Earthquake Inspection offers total services for planning and installing a seismic retrofit for your home so you and your family are protected when the next big earthquake strikes.
We provide a Cost-free comprehensive substructure Inspection and Written Estimate to decide your home's risks throughout an earthquake. Our inspection process consists of two visits to your house and includes the following seven steps:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. If necessary we plan alternative strengthening remedies for homes with complex shapes, access difficulties, areas without cripple walls, or finished rooms at the sublevel.
7. 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.