- Bolt and brace
- $3k to $12kSingle-family, 1 to 2 weeks
- Soft-story retrofit
- $60k to $200k+Apartment buildings, often required
- Got a city notice?
- There's a deadlineWe handle the whole response
- Tenants stay
- YesWork is at the parking level
Los Angeles sits on a lot of faults, and most of its housing was built before the codes caught up. A retrofit strengthens the building so it stays standing and livable after a quake: bolting the house down to its foundation, bracing the short walls in the crawlspace, or adding steel frames under an apartment building with open parking underneath.
If the city has sent you an order to comply, there is a deadline attached to it and we handle the whole thing: the engineer, the drawings, the permit, the construction and the paperwork that closes it out. We also fix foundations that are cracking, settling or crumbling, which is often what a remodel runs into first.
What it costs in Los Angeles
| What | Typical Los Angeles range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bolt and brace, single-family | $3,000 to $12,000 | 1 to 2 weeks. State grant may cover $3,000 |
| Soft-story retrofit, small building | $60,000 to $150,000 | Depends on the number of steel frames |
| Soft-story retrofit, larger building | $150,000 to $300,000+ | Plus $10,000 to $25,000 engineering and permits |
| Foundation crack repair | $2,000 to $8,000 | Localized, if movement has stopped |
| Piers or partial replacement | $15,000 to $60,000 | When the soil is the problem |
| Full foundation replacement | $100,000 to $200,000+ | Including lifting the house |
Planning ranges for Los Angeles County, reviewed 2026-10-29. Not a quote. We price every job after walking it.
What's included
- Inspection and an engineer's assessment of what the building actually needs
- Stamped drawings, calculations and the permit filing
- Soft-story work: steel frames, columns and shear walls at the ground floor
- Bolt and brace: anchor bolts, plate washers and plywood on the crawlspace walls
- Foundation repair: crack injection, piers, partial replacement
- Full foundation replacement, including lifting the house when it comes to that
- Drainage fixes, because water is usually what caused the problem
- Tenant notices, phasing, inspections and the final sign-off with the city
What drives the price
- Single-family bolting versus an apartment building with open parking
- How many steel frames the engineer specifies, which is the biggest single number
- Whether anyone can physically get into the crawlspace
- Soil conditions, and whether piers are needed to reach something solid
- Whether the building is occupied, which changes how the work is scheduled
Permits and approvals
Retrofits and foundation work need a permit with engineered drawings. The City of Los Angeles requires owners of older wood-frame buildings with weak ground floors to retrofit, and sends an order to comply with dates on it. Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Glendale and Long Beach run their own versions. Qualifying single-family homes can use a standard plan set, which makes the permit much faster.
How long it takes
Bolt and brace takes 1 to 2 weeks on site. A soft-story retrofit is 6 to 16 weeks of construction after permits, and permits take 2 to 4 months. Foundation replacement with the house lifted runs 2 to 4 months.
Three ways to scope it
Find out what you need
A site inspection and an engineer's scope. If you have a city order, this is also where we read the deadline and work backward from it.
Engineer and permit
Stamped drawings and calculations. Soft-story filings go through a specific city checklist.
Build it
Phased so units stay occupied. Most of the work happens in the parking area and at the ground floor.
How we run the job
1. Walk the property
We meet you on site, listen, and look at what the building and the city will need. You get a written scope and a budget range.
2. Drawings
When drawings are needed we bring in the architect and engineer, and price the design while it is being drawn.
3. Permit
We file with the city, handle the corrections they send back, and tell you where it stands.
4. Price and contract
An itemized price, a schedule and payment terms. Anything new after signing gets priced in writing first.
5. Build
One supervisor on your job, licensed trades, inspections in order, and a weekly update with photos.
6. Walkthrough
A final fix list, the city's sign-off, and a written warranty on our work.
Questions
What is a soft-story building?
A wood-frame building with a weak ground floor, almost always open parking tucked under the apartments. There are not enough walls down there to resist sideways movement, so the ground floor can pancake. Northridge in 1994 collapsed a lot of them, which is why the law exists.
Is the retrofit actually mandatory?
For buildings the city has identified, yes. You get an order to comply with deadlines for filing drawings and finishing the work, and there are consequences for missing them. Several other cities run their own mandatory programs.
Can I pass the cost to my tenants?
In the City of Los Angeles, owners of rent-stabilized buildings can apply to pass through part of a seismic retrofit cost, capped at a set monthly amount per unit. We put together the cost documentation the housing department asks for.
How do I know if my house is bolted down?
Houses built before the 1950s usually are not. Look in the crawlspace for bolts through the wood sill plate every few feet and plywood on the short walls. If you see bare wood sitting on concrete with nothing connecting them, it is not bolted. We will come look.
Will fixing the foundation fix my cracked walls and sticking doors?
Often, if settlement is the cause. We figure out what is driving the movement first, usually drainage, soil, tree roots or a leaking pipe, fix that, then fix the foundation, then repair the finishes. Doing it in the other order means doing it twice.
Seismic Retrofit & Foundation Repair by city
Same work, different building department. Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Glendale, Studio City, West Hollywood. Or see every city.
Related reading
- What is a soft-story retrofit?
- What is a bolt-and-brace foundation retrofit?
- How much does foundation repair cost?
- What are the signs of foundation problems in a house?
Related work
Complete Home Renovation
The entire house in one project, instead of one room every other year.
Exterior Remodel
How the building looks from the street, and how well it keeps the weather out.