Seismic Retrofitters

Mark and his team completed our retrofit in Nov 2015, and it was a smooth process all around, from the bid to the city certification. They were able to assess what needed to be done and suggest a solution, bid on that, and then have their in-​house engineer do the plans after we had signed the contract with them. We saved money by not needing to hire a separate engineer for the design, the foreman was highly experienced and thorough, and Mark was very responsive to any issues that came up – before, during, and after the work. They managed the filings & inspections with the city, finished the job on-​time and on-​budget, and were easy to work with. I’d definitely recommend them!

The professionalism and caliber of a business can be inferred by how it treats people who are not, ultimately, their customers. Mark arrived on time for our consultation (initially priced at $ 150, far less than another company we called). I especially appreciated his punctuality given that we met at a non-​preferred time for him, during my short lunch hour. I think he figured out pretty quickly that we’d already had just about all the retrofitting we needed at our property. That said, he took the time anyway to educate us about retrofitting in general and the specifics of our home. He also offered us additional advice about enhancing the integrity of our foundation and recommended we install a few universal fastener plates, too small a job for his company, but just right for the contractor we quickly found to get the job done. We learned that it is the company’s practice to NOT bill for sharing their expertise if they are not generating a proposal for work, and so we were not ultimately charged for Mark’s time and expertise. Despite what turned out to be a free consultation, they also produced, at no charge to us when we asked, a letter detailing their findings that we will use with our insurance company to negotiate for a lower premium.
We were very pleased with Seismic Retrofitters and would recommend them to anyone looking for an honest, professional retrofitting service.

Review for only initial appointment, not work done:
So I set up an appointment many weeks prior and the owner calls the day off at the time to explain that his wife was sick. This was a legit reason to not show up and I hoped his family was ok. We rescheduled for another time that same week and I had no issues with that. I was actually waiting at the house (hadn’t moved in yet since it was in escrow)
The three stars is due to the fact that on the day of the second appointment due to the rescheduling, he cancelled saying he was just too busy. Well then why did he waste my time with the initial email then two appointments rescheduled? I wasted a lot of time. He may do good seismic work but I don’t know since I never had the chance to even meet. If you want someone more reliable check out California Earthquake Authority in Alameda. I vetted 4 – 5 folks and they were really outstanding and professional.

We just completed an extensive soft story retrofit on a twelve unit 1927 vintage sf building. (100% of code) They were subcontracted by BBC of San Rafael.
While I would STRONGLY recommend avoiding BBC, Seismic Retro fitters were talented and ethical at all times. Miles, who we dealt with daily was very professional and competent, as was Mark, the owner. In this tough snake infested business these guys proved capable of delivering an excellent product.

Mark came to inspection on time and looked at the foundation of the property my client is buying in details. The house is on a downhill slope with a majority of the structure supported by steel beams which are supported by concrete poles and piers about 20 – 30 ft tall. It does look intimidating to a lot of people. However Mark spent his time explaining to us his findings, recommendations for enhancements to us right at the spot. He then offered to go to the building department and look and the foundation plan to ensure what he told us is accurate.
At the end, he made a sketch by hand of the critical component of the foundation after looking at the original plan and sent to us to give us s peace of mind. He concluded that the structure is already sound and secure and it’s not necessary to spend any money to do further bracing or retrofitting.
I really appreciated what Mark did to my client as he acted very professionally and honest in the whole process.

Is this company a joke?
They require $ 350 to bid on a project.
That’s a first for any contractor I’ve ever met. Such absurd nonsense should not be encouraged. Find another contractor to do the work.

My partner and I recently purchased an old victorian, and among other renovations, we needed a seismic retrofit done on the basement. While the quality of work done by Seismic Retrofitters seems good, the project and team came off as fairly unprofessional and at times grossly disorganized — by far the worst of the many contractors we’ve worked with so far during our ongoing renovations.
The good:
* Mark seems to be an excellent and competent engineer. He came in and immediately pointed out damage that had occurred in previous earthquakes, explained the generic stuff (sheer walls, bolting the foundation, replacing a few sections of foundation) and the house specific stuff (needed a whole new load bearing wall in one direction to prevent further movement). I chose Seismic Retrofitters primarily on this first experience — they seemed much better at the details, and more knowledgeable than other companies I talked to. The Price was also in line with what others were bidding.
* At the end, our basement seems much more solid structurally. The Napa earthquake actually happened only a few weeks after they finished work, with no damage.
* Their foreman Miles was excellent — we have a tenant in the building, and Miles was very professional and respectful when dealing with him, making sure he got adequate notice when the gas was going to be shut off, being mindful of shared parking areas, etc.
The bad:
* Start date was soft — very soft. They were clearly trying to fit us in between other jobs, and wouldn’t commit. We were given a two-​month project start window. The Project finish was also extremely soft, waiting days for a single guy to come over to finish it off.
* We were initially told project would last 2 weeks. Ended up much closer to 6.
* We felt nickel’d and dime’d the whole time — You want earthquake shutoff valves on the gas? That’s extra. Permits? Not included in the bid, extra. Inspection fees from companies we won’t tell you about? Extra. Cost to initially estimate the job? $ 350
* Halfway through an unrelated electrical issue came up that needed some work. They bid it using their electrician — which was hundreds of dollars more than both the other two bids, and didn’t seem to be as knowledgeable or flexible as the (awesome) electrician we found ourselves.
* By the last couple weeks of the project, it definitely felt like we were communicating more with the foreman than they were.
* Was continually hit up for milestone payments immediately after they were finished — same day in most cases, with pressure to have a check ready in person to be picked up right away. Several times this happened before the inspection had taken place. They even asked for the final payment before they had finished the work! Miscommunication with their foreman? Hard up for cash? Who knows.
* ‘Re-​pointing bricks’ apparently means something different to me than it does to them — instead of repointing, they capped in concrete. Not really a big deal, but would have been nice to communicate this.
* We continue to receive surprise bills from inspection companies we have no idea they used, months after the fact. We were never notified that they used these other companies, or that we would be responsible for the invoices. Mark’s response? Check the fine print. After asking him to take care of the extras in the spirit of goodwill? No response at all.
We never, ever had this type of communication, added cost, or surprise invoice issues with other contractors, nor the extended project time. We would recommend anyone working with Mark and Seismic Retrofitters be diligent and cautious about surprise cost overruns and frequent schedule slips.

As we just experienced our first earthquake since our retrofit I thought we should finally write a review. Earlier this year Mark and his crew completed work towards making our single family, freestanding home earthquake safe. They did an amazing job.
We were hesitant to book them initially, simply because we are cheap. The thought of paying someone up front for an estimate, with no guarantee we would use them, seemed like a waste. Other companies said they would refund us the estimate fee if we booked them, but Seismic Retrofitters offered no such discount, we were wary. But after reading other Unilocal reviews we decided to get an estimate anyway. Mark was worth it. He was very detailed with his estimate and his rates were reasonable. Most importantly he stayed within the initial estimate.
His crew was extremely professional, always cleaned up after themselves and completed the work in a timely manner. The results look secure and they pulled all of the proper permits and had it inspected as required. Mark was super patient with us as we had a million questions on a seemingly daily basis about the progress of the work. He was always just a phone call or email away and ALWAYS got back to us.
We knew we had some termite damage and asked if they could fix that as well, Mark subcontracted the work out for us and hooked us up with the most amazing subcontractors people could hope for. As the damage was more extensive than we previously thought, Mark worked with us to get the costs under control and helped us to make it all work within our budget.
I highly recommend Seismic Retrofitters. If a substantial earthquake hits the city, I feel we are as secure as one can possibly be! Thanks Mark!

Mark and Sam did great work. They added additional bolting of the frame to the foundation, hold downs around the garage door, and added shear wall reinforcement pleasantly enclosing the garage. They had great attention to detail when moving the washer and dryer and replacing the laundry sink. Their cleanup after the job was also very thorough. The work was completed in a little over a week. I would highly recommend

I purchased an old SF home and wanted to get the foundation bolted, plus various other reinforcements. They were responsive over email, a big plus for me. They meticulously met the time and money budget we had agreed upon. There hasn’t been a big earthquake since the work was done, but I am feeling better about my house’s chances when the next tremor hits.
Impressed by that work, I hired them to rebuild a leaky porch. They did a thorough job on time and on budget. Including followups to ensure my satisfaction.
It was a pleasure to work with everyone I met through Seismic Retrofitters. After working with them, I feel smarter — they educated me at every step of the process and worked hard to ensure that the job was done thoroughly and to my satisfaction.

I wouldn’t trust the reviews on here, as I think there may be some astroturfing going on. One of these reviews was written by Tammy M., who actually works for this company.
For Mark to charge $ 350 just to come spend 15 minutes and give an estimate is absurd. I’ve since had 3 other contractors evaluate and offer estimates free of charge. They also independently gave me quite different evaluations of what was needed, lower estimates, and pointed out some things Mark did not notice. 2 have been in the biz over 20 years with a long list of references. Do check Angie’s List and get at least 2 other estimates before doing something like a retrofit. I learned my lesson: avoid paying anyone for a simple estimate.

I own a pre 1906 earthquake building which had a soft story ground floor that needed upgrades per the new city requirements. Mark from Seismic Retrofitters charged a very reasonable fee for his engineer to make a preliminary sketch of the seismic requirements. From this, Mark gave be a bid for the work which included full structural drawings. When the plans were finished, he walked them through the building dept and obtained an over the counter permit. The work involved removing all the old plaster and lath on all the walls and ceiling and then installing steel, plywood, and bolting.
When the old pipes were exposed, It became clear that much plumbing and electrical upgrades would be necessary and desirable. SR performed all the extras at a negotiated increase in cost. The only additional costs over the original contract were the permit fees, and the plumbing and electrical upgrades which were agreed to. Mark even helped me reconfigure the garage to get an extra parking space out of it.
I have since hired SR to perform another soft story upgrade on a larger building with 3 ground floor retailer units, also on the soft story list. I couldn’t be happier with my experience with SR. They know what they are doing and they can do it at a very reasonable cost.

This company is sterling in how it conducts business. My earthquake retrofit was a soft-​story retrofit for a 30 unit apartment building. This company was easy to work with and i would highly recommend them.

This is not a business model I found appealing, and in fact was very misleading. You are required to pay $ 1200 for having an engineer send in a form survey to the city (which involves checking a few boxes and which an owner can do himself for nothing) and preparing a few drawings for the company which can not be used to get estimates from other contractors; thus you pay $ 1200 just for an estimate from Seismic Retrofitters, which cannot be compared with other contractors. When I said I wanted to cancel because it was not what I wanted, Mark became very offensive, threatening to «go to legal».

This is a list of features about Seismic Retrofitters that one would expect from a good company:
Provided explanations and options.
Provided clear and detailed estimates.
Arrived as scheduled.
Cleaned up well.
Finished as planned and scheduled.
This is a list of features about Seismic Retrofitters that make it a great and outstanding company:
When unexpected problems developed, completed without extra cost or hassle.
Provided additional supports.
Workers open and friendly.
Cleaned up more than resulted from the construction alone.
Was proactive in communicating city inspections and other developments without having to call them.
Provided final explanation of work and made sure everything completed as planned.
I highly recommend this company not just for the solid construction work but also for the customer service.

As a classic soft story, we needed to do some work before we sold our house (and before we brought baby #2 home). We had about a half dozen other companies look at the job… structural engineers, concrete folks, general contractors and other seismic specialists. I was blown away by how knowledgeable Mark was and their process could not have been any easier. His structural engineer was able to draw plans /​get permits and the work started right away. I was hoping to recoup the costs when we sold and I’m sure we actually made money because of the work (the total cost was much better than other alternatives too). Our house sold fast and the structural integrity surely helped with that.
Strangers that saw our garage commented on how stable and clean everything looked. And this is all without getting a new foundation (which still doesn’t meet it’s seismically safe).
I cannot recommend Mark and Seismic Retrofitters enough. When we’re looking to buy our next house, I will be sure to have Mark take a look.

I have to give Mark and Seismic Retrofitters top marks for the work they did. Our bank made us either carry earthquake insurance or have the building retrofitted. Seismic Retrofitters was the first place I called and it turns out they were the best by far. Some people that came out were total clowns and had no idea what they were doing. They needed to have a Structural Engineer come out and draw up the plans before they would do anything. Other people try to blow smoke up my a** and tell me how complex the job would be. And this is for a simple retrofit. Mark knew instantly what was needed for our place after his inspection.
Mark provided the most complete bid with everything itemized in a timely manner, i.e. when he said would send it to us. One nameless company, required two weeks plus two calls and emails to just get a bid. If they take that long to get you a bid, how long will it take for them to do the work? Once we decided to go with Seismic Retrofitters, it was super easy to book the work. The front office is also top notch and easy to work with.
Once the work started, Seismic Retrofitters was totally professional. They finished the job before I knew it, they said it would take 2 – 3 days but it was done in less than two days. So they showed up on time and finished early, right on budget. How often does that happen in the City? Mark’s crew was nice and polite as well. They treated our place with respect and I dare say they left it cleaner than when they started.
I had some questions about billing after the work was done and they were answered promptly and courteously.
I don’t think you can go wrong with Seismic Retrofitters and they are very professional. Plus they worked with the City and our bank to get the job signed off. Good bye rip-​off insurance.

I found Seismic Retrofitters through Unilocal after being disappointed with some structural work that another general contractor had done on the house and worried it wasn’t nearly enough to prevent major damage after an earthquake. The general contractor I worked with claimed to know what we needed to reinforce foundations for earthquakes, but after his work was complete, I realized it wasn’t nearly enough after doing a little more research. That led me to trying to find someone in SF that actually specialized in this kind of work which led me to the fantastic guys over at Seismic Retro-​fitters.
Mark came over and looked at our house, discussed scenarios, code requirements, engineering and came back to us with a good option that fit within our budget. He presented three scenarios with the first one being the minimum recommendation (the one we chose due to our budget), s and the next two being the more expensive much more involved projects.
Mark is very professional, communicates really well and listens to any concerns and budget issues. His crew of guys were all very professional, did high quality work, were on time and left the house/​garage are cleaner than it was when they arrived.
As an fyi, this isn’t cheap work to do on a typical old 1920’s era SF house, but I can’t imagine why it isn’t the first thing people do when they buy a house out here. Just doing a few anchor bolts on a foundation is not enough, which is what most older homes have if at all. Also, as earthquake insurance is very expensive, has huge deductibles, and not particularly useful unless you’re house is completely demolished, retrofitting to your house is the best chance you have of protecting your investment. These guys are also very busy/​in high demand so you have to be a little patient to get on their schedules.

Mark is amazing. He is responsive, easy to understand, and does great work.
My husband and I bought a house in Noe Valley that we knew had an under-​supported garage. I got Mark’s name from a friend who had also used him on her house and had a great experience. He came in and took a look at our house, he gave us an estimate, then another estimate when my husband asked for additional work, and then a third estimate when we scaled back our budget. He was really understanding, patient and helpful the entire time.
Mark started work within a month’s time, completing demo, trench digging, filling in concrete, installing beams and re-​doing some dry rot on the side of our house within 4 weeks time. My husband is METICULOUS and also a handy engineer and he was watching Mark pretty closely the entire time. Mark both put up with him and seemed to genuinely enjoy their engineering banter.
In the end, we both concluded that Mark did a fabulous job, and that we would definitely hire him again and again. Our project was completed in time, on budget, and with some great renovations that make me feel completely safe in our house.
In short, hire Mark. It will be one of the smartest moves you have ever made with home renovations.

When we bought our house, we had no idea we had foundation issues. After doing some research, we elected to use SR to help with our fixes. As part of the effort we ended up doing:
— Front footing replacement
— Support for our front steps
— Bolting the frame of the foundation around the entire circumference of the house
— Sheer walling the entire bottom floor (effectively our garage)
— Attaching braces to all the joints of the beams
— Attaching braces/​rods from the main part of our house to the back deck/​attachment
— Auto-​shut off valve for the gas meter
Mark and his crew were knowledgeable, on-​time, on-​budget, and very professional. He also walked everything thru the permitting process on our behalf. His engineer is well respected. Very satisfied overall.