyed to Californians. This is applicable to everyone because disasters happen no matter where you live.
My grandparents lived in CA and they used to talk about some of the earthquakes that happened. My grandmother is has lots of collectibles. They never had to deal with a major one that I am aware of. But anyone who lives in that area should be prepared for this. Taking care of family treasures that may never be replaced seems like a no brainer.
If you live in a high risk earth quake zone, you need to educate yourself as much as possible. I think it is inevitable that we will have to go through some good shakers. Some can be mild but you never know when a big one will hit and the best thing to do is to be as prepared as you possibly can be, like this article talks about. Preserve your collectibles, get emergency kits and be prepared. I like the idea that I can do something to take care of things that are important to me but that cannot be insured.
I think very few people consider the possibility of a disaster of any kind striking. People may be in denial but it is a scary thought. But unfortunately it is a fact and a harsh one too. Preparation is the key and preserving precious collectibles that may never be recovered if a disaster were to strike needs to be done.
These are such valid points and it truly amazes me how so many people who live out in the west coast are not prepared for such disasters. Tremors I am sure happen often but you never know when the “big one” will hit and when it does, what will you do then if you are not prepared? Great article. In fact everyone should prepare for emergencies regardless of where they live! Any kind of natural disaster can happen.
This is an excellent blog post because it addresses the realities of living out in California. Earthquakes will happen and as a result, everything is at risk. Your life, your belongings and those that could never be replaced! And even if the most important thing stays in tact which is YOU after an earthquake, your precious belongings that could never be replaced is going to be likely destroyed. So they need to be preserved and cared for. Very few people probably consider this. So great points.
My goodness. My mother recently moved out to California and she absolutely needs to read this article! I have warned her about the possibility of a disaster ruining her belongings especially these precious collectibles. She doesn’t believe it. Thank you for writing this.