Seismic Retrofitting & Structural Reinforcement in the Bay Area

The Bay Area has its beauty. However, unfortunately, if you live here, it means you’re living with seismic risks.

For homeowners in the area, that means your home’s structural safety is a top priority. It won’t only increase your property value but, most importantly, keep everybody inside safe. 

A home in this area should be seismically-ready. This will ensure that when an earthquake happens, your home, family, and everyone surrounding you will be safe. 

At Avant-Garde, we specialize in seismic retrofitting and structural reinforcement. We can spot the weaknesses on your property and install code-compliant hardware, ensuring that your property has the protection needed when the next earthquake happens. 

What Is Seismic Retrofitting & Structural Reinforcement?

Seismic retrofitting is the modification of a property’s existing structure to make it more resistant to earthquakes. It evolves strengthening the parts of your house, like the foundation and the frame, so when an earthquake happens, the structure can absorb the seismic forces.

Structural reinforcements are very similar. They involve adding or enhancing critical elements, for example, foundations, connections, walls, frames, and supports, to improve the building’s stability and load-carrying capability during an earthquake. 

Why is this Essential in the Bay Area?

The Bay Area is considered “high risk” regarding earthquakes. Here, it’s not a matter of “if” it will happen, but “when”. That’s why seismic retrofitting and structural reinforcements are incredibly important in this region. 

Life Safety

In a strong earthquake, an unreinforced home can completely or partially collapse, causing serious injuries or worse. Therefore, retrofitting is all about protecting your family or tenants’ lives. 

By anchoring the house to the foundation, bracing the walls, etc., it ensures your home has the best chance to remain intact during a quake. This increases the safety of life, giving you peace of mind for the future. 

Property Protection and Cost Savings

For most, your property is your biggest investment. Seismic retrofitting, however, can protect your property from devastating damage. 

The California Residential Mitigation Program even mentions that a $7,000 retrofit can protect your house from six figures in damages. 

In other words, by retrofitting your property now, you save yourself hundreds of thousands of potential dollars in damage in the future. 

Alongside this, there are insurance providers that recognize the value of retrofitting a property. Therefore, they may offer discounts for homes that fulfill this requirement, which could save you money. 

Legal and Social Imperatives

Alongside the above, it’s a growing legal and social responsibility. There have even been many Bay Area cities that have adopted mandatory seismic retrofit ordinances for certain buildings. 

For example, San Francisco’s Mandatory Soft-Story Retrofit Program. This required about 4,900 older wood-frame apartment buildings to be legally seismically strengthened. 

Our Specialized Seismic Retrofitting Services

At Avant-Garde, we strengthen homes in the San Francisco Bay Area by identifying and upgrading weak points. 

We do this through several retrofitting services, including: 

• Crawl Space Retrofits: For homes with raised foundations, we can bolt the wood framing (mudsill) to the concrete foundation and brace the short cripple walls. 

• EBB (Earthquake Brace + Bolt) Retrofits: This is a state-standardized retrofit for older homes that lack bolting and bracing. With an EBB retrofit, we install seismic anchor bolts and shear panels at the bottom of the house. 

• Basement Retrofits: When a home has a basement, we can reinforce tall foundation walls and interior framing using structural sheathing, engineered lumber, or steel. 

• Soft-Story & ESS Retrofits: This is only applied to buildings with living space over garages or other large openings. With this, we install steel moment frames, proprietary shear walls, plywood shear walls, and/ or special anchorage. 

Each of our retrofitting services is tailored to two factors: the property’s structure and the specific Bay Area codes. 

Structural Systems & Hardware We Install

When it comes to seismic safety, there’s more to it than just anchoring. It requires the right structural systems to absorb seismic energy. 

Because of this, we use specific compounds to form your home’s earthquake defense: 

• Structural Steel: We reinforce identified weak areas with steel beams, columns, etc. to support large openings, sagging floors, stiffen cripple walls, etc. 

• Moment Frames & Moment Columns: These are steel frames designed to resist lateral loads, like garage door openings. We install them with soft-story retrofits to preserve the living space above while preventing collapse. 

• Hardy Frames, Strong-Walls & Shear Panels: These are ideal for narrow spaces. We use products like MiTek Hardy Frames®, Simpson Strong-Walls®, and site-built plywood shear panels to brace vulnerable walls. 

Again, like with any of our services. These are thought about and installed following specific building codes at the state and city levels. 

Anchorage & Seismic Fastening Systems We Use 

A seismic retrofit is only as strong as its connections. That’s why we use specialized anchorage systems to tie your home together. 

• Seismic Connectors: We use a range of brackets, plates, and ties to reinforce joints across the structure. These include foundation plates, L-shaped framing angles, hurricane ties, etc. 

• Hold-Downs & Tension Ties: We’ll install heavy-duty hold-downs at the ends of shear walls to resist uplift and overturning. Tension ties, framing clips, straps, etc., may also be used to link framing members. 

• Mechanical & Epoxy Anchors: To secure wood framing to concrete, we’ll install either mechanical anchors, epoxy anchors, or both to ensure a solid structure and foundation. 

The end result is a continuous load path that keeps every part of your retrofit working together. 

Engineered Lumber Products We Use in Retrofitting

Wood is still the heart of most homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. That’s why, in many of our projects, we used engineered lumber for beams, headers, and framing enhancements. 

Generally, these are LVLs, LSLs, and PSLs: 

• LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber): Beams made from thin wood veneers glued in layers. 

• LSLs (Laminated Strand Lumber): Made from wood strands or flakes compressed with an adhesive. 

• PSLs (Parallel Strand Lumber): Constructed of long wood strands laid parallel and bonded together. 

All of the mentioned are a class of material called Structural Composite Lumber (SCL). These are specially manufactured for superior strength, consistency, and stability.

Why Choose Avant-Garde for Seismic Retrofitting?

Choosing the right contractor for your seismic retrofit is critical. That’s why we at Avant-Garde bring you structural expertise and local knowledge.

Local Expertise That Matters

We’re a Bay Area contractor with deep roots and knowledge of the local home types, seismic risks, permits, and rules. 

From the Victorian houses of San Francisco to the East Bay’s bungalows, we understand just how different structures respond to earthquakes. 

Alongside this, our knowledge of local building codes, retrofit ordinances, and grant programs (like EBB and ESS) ensures your retrofit is code-compliant and cost-efficient. 

Precision Installations

Our team takes seismic retrofitting seriously. That’s why every anchor, bracket, and panel is installed to exact specifications with no shortcuts. 

With each of our projects, we only use the highest quality of material. From graded lumber to heavy-duty connectors. We treat every project like it’s our home, focusing on its safety, compliance, and structural integrity. 

Fully Licensed and Insured

Avant-Grade is a fully licensed California contractor with a long list of experience, general liability, and workers’ comp coverage. Therefore, all our technicians working on your property have the expertise and coverage required. 

Transparent Communication

Alongside the above, we’re completely clear throughout each step of the process. Even if you’re not up-to-date with the latest construction terminology or building requirements, don’t worry, our team will explain the entire process in plain language. 

At the end of the day, our goal is to empower you and make you feel confident that you’ve made the right choice. That’s why we’re extremely transparent and communicative, ensuring the project possibly impacts you, not overwhelms you. 

Service Area Coverage

Our headquarters are based in San Leandro. However, we cover the entire SF Bay Area. For example: 

• Alameda
• Contra Costa
• Marin
• Napa
• San Francisco
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Solano
• Sonoma

The prices of our services will depend on the distance from our headquarters. 

Book an Evaluation Today

Don’t wait for the next earthquake to expose your home’s weakness. Act now and protect your investment and family. Schedule your professional seismic assessment with Avant-Garde today and take the first steps to a safer, stronger home.