Earthquake Safety provides complete services for planning and installing a seismic retrofit for your home. During our 24 years in business, working with over 6,012 homeowners, we have developed a three-step process.
- An initial Inspection and development of a seismic improvement plan for your home.
- A sit-down Presentation and discussion of the plan with you, including a written proposal for installation.
- Installation of the improvements when you provide us the authorization to do so.
Steps 1 and 2 of the process are completed with you at no charge or obligation. If you complete only the inspection and presentation part of the process, you will receive without cost, an analysis of the earthquake risks of your home. You will also benefit from two free in-home consultations, with answers to most of your questions about earthquakes. Finally, you will also receive a written proposal, including costs, for any recommended improvements. You will be more knowledgeable of the safety and property damage risks of your home no matter what you do.
Inspection
A highly qualified employee of the company is sent to your home. They will inspect your home to identify its strengths and weakness as well as methods by which it can be improved to increase its safety and reduce the risk of damage. Focus will be primarily on how to keep the house from falling off its concrete foundation, the main source of earthquake failure. Assuming improvements can be made and that they will be beneficial to you, the inspector will make a drawing of your home, locating its major foundations and structural conditions. This drawing is commonly referred to as a "footprint". Our inspector will use this "footprint" to identify and record his recommendations for improvements. The inspection process at your home can be completed in 30-45 minutes for a small house; and may take 90 minutes or more for a very large house.
At this initial appointment, you will also be provided with a package of materials documenting the background and reputation of our company. These materials include contractor's license number, lengthy list of references, insurance certificate, description of the company's experience, Better Business Bureau certification, testimonials from previous customers, and other items of interest.
After the home visit, our inspector will return to our office where he will formalize the improvement plan, use our computer-based program to determine cost, and develop a written proposal, including cost, to install the recommended improvements. When the proposal is ready, usually a few days after the inspection, our office will call you to arrange for the second meeting; the presentation.
Presentation
The purpose of the second meeting is to explain in detail our recommendations. We will show you the completed plan, review the recommended improvements, show how they reduce earthquake risk and answer any questions you may have. This discussion will be accompanied with a number of pictures and drawings designed to make sure you understand completely what is to be done and why it is being recommended.
Our representative will then provide you with a written proposal describing the recommended improvements. The proposal will usually contain two of three sub-sections, each priced separately, to allow you to make the improvements in steps or phases, and to provide some alternative in cost. Generally, if you install all the proposed items your home will be stronger. However, you usually will be provided with an option to complete some of the improvements now and defer some to later; or, some improvements may be more important than others, and are priced separately to allow you the option of doing only the most important ones. All of this will be thoroughly discussed and explained to you during the presentation.
At the completion of the presentation, you will be offered the opportunity to arrange for installation of all or a portion of the proposed work. As stated before, there is no obligation to do so.
Installation
Installation can usually begin within 2-4 weeks after you authorize it. In most cases, large and complex houses excepted, installation can be completed in 1-5 working days. We will obtain any necessary building permits. A work crew consisting usually of two of the company's highly trained employees will complete the installation. All the required inspections by your local building department will be arranged from our office. You will be provided with documentation to verify that the installation was completed and properly inspected. All installation and workmanship is fully guaranteed.
Choosing Your Contractor: Your choice of a retrofitting contractor to plan and install your seismic improvements is obviously very important. Better workmanship makes for stronger houses. Poor quality may show up only when the earthquake happens.
Earthquake Safety, Inc. has over twenty years of dedicated experience as a seismic specialist, with over 6,012 homes retrofitted. We provide customized plans to fit the needs of your home. Installation crews are highly trained, long term, full-time employees. Our business reputation is well established in the local community. Customer satisfaction is guaranteed.
