Architects Point Out Need for Their Services

It is with great concern that I keep reading and hearing the constant media advice to fire victims that they should contact a contractor.

Would the media also recommend to see a pharmacist if somebody needed medical attention, or would they recommend a qualified physician?

The selection of a contractor must be made with the advice of an architect and his work must be under the full supervision of an architect.

The builder is a business person, the contractor is a service person and the architect is the professional.

ANDRES M. CARDENES, AIA

Culver City

The writer is an architect.

*

It has been my experience, over nearly 20 years as a professional, that a contractor is by no means the appropriate first person to call if one needs to build or rebuild.

To the contrary, most contractors are not trained to evaluate design options and are not familiar with all the governmental requirements such as fire department restrictions, coastal commission requirements and procedures, grading and drainage department requirements, etc., that are necessary to satisfy during design.

General contractors bid and build projects from plans that should always be prepared by a licensed architect. Hillside homes, in particular, have unique characteristics that require an experienced team of professionals to ensure the project is a success. Properly siting a house not only for its aesthetic value, but considering proper orientation for natural light and views, environmental, safety and maintenance issues is a service that architects are educated and trained to provide.

GINA G. MOFFITT, AIA

Los Angeles

The writer is an architect.

A Mobile Home Is Not a Trailer

When is the news media going to wake up to the fact that there is a difference between a mobile home and a trailer?

During the recent fire in Laguna, several TV reporters referred to the park that was destroyed by fire as a trailer park. A few of the more enlightened reporters properly identified it as a mobile home park.

A mobile home is permanent housing and a trailer is not. A seven-room mobile home is larger than the average conventional house and probably has more amenities. Depending upon size, mobile homes range in price from $20,000 to $80,000 and some custom designed units cost $100,000 and up.

Do you have any idea of how insulting it is to those of us who own a nice mobile home to read in the newspaper that we live in a “trailer park”?

KATHY HOSA

Imperial Avalon Mobile Estates

Carson

Ryegrass Seeding of Burned Areas Opposed

I watched in horror and awe as house after house went up in flames in the recent Topanga/Malibu fire. Hiking trails were obliterated, precious natural resources on state and private land were consumed by the fire and not just humans lost their homes but fauna and flora alike.

And the destruction will continue if burned wild-land areas in the Santa Monica mountains are reseeded with ryegrass or a mixture of grasses and shrubs not native to those mountains.

There is much scientific evidence that seeding provides no additional short-term erosion protection relative to natural regeneration. According to many studies this is a total waste of taxpayer’s money. It doesn’t work!

Chaparral, the plant communities covering the Santa Monica mountains, regenerates vigorously after fire; seeded species compete with native species and areas seeded with ryegrass will provide the fuel for next year’s fires.

Most sedimentation occurs during or shortly after the fire by the process of “dry ravel.” This material lands in the water courses (“channel loading”) where the first rains carry it downstream. No seeding program can counteract channel loading.

There are other ways dealing with erosion problems after a fire than seeding.

HALLI MASON

Vice President of California Native Plant Society

Tarzana

Hold the Mayo, Use the Silver Cream

“How to Remove ‘Hot Spot’ From Table” (On the House, Nov. 14) suggests repairing with a 45-minute application of mayonnaise.

An older remedy (and easier and quicker) for treating white rings left by careless guests (and residents) who set a wet glass or hot coffee cup on a waxed-wood surface is to rub the spot with a little Wright’s Gentle Silver Cream on a damp sponge, then rinse off with a clean damp sponge. The surface will be clean but dull--easily re-shined with a shot of furniture polish.

LOUISE HAUTER

La Canada