Residential Earthquake Retrofit, House Bolting, Foundation Repair/Replacement, Cripple Wall Bracing, Water Drainage Issues

Definition of basic Earthquake Retrofit Applications

Seismic Safety has been in the business of Earthquake Retrofitting and House Bolting for almost 60 years. 

Learn about the different products and processes used in proper Earthquake Retrofitting for yourself. 

ADHESIVE ANCHOR is a fastener placed in hardened concrete or masonry that derives its holding
strength from a chemical adhesive compound placed between the wall of the hole and the embedded portion of the anchor.

ANCHOR SIDE PLATE is a metal plate or plates used to connect a sill plate to the side of a concrete or
masonry stem wall.

CRIPPLE WALL A cripple wall is actually a misnomer. The walls are not crippled in physical disability sense. Cripple studs is an old time carpenter term for units that are actually less than full height studs. They will hold the first floor platform higher off of the concrete foundation. These short walls could be in jeopardy of collapse, allowing the floor structure to slid off of the foundation, if not properly retrofitted with shear panel bracing.

EXPANSION ANCHOR is a mechanical fastener placed in hardened concrete or assembled masonry,
designed to expand in a self-drilled or pre-drilled hole of a specified size and engage the sides of the hole in one or
more locations to develop shear and/or tension resistance to applied loads without grout, adhesive or dry pack.

PERIMETER FOUNDATION is a foundation system which is located under the exterior walls of a
building.

SNUG-TIGHT is as tight as an individual can torque a nut on a bolt by hand, using a wrench with a 10-
inch (254 mm) long handle and the point at which the full surface of the plate washer is contacting the wood
member and slightly indents the wood surface.

UNREINFORCED MASONRY includes adobe, burned clay, concrete or sand-lime brick, hollow clay or
concrete block, hollow clay tile, rubble, cut stone and unburned clay masonry walls in which the area of
reinforcement is less than 50 percent of the minimum steel ratios required for reinforced masonry.

 

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Happy Customers


Super Service Award 6 Consecutive Years

Recommendations

Margaret Vinci, Cal-Tech.
"I am happy to send a personal letter of endorsement but, unfortunately, Caltech does not do endorsements All Californians should consider earthquake retrofitting their home to reduce their potential losses. Ed Sylvis runs Seismic Safety which is one of the best companies in the business with the highest reputation amongst his clients for not only the quality of work but also Ed's honesty, integrity and ethics.  It is a personal agenda for me to assist residents in being earthquake prepared and I endorse Ed Sylvis without hesitation."
Mr. Tim Eng, Pacific Palisades..
"I found you on the internet ...your professionalism during the pre-contract inspection of my home made it easy to select you. Thank you for your honesty and the thorough job."
Cheryl Manning.
"Seismic Safety bolted my house and adjusted the floors. I had no qualms about having them back in August of 2006 to build the foundation for my new addition. Because of their attention to detail and pride in a job well done, Seismic Safety is on my short list of contractors I recommend without hesitation. I look forward to putting these sentiments on Angies List."
Momita Sengupta, Venice.
"I am writing to express my gratitude for the work completed on our house. This is our first home and a very important investment to us. Your crew has been incredibly polite, neat, and hard working. Ken Compton was extremely helpful and gracious ... I am glad we decided to go with Seismic Safety for our retrofitting work given the care and attention our house has received. I will be recommending your company to my friends and colleagues."
Mr. Brian Ofria.
"My father is an engineer of some renown. He and I agree that Ed Sylvis saved the life of our wonderful home here in Woodland Hills. He did exactly as promised and a little more. We did our research on him before contract. Everyone said and promised us that we would be happy we chose him, and indeed we were."
Mandy Ceja, Fairgreen Ave Monrovia.
"It was great to work with such a professional organization. I wish all my business encounters were as positive. Thanks......"
Bill and Dan Clark, La Prada St., Highland Park.
"Ken Compton was a excellent to work with very personable. As I did not personally witness the crew preform the job, but I am very pleased as the job looks great!!.."
Daniel Berman Malcom Ave., Los Angeles.
"I called Seismic Saftey because my General Contractor said that we needed to have the house bolted down. The contranctor wanted to charge near $7,000.00 for the job I was very pleased with the service I received by Seismic Safety; both over the phone and in person. They were very honest and infact initially told us that our house probably did not need to be inspected at all. They determined this because by the year the house was built and the area of the house For piece of mind, I had Seismic Safety come over anyway to inspect the bolts. After 10 minutes of crawling under the house. They quickly determined that the house was sufficiently Anchor bolted. They provided a follow-up report 2 days later stating that no work needed to be done and the house was indeed sufficiently bolted. Seismic Safety saved me $7000.00 dollars, Prior to the inspection, I asked Seismic Safety if they could give a quote anyway to bolt the house incase we needed it. Their quote was less than half of the contractor Finally, Seismic Safety followed up a couple of times to make sure that we were satisfied and if we needed anything else."
Drew Maitch, Mountain Street Glendale.
"They braced the cripple walls, and bolted the structure to the foundation around the perimeter of our crawl space, On the recommendation from our home inspector, we called Seismic Safety during escrow to inspect the lack of retrofitting in most of the crawl space of our new home (actually old home, built in 1924) and estimate the cost of the necessary upgrades. They came out quickly (charging a nominal fee which would be applied to the work should they be awarded the job), and gave me an estimate within 48 hours of my first call. The estimate was fair, and the crew arrived the morning after we received the keys to the house. They bolted the foundation, and braced the cripple walls all the way around the perimeter of the crawl space. They were professional, maintained a clean worksite, and did quality work that passed the city inspection immediately. The job took 3 days. I would recommend them without hesitation"

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