Earthquake retrofit home check

Earthquake Brace + Bolt targets wood-framed homes built before 1980 with a raised foundation or crawl space. Bolts connect the wood frame to the foundation. Plywood braces short cripple walls when those walls are present. The work helps keep the house from sliding or toppling off its base.

A slab-on-grade home, hillside home, post-and-pier base, unreinforced masonry foundation, room over a garage, or major addition can need a different design. The year and crawl space are screening clues, not a final scope. Have the permit office or a qualified professional identify the real foundation.

A soft-story home often has rooms above a garage with a wide door and too little wall support below. CRMP has one program for some single-family homes built before 2000. It has another for some buildings built before 1991 with 5 to 10 units over open parking.

These are grant groups. They are not a statewide order to fix every home that fits. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and some other cities have local rules for named building types. Use the city address search and any notice sent to the owner. Age alone is not enough.

When sign-up is open, a home that fits can seek up to $3,000 from EBB for a code-ready fix. The current extra grant can add up to $7,000 for some brace-and-bolt jobs in Northern California. The amount can change by job and area.

The current income cap for the extra help is $94,480 per household. Funds, ZIP codes, owner rules, flood rules, and the way homes are picked can change with each round. Check the live program page before you put a grant in the budget.

Do not start an EBB job before the program accepts the home. The program uses an online file, a building permit, photos from before the work, approved plans, and proof after the work. Starting too soon or missing a required photo can cost the grant even when the work is sound.

Get the local permit and a written work list. Check the contractor's active license type, bond, and workers' comp record. A hill, basement, bad base, added room, or odd short wall may need an engineer instead of the standard plan.

CEA gives a safety discount of up to 25 percent to some older homes that meet its build and retrofit rules. Its current table gives 20 percent to a raised-foundation home built from 1940 through 1979. It gives 25 percent when that type of home was built in 1939 or earlier.

Other approved base types that are not slabs can get 10 or 15 percent. The home usually must have one to four units, a wood frame, and a build date before 1980. It must have the right retrofit and a tied-down water heater. Send the form and proof before counting the savings.

California says new, old, and replacement home water heaters of up to 120 gallons must be braced, tied, or strapped. The setup must stop a fall or side-to-side move under the Plumbing Code. A seller must tell the buyer in writing that the heater follows the rule.

The state home guide says to look for two sets of straps around the tank and into wall studs. A tankless heater must be fixed to the wall. Its pipes must follow the maker's guide. A bendable gas line, access to the shutoff, and local code still matter.

Foundation work does not secure a brick chimney, cabinet, bookcase, television, ceiling fixture, gas appliance, or tall water heater. Walk room by room. Move heavy objects away from beds and exits, fasten tall furniture to studs, latch cabinets, and use approved flexible connections where required.

A retrofit reduces one or more failure paths. It does not make the home earthquake-proof, replace earthquake insurance, or change the mapped soil under the parcel. Keep permits, plans, photos, invoices, grant records, and insurance forms together for a future sale or claim.