Nick has called San Francisco home for decades. He purchased his house—a 1911 fixer-upper—in the late 1990s and has lived there ever since.
Over time, he began thinking more seriously about how to strengthen the property. He knew the house wasn’t bolted to its foundation, and in 2023, he decided to take steps to better protect it in a future earthquake.
Embracing The Inevitable
That decision was shaped in part by his experience during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. At the time, Nick was living in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood when the shaking began—strong enough that the house seemed to twist beneath him. He took cover under a table, then headed outside. The aftershocks that followed were just as unsettling. While he didn’t lose anything himself, the damage around him was hard to ignore. Some nearby buildings were so severely affected that they had to be torn down. It was a moment that stayed with him.
Nick first heard about the Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) program through a contractor. Once accepted, he approached the project step by step—starting with a structural engineer, then using those plans to reach out to contractors and compare bids.
Maintaining An Understanding Of The Process
The process took time. Getting approval from the City of San Francisco was slow and required additional documentation, extending the timeline beyond what he initially expected. Before construction could begin, Nick also had to clear out the crawl space and garage to make room for the work.
Because of the way his home was built, the retrofit required a customized solution. The project involved building a new wall and foundation system inside the existing structure to create the necessary support. “Without a structural engineer, I have no idea how this work could have been done,” Nick said.
Looking back, Nick said starting with the engineering plans made a meaningful difference. Having a clear understanding of the scope of work before reaching out to contractors helped him compare bids and move forward with confidence.
Even with the challenges, Nick describes the experience as a positive one. “ESS and the contractor were great,” he said. “The contractor knew his stuff and worked well with the structural engineer.” He also appreciated that the contractor handled the paperwork and coordinated payments directly with CRMP. “I didn’t have to find all of the money and wait to be reimbursed,” he added.
Now that the retrofit is complete, Nick says it feels good knowing his home is more secure. The work itself was largely invisible from the outside, with most of it happening behind closed doors and without much disruption to the neighborhood.
Nick says the process was worth it—for the added peace of mind and the confidence that his home is better prepared for whatever comes next.