Earthquake Safety provides complete services for planning and installing a seismic retrofit for your home so you and your family are protected when the next large earthquake strikes.
Seven Point Inspection
We offer a FREE comprehensive substructure Inspection and Written Estimate to determine your home’s risks during an earthquake. Our inspection process consists of two visits to your home and includes the following seven steps:
- We meet with you, the homeowner, to discuss your specific concerns and briefly look under your home to determine if a seismic upgrade is necessary.
- If seismic work is to be recommended, we then measure the perimeter of your home and create a foundation plan. From this plan we determine your home’s square footage and note the type of construction (heavy to light), the number of stories, and any features unique to your home.
- We inspect the perimeter concrete foundation to judge whether it is in sound condition to properly hold retrofit anchors — brick foundations cannot be retrofitted and must be replaced with concrete.
- We crawl under the house and examine the substructural framing (cripple walls, etc.) which supports the mass of the house to determine if they are in sound condition and accessible for retrofit work.
- An installation plan is developed using well-established guidelines to determine the appropriate amount of strengthening required for your home — these guidelines cover the size and spacing of bolts, the linear footage of cripple wall bracing, etc.
- If necessary we plan alternative strengthening remedies for homes with complex shapes, access difficulties, areas without cripple walls, or finished rooms at the sublevel.
- We then meet with you to present our recommendations and explain our cost effective retrofit solution for your home. Retrofit upgrades can be installed in stages and work can be prioritize to fit within budgetary constraints.
Installing Your Seismic Retrofit
The installation of a residential seismic retrofit involves the following:
- Scheduling The project will be scheduled at your convenience and has minimal impact because the work is almost always done in the sub area of the home. Most retrofits are 1-3 day’s duration; occasionally they take as much as a week.
- Permitting The first step is for Earthquake Safety to prepare the appropriate documents and drawings and then go to your city’s building department and have them issue a permit. Most cities issue the permit over the counter and a few cities have a waiting period of 1-2 weeks.
- Installation The crew responsible for your project consists of long-term, highly skilled, full-time employees. They have been with our company for over 20 years and have been responsible for several thousand retrofits. They are polite, friendly and professional, and take pride in making your home safe.
- Approval When all work is complete the city inspector will sign-off final approval on the job card. The homeowner retains this card as a formal record of the completed work.
Building Permit Inspections The number of inspections required for a particular seismic upgrade is determined by the nature and scope of the work. Earthquake Safety schedules all inspections — our crew will attend to the building inspector, with the exception of the final inspection.
- The First Inspection After our crew has drilled the bolt holes into your foundation, installed the necessary wood blocking and framing, and inserted and tightened the bolts to the proper torque, the building inspector reviews the work and gives the OK to proceed with installing the structural plywood. Where epoxy anchors are specified many cities require a separate inspection of the holes for proper depth and cleanliness before the bolts are installed.
- The Second Inspection Once the framing of the cripple walls has been prepared, the structural plywood installed, and framing clips and/or other connections from the braced wall into the floor joists above completed, the building inspector will review the installation to insure that everything was done as specified.
- Additional Inspections Where cripple walls in a garage are braced the plywood must be covered with 5/8" fire-resistant sheetrock. The building inspector has to inspect and sign off on the nailing and fire-taping of the sheetrock.
- The final inspection In some cases the homeowner needs to be home for the final inspection so the inspector can be let into your home to verify smoke detectors (a California requirement).
You can protect your home from earthquake damage
Our complimentary substructure Inspection and Written Estimate gives you the information you need to make a wise choice about protecting your home and family — all at no obligation!
Call us today at 510 528-6165 to schedule your Free Inspection and Written Estimate.
| WE PROVIDE EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING IN THE FOLLOWING CITIES | ||
| Alameda County | Contra Costa County | Marin County |
| Alameda | Alamo | Corte Madera |
| Albany | Danville | Fairfax |
| Berkeley | El Cerrito | Kentfield |
| Castro Valley | El Sobrante | Larkspur |
| Emeryville | Kensington | Mill Valley |
| Hayward | Lafayette | Ross |
| Oakland | Martinez | San Anselmo |
| Piedmont | Moraga | San Rafael |
| San Leandro | Orinda | Tiburon |
| Union City | Pinole | |
| Pleasant Hill | ||
| Richmond | ||
| San Pablo | ||
| Walnut Creek | ||
PLEASE NOTE: The Free Inspection and Written Estimate is only available for owner-occupied, single-family, detached wood-frame homes within our service area.
LICENSED • BONDED • INSURED
CONTRACTOR LICENSE #519461
