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We just had earthquake retrofit work done on 2 of our 1950s houses

GAJ

GAJ

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Location
SANTA ROSA
Moto(s)
Sold my last one in 2026
Name
Geoff
and I'd highly recommend it for anyone with a pre 1980 home (which is when the codes improved), near a fault line.

These guys were fantastic, can't recommend them enough, and I was surprised that the cost was about that of a mid level e'bicycle for each house.

Our two 1950s homes are very near the Rogers Creek Fault so even though we have Earthquake Insurance, it was a no brainer even without the $3000/home rebate available to policy holders and a 20 percent reduction in the cost of the insurance.

https://www.boltdownthebayarea.com/

Here's an "after" photo.
 

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They bolted the house to the foundation (see metal plates in photo.) Older homes just rest on top of them, and can slide right off.
 
mercurial said:
They bolted the house to the foundation (see metal plates in photo.) Older homes just rest on top of them, and can slide right off.
Click to expand...

Really?

My 1960 house was bolted to the slab.

Mind, it was built on crummy clay soil, which does nothing but expand and contract (let's have an earthquake every season!), so the slab was half rubble anyway, but...it was bolted, you know, to the rubble.
 
berth said:
Really?

My 1960 house was bolted to the slab.

Mind, it was built on crummy clay soil, which does nothing but expand and contract (let's have an earthquake every season!), so the slab was half rubble anyway, but...it was bolted, you know, to the rubble.
Click to expand...

This....I have done a lot of inspections just to see alot of consumer BS fraud..
 
Thanks Geoff.
I was looking for something new to worry about.
I will be crawling under our kindling...er, home...tomorrow morning to take a peek at our foundation.
It will give me the opportunity to look at our fresh 6k plumbing repair while I'm down there.
 
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buellistic said:
This....I have done a lot of inspections just to see alot of consumer BS fraud..
Click to expand...

Are you a home inspector? I'd love to have someone I trust inspect our place and give recommendations. Found some shady stuff after we moved in...
 
mercurial said:
They bolted the house to the foundation (see metal plates in photo.) Older homes just rest on top of them, and can slide right off.
Click to expand...

Starting in the 1940s homes were bolted down with one bolt per section just like our house.

In the 1980s the codes improved so any homes older than that are far more subject to being shifted off their foundation even if bolted under the old code.

Worth the $5500 per house average to reduce that probability even with Earthquake Insurance as we are very close to a fault line.

If your house is 1980 or newer you are likely just fine but no harm in checking especially if your crawl space walls are taller than 4 feet.
 
I looked at our foundation some time ago. Maybe I should lok again. Maybe a “professional” should look.

Edit: “Call to schedule your free inspection and let us help you determine if your home is properly anchored to it’s foundation. Together we can Bolt Down The Bay Area,”
 
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My 1953 house is UMB - It would cost as much as building a new house to seismically retrofit. I'm f*cked when the 'big one' hits.

PifcrnB.gif
 
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berth said:
My 1960 house was bolted to the slab.
Click to expand...

The space between the bolts, and the size of the washer used, matters also.

GAJ does not have room to get at the sill plate to drill and add bolts, hence the plates screwed from the side.

If you have room to get a drill in there, you can retrofit with bolts. In that case you need to install plywood sheets to provide shear strength, and to tie the sill plate to the house.

It’s a dirty nasty job but well within the reach of a dedicated DIY-er.
 
My house was built in 1953. Hard to tell if the sill plates were bolted to the foundation back then, but even if they were, it was probably many many feet apart. I only had to have some foundation "Straps" bolted. I feel much better about them being there than not.

Had it all done after being approved by https://www.earthquakebracebolt.com/

It ended up being only a few hundred bucks out of pocket.


My next project is to lay down a moisture barrier on the crawl space's exposed dirt.
 
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kingmoochr said:
Are you a home inspector? I'd love to have someone I trust inspect our place and give recommendations. Found some shady stuff after we moved in...
Click to expand...

I have retired and moved out of the area.
I no longer Crawl under houses..:teeth
 
HeatXfer said:
My 1953 house is UMB - It would cost as much as building a new house to seismically retrofit. I'm f*cked when the 'big one' hits.

PifcrnB.gif
Click to expand...

Back in 1985 had to reinforce a UMB restaurant in downtown San Rafael.

A million bucks for a one story structure IIRC.
 
We had five foundation cracks that had crack plates installed over the epoxied cracks. A $700 discretionary add on for all five.
 

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mercurial said:
They bolted the house to the foundation (see metal plates in photo.) Older homes just rest on top of them, and can slide right off.
Click to expand...

Not exactly. Bolts have been used in Ca since the first concrete foundations. What changed was both the number, distance between, and the size of the bolt. The older houses might have had a few 3/8" bolts scattered around, the newer rules have many bolts, 1/2" in diameter. They do hold pretty well.
 
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