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Brace + Bolt

Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) was developed to help homeowners lessen the potential for damage to their houses during an earthquake. A residential seismic retrofit strengthens an existing older house, making it more resistant to earthquake activity such as ground shaking and soil failure. The seismic retrofitting involves bolting the house to its foundation and adding bracing around the perimeter of the crawl space.

Owners of houses in program ZIP Codes with house characteristics suitable for this type of retrofit in accordance with California Existing Building Code Appendix Chapter A3 (Chapter A3) are eligible for an incentive payment of up to $3,000 to help pay costs associated with the retrofit of their houses.

SEISMIC RETROFITTING
Surrounding the crawl space under the first floor, many houses have a short wood framed wall (“cripple wall”) that needs to be strengthened to help prevent the house from sliding or toppling off of its foundation during an earthquake. Seismic Retrofitting involves:

Bolting: Adding anchor bolts in the crawl space to improve the connection between the wood framing of a building and its concrete foundation. Bracing: Adding plywood to the cripple walls to help keep the house from toppling off of the foundation during an earthquake

Brace And Bolt Benefits

  1. Qualifying homeowners will receive as much as $3000 for earthquake retrofitting.
  2. This money covers contractor work that ultimately strengthens their home and dramatically mitigates earthquake damage.
  3. This program allows homeowners to select their own retrofitting contractor though these professionals must possess either a type A or type B license.
  4. A typical earthquake retrofit costs anywhere from $8000-$10000. This program can cut those costs in half at minimum and eliminate them completely in best case scenarios.
  5. Interested homeowners can apply/register for this program at the official Earthquake Brace + Bolt website or work with their retrofitting contractor to simplify the process.
  6. While it may be difficult for San Franciscans to obtain approval for certain types of retrofitting, Standard Plan A retrofits are often approved without incident.

Protecting Your Home and Family

Earthquakes in San Francisco have a reputation as being devastating and catastrophic. Although there hasn’t been a large scale tremor in San Francisco in over 30 years, that’s no reason to downplay or outright dismiss the need for nor importance of earthquake retrofitting. In fact this makes it the perfect time to take advantage of the Earthquake Brace And Bolt program. Doing so will dramatically increase the strength of your home which in turn protects your home/investment as well as your family. If you need help with any part of this program please feel free to contact us.

For more information, give us a call today at (925) 378-2204