Foundation Repair/Replacement
Your Home could slide off its Foundation during an Earthquake – Let us help you avoid this
Many older homes are held onto the foundation by gravity alone, and are not protected against the lateral forces of an earthquake. A large earthquake can actually cause the structure to slide off the foundation. Foundation bolting will firmly attach the framing of the house to the perimeter foundation, securing it against even the largest earthquake.
Your home’s foundation is a common area of structural weakness. When concrete foundations are porous or crumbly, they will not provide adequate strength to resist earthquakes. Unreinforced brick or stone masonry may need to be replaced or strengthened. Seismic Safety will inspect your foundation, design, recommend and perform the foundation repair work necessary to fix any foundation problems.
Try to think of your foundation as a boat in an ocean of dirt. When the ocean moves, it moves the boat. If the deck is not properly connected to the hull the deck could slip into the ocean. The foundation repair cost is only a fraction of the potential cost of damages if your house is left unsecured. Sliding failure is a potential foundation problem if a house is not securely fastened to the foundation. Floor sliding problems and failures can be prevented by the proper installation of foundation bolts and framing anchors.
Foundation Repairs and Replacement
Many of the issues that homeowners associate with failing foundations; such as re-appearing cracks in the walls or doors and/or windows that stick, are not always structural red flags. Many times these minor cracks in the foundation appear as a result of sonic booms, high wind loads on the roof or even a moderate earthquake. Repairing a crack that seems to be growing continuously and has reach more than ¼” wide are indications that you should have Seismic Safety inspect your home for these casual factors.
The wood that rests directly on the foundation is called the mud sill. Until the 1940s, home builders often did not bolt the mud sill to the foundation. Our Los Angeles foundation repair contractors will check and advise you if there is insect damage or dry rot in the wood, and replace or repair any faulty wood as necessary. If your house is built on a hill or even a slight grade, you probably have some step-like offsets in your foundation. On every step, the mud sill must be bolted down at each end and along its length.
Bolting your home’s mud sill to the foundation and adding plywood to the cripple walls are the two most cost-effective steps you can take to strengthen your home for earthquakes.
The house foundation repair experts at Seismic Safety have managed more than 16,000 retrofit jobs in the last ten years alone. We have thousands of job site photos of our processes and qualified results. Call us to learn more.
Here are just two examples of our work to retrofit and secure:
A MASONRY FOUNDATION REINFORCED USING A SISTER FOUNDATION APPLICATION
RETROFIT OPTION FOR A BRICK OR STONE POCKET FOUNDATION
Seismic Safety - Ed Sylvis Construction 
