Earthquake Soft-Story Grants of up to $13,000
⏰ Registration Starting October 15, 2024⏰
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Protect Your Home from Earthquake Damage with an ESS Grant! California homeowners with soft-story structures (living space over garage) can now access up to $13,000 in financial assistance through the Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) Grant Program. Don't wait until it's too late—retrofit your home now and safeguard your family from potential earthquake damage.
You may qualify for an ESS Grant if:
- Your house was built before 2000;
- Your house has a living space over the garage;
- You own and live in the house;
- Your house has no more than two stories; and
- You have not already completed a soft-story retrofit.
Why apply for an Earthquake Soft-Story Grant?
- Significant Financial Support: Receive a grant of up to $13,000 to retrofit your soft-story home.
- Increased Safety: Strengthen your home’s structure and reduce the risk of catastrophic damage in the event of an earthquake.
- Boost Property Value: A retrofit can add value to your home, making it more appealing to future buyers.
- Peace of Mind: Feel secure knowing your home is prepared for California’s unpredictable seismic activity.
- Free to Apply: The application process is simple and costs nothing to get started.
Take Action Now!
Open enrollment is limited, so don’t miss out on this chance to secure funding for your home’s earthquake retrofit. Apply for the ESS Grant today and protect your home and family from earthquake risks.
ESS & Retrofit FAQs
If you're considering protecting your home from earthquake damage, you likely have questions about seismic retrofitting. In these FAQs, we'll explore essential topics such as what an Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) retrofit is, typical costs, and how to get started. You'll also learn about available financial assistance programs and whether specific structural elements, like chimneys, are included in retrofits. Understanding these key points can help you make informed decisions about safeguarding your home.
A. An ESS seismic retrofit strengthens an older house (pre-2000), making it more resistant to earthquake damage caused by ground shaking and soil failure. The seismic retrofitting required for ESS is performed in accordance with FEMA P-1100 (seismic retrofit construction plan set) and directly addresses the vulnerabilities by:
- Strengthening the walls at the garage door or any other large openings with plywood or other strengthening elements including steel columns or proprietary shear elements;
- Bracing the perimeter walls of the lowest story and, if there is a crawl space, the cripple walls must also be braced; and
- Bolting the house to its foundation.
The ESS retrofit may require new reinforced concrete foundations at some or all of the existing perimeter and interior bearing walls. Strengthening the garage door may involve installation of steel columns or proprietary shear elements.
A. The cost of a retrofit depends on many factors. It has been estimated that the cost of a soft-story retrofit of a single-family home may cost between $15,000 and $28,000, however, there are factors which could cause the cost to be significantly higher. An example of a factor that could cause costs to be significantly higher is the need for foundation modifications.
The ESS grant program will reimburse up to 75% of the total retrofit cost up to $13,000 depending on the house type. Please see Program Rules for more details.
A. The Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) program provides participants who own and occupy a qualifying house with a soft-story vulnerability (a living space built over a garage), and who qualify for the ESS program, an incentive grant to reimburse up to 75% of the total cost of the retrofit, up to $13k to assist in obtaining a seismic retrofit performed in accordance with FEMA P-1100.
A. No, the ESS program does not cover any work done on chimneys; however, FEMA P-1100 does have a volume addressing chimneys, and you may find some helpful information from Earthquake County Alliance, which addresses how to repair damaged chimneys and what to do to minimize future damage and risk.
A. Identifying your house’s age, construction and foundation type is the first step in the earthquake retrofit process.
A visual inspection by a licensed contractor, engineer or architect can determine your home’s earthquake vulnerabilities. Recommendations from the licensed professional may suggest strengthening the connections between the house and the foundation, as well as strengthening the sub-area supporting walls.
Knowing what to do, where to do it, and how to do it are very important.
A. CRMP's grant programs, Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) and Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) offer grants to eligible homeowners.
- Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing, offered in cities such as Berkeley, which allows property owners to borrow money to pay seismic retrofits and spread the cost of the upgrade over a period of time through a special assessment on their property tax bill.
- Low-income and fixed income residents of the San Francisco Bay Area may be eligible for grants specifically designated for home earthquake strengthening through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's block grant program. For more information, call (510) 577-6004.
- For recently-purchased homes, there are transfer tax Rebates: The cities of Berkeley and El Cerrito offer rebates or refunds on a percentage of your home’s transfer tax if you complete a voluntary seismic retrofit of your residential property.
A: There isn't a standard cost for earthquake retrofitting a home. The retrofitting repair range for a brace and bolt type of retrofit runs from $3,000 to $7,000. Larger homes, those built on hillsides, and those with basements or rooms over garages will typically cost more to retrofit. But some houses may only require a "bolt only" retrofit, which costs about $3,000. The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) provides grants to help you pay for a brace + bolt retrofit and an earthquake soft-story retrofit.