Does my house need a seismic retrofit?

It depends on the age and construction of your home. Many older Bay Area houses were built before modern seismic standards and have known weak points that a retrofit can address.

Common warning signs

• The house is not bolted to its foundation
• Short wood walls, called cripple walls, sit between the foundation and the first floor without bracing
• Living space sits above a garage with large openings, sometimes called a soft storey
• An unreinforced brick chimney or masonry walls
• The home is on a hillside with a tall foundation on one side

What a retrofit usually involves

For many wood-frame homes, it means bolting the house to the foundation and bracing cripple walls with plywood. Soft-storey and hillside homes need engineered solutions.

Next steps

Look in your crawl space if it’s safe to do so. Then get an assessment from a licensed structural engineer or an experienced contractor. Some cities have rules or programs for certain building types, so check with your local building department.

This is general information, not engineering advice. See the retrofit section of the preparedness guides.

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