Get a $3,000 Grant To Earthquake Brace and Bolt Your Home
We are Earthquake Brace and Bolt seismic retrofit contractors with 26 years experience and are listed as a Earthquake Brace and Bolt Contractor on the Earthquake Brace and Bolt website. We have worked with the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program since its inception in 2017. We even contributed to its development as technical advisers and helped write its technical regulations As experienced Brace and Bolt Program contractors we know the program well and have performed over 300 Earthquake Brace and Bolt retrofits throughout the Bay Area. The Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program is a grant program financed by the California Earthquake Authority and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Its purpose is to prevent a wave of homelessness if a very large earthquake hits the San Francisco Bay Area. The Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program offers $3,000 retrofit grants if you retrofit your home.
One Customer’s Experience With Us And The Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program
Here’s one homeowner’s experience with the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program and Bay Area Retrofit. This posting is from Berkeley Parent’s Network:
“We used Bay Area Retrofit. The website speaks for itself in terms of how experienced they are, and their pricing was very competitive.
We got selected for the EB+B [Earthquake Brace & Bolt] program too and the process was really painless. I think I actually wrote in to thank them for providing such a great program.
For what it’s worth, we also got asked by EB+B afterwards to help with some media to promote their program. This is us in the Los Angeles article on the Brace and Bolt Program
As part of the filming for that, the Chief Mitigation Officer from the CEA (and Structural Engineer) Janiele Maffei actually walked through our retrofitted basement and gave it the thumbs up, so I guess that’s as much certainty as we can get.”
Which Guideline Is Best For Me?
To qualify, homeowners must follow one of three seismic retrofit guidelines: Appendix Chapter A3, Standard Plan A or FEMA P-1100. Standard Plan A was co-written by the author of this article. He was also on the committee that codified FEMA P-1100. Our extensive training and experience qualified us to make important contributions to these guidelines.
How Do I Use These Guidelines?
These guidelines contain regulations for either a cripple wall retrofit or a no cripple wall retrofit. The way you can tell which retrofit you need is by the number of steps there are into the front door. If you have 3 or more steps you need a cripple wall retrofit. If you have one or two steps into the front door you need a no cripple wall retrofit.
Do Any Of These Guidelines Have Serious Problems?
Of the three guidelines, Standard Plan A is the cheapest and most effective. However, it can result in inferior retrofits if the contractor does not compensate for a very serious flaw shown in this video. If this flaw is not compensated for, the retrofit will be half as strong as it should be. As you will see, the solution is simply adding more nails to the top of the walls which does not increase cosst. Ask your contractor if he is going to use Standard Plan A (most of them do because of its simplicity) and if he says yes, ask him if he knows of any problems with the double top plate nailing. If he doesn’t, look for someone else
How Do I Find an Earthquake Brace and Bolt Contractor?
This is a crucial question. EBB contractors are asked to take a test after watching these videos that is so simple practically any contractor can pass it. Anyone with no experience in retrofitting and no intelligence can pass it because the videos provide all the answers beforehand. On the other hand, Bay Area Retrofit won’t allow our employees to work on a house without the supervision of a journey until one year of one on one training. These EBB tests don’t provide anything close to that.
This is a serious problem because if an ill-trained Earthquake Brace and Bolt contractor fails to address even one weak connection the retrofit will fail. Serious errors can happen if he does not understand seismic retrofit engineering principles and the Brace and Bolt contractor training does not offer this.
Previously I mentioned 3 guidelines that the Earthquake Brace and Bolt contractor must follow. The 3 guidelines never match what we see in real houses. Adjustments must always be made to these guidelines because each house is unique in some way. This involves problem solving by applying engineering principles. In these cases approaches outside the guidelines must be used which cannot be found in the 3 EBB guidelines.
How Can I Know If My Contractor Is Competent?
There is no special licensing for retrofit contractor. Any general contractor can claim to be an expert with years of experience. He can have an enticing website, and even have fabulous homeowner reviews. He can drive a slick truck that exudes success which can be misunderstood as competence. Homeowners will only know the superficial things like punctuality, cleaning up, and friendliness . They do not let a homeowner know if he is competent.
All of these things can hide incompetence. You want someone who knows what they are doing. This webpage will help you find a contractor with the knowledge and experience you need.
How Much of My Brace and Bolt Retrofit Will $3,000 Cover?
The $3,000 typically covers 1/4 to 1/3 of the average earthquake retrofit. If you only want to spend $3,000 there is no point in applying. However, if you recently bought the house in El Cerrito you will also qualify for their Transfer Tax Rebate Program. This allows you to use up to 1 .2% of the purchase price of the house for your seismic retrofit. If you add that to the $3,000 Brace and Bolt grant you should be able to afford a good retrofit. The same is true with the City of Berkeley which has a Berkeley Transfer Tax Rebate for seismic work. Their rebate = 1/2% of the purchase price of the houses.
Does My House Qualify?
Your house only qualifies if your cripple walls are less than 4 feet tall. If the are over 4 feet, built on a hillside, or have a soft story the house does not qualify. Your Brace and Bolt contractor will tell you if your house qualifies. If your house does not qualify you can only get your grant if the retrofit is designed by an engineer.
What Is The Process?
Below is the anticipated timeline if you decide to use the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program.
STEP 1: Meet with as many contractors as you wish. We recommend at least 3 and learn as much about retrofitting as you can. You are going to be spending a lot of money and should check it out just as you would a new care. This website is a good resource for this.
STEIP 2: Select your contractor and send his bid to the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program through your portal. The EBB will give you an access to a portal. A portal is an online account where you can send documents and photos to the EBB. It is very easy to use. If you have any problems using it give us a call.
Beware Of Building Inspections
City building inspectors do not look at the work your contractor did. They must do 10-15 inspections a day, need at least an hour for paperwork, and take 1/2 hour for lunch and simply do not have time. In addition, unappealing crawl spaces like the the one shown below are the rule rather than the exception. Who would want to crawl around on their hands and knees in this environment? In short, even if you have a permit no one is going to look at your retrofit. When the inspector comes, be sure and be there and you will see what I mean. They won’t even crawl under your house if the homeowner who paid them is there.
Contractors rely on this to perform inferior work because they understand no one is going to look at it. We have seen this with Earthquake Brace and Bolt contractors first hand. No one cares about your house more than you do. Even if you did, you could not see anything.
We recommend you learn as much about retrofitting as you can and do your own inspection before paying your contractor. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, call the EBB office and request an inspection and they will set that up for you 877-232-4300. These inspectors will crawl under your house and do what the City inspector should have.
Our Final Inspecton
Our solution is to do our own quality control. Our Field Manager does a quality control analysis on every job we do. You are only as strong as your weakest connection and sometimes make miss something and want to make sure
Here are a few examples interactions with building inspectors from September 1st and October 15th 2024. This sort of thing is true 100% of the time.
Pleasanton: Homeowner was told by inspector that “We are not allowed to crawl underneath the house. I will just look at pictures”
What Does Bay Area Retrofit Do?
STEO 3: Now that STEP 2 is complete we get a building permit for you.
STEP 4: On our end we upload onto the portal 6 photographs, a copy of the permit, our bid, and a tax form we need for the IRS.
STEP 5: The Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program reviews and approves all the documents
What Happens At The End?
STEP 5: We start and finish your according to your schedule.
STEP 6: After your retrofit is complete we upload all the documentation the Earthquake Brace and Bolt Program requires. This includes photos, receipts, a photo of the strapped water heater, and an invoice. That is the end of the process.
STEP 7: You will receive a check in the mail. Usually within 3 weeks.
