Earthquake Retrofit

 If a living space sits atop a garage or other open structure, that area may be particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.  The garage or open structure (“soft story buildings”) may need additional bracing.  Strapping water heaters is now required by code and new water heaters are generally secure.  Older water heaters may need to be strapped to the wall studs.  There are other items, like masonry chimneys, that may need to be considered in an earthquake retrofit.

You may choose to have an automatic shutoff valve installed on a gas line.  Located between the gas meter and the house, the valve is activated by the shaking of an earthquake.​

City of Portland Requirements

Prescriptive standards are standards that provide exact rules, directions or instructions to do something.  The City of Portland allows a person to retrofit to these standards, without engineering the design, if the building:

• Is a one- or two-family dwelling,
• Is not over three stories high with a cripple wall stud height not over 14,”
• Has a continuous concrete foundation around the entire building, and
• Is not on a foundation subgrade steeper than 3 (horizontal) to 1 (vertical) at any point.

All other retrofits must be engineered.

The City of Portland requires a permit for retrofitting.  (You should contact your local building official in other jurisdictions. Some do not require permits.)

Costs for Retrofitting

The cost for retrofitting varies considerably.  If the work can be done in a fairly open crawl space as oppose to a finished basement, it likely will be less costly.   A ballpark estimate for standard work by a licensed contractor is at about $2 – $5 per square foot of crawl space or basement.  (This translates to between $4,000 and $10,000 for a 2,000 square foot, single-level home).

Grants and Loans

The City of Portland announced that it received federal funds to help retrofit 150 homes. That money has been committed. Homeowners interested in joining a seismic assessment wait list and receiving notification of any future funding to offset retrofit costs should visit https://enhabit.org/seismic/. Depending on your location, loans may also be available.​

If you retrofit a house that is an income-producing property listed in the National Register of Historic Places, you may qualify for federal tax credits.  Contact the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office.

Earthquake Insurance

As a general rule, homeowners insurance does not cover earthquake damage.  However, you may be able to purchase separate earthquake coverage through your current insurance company or a separate company.  Earthquake insurance tends to carry large deductibles.  In some cases, you may need to provide proof of a retrofit to obtain the insurance.

Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services has further information on earthquake insurance​.

Finding a Contractor

There is no license or other requirement for contractors to perform retrofit services.  Any contractor licensed in Oregon to work on residential structures is legally permitted to perform earthquake retrofits.  However, you may want to find somebody that specializes in this work and has gained some expertise.