Earthquake Brace + Bolt Program For Fremont Residents

From the City of Fremont:

March 7, 2020

Fremont homeowners are now eligible for up to $3,000 to make their houses less vulnerable to earthquake damage through Earthquake Brace + Bolt, a program jointly administered by the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). The program offers eligible homeowners grant money to perform a seismic retrofit of their house. Homeowners can apply online. The application deadline is March 19, 2020.

Since the program was founded in 2013, Earthquake Brace + Bolt grants have helped more than 9,000 homeowners retrofit their houses. Because older houses are more likely to slide off their foundation during an earthquake, an Earthquake Brace + Bolt seismic retrofit braces the cripple walls, when present, and bolts the house to the foundation, making the house more resistant to earthquake damage.

More than 1.2 million houses in high-hazard areas are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because of the type of construction, according to the CEA. These homes are typically built before 1980, are wood framed with a raised foundation, and may have a cripple wall in the crawl space under the house.

This press release was produced by the City of Fremont. The views expressed here are the author’s own.