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Do you have what is called a 'soft-story' home? That's a house that has one or more floors of living space built above a garage.
If you do, you should know that these structures are vulnerable to more damage from earthquakes than other homes.
According to the California Earthquake Authority, this spring, homeowners in select Bay Area and Southern California cities will have another tool at their disposal to help safeguard their homes against the threat of earthquakes. If you live in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Los Angeles and Pasadena you'll be able to apply for a grant out of an available pool of $5 million in FEMA funding to retrofit your soft-story homes.
The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) anticipates being able to award 375 grants up to $13,000 each depending on the type of house and retrofit. A residential seismic retrofit makes a house more resistant to earthquake activity. For more information, including resources and information on how to apply, click here.
They're also looking for licensed contractors to help them with these retrofits. If you're a contractor interested in participating, you can find more information and apply HERE.
In addition, the California Residential Mitigation Program, EBB offers up to $3,000 to help California homeowners retrofit their house to reduce potential damage from earthquakes. Residential seismic retrofits bolt the house to its foundation and add bracing, if required, around the perimeter of the crawl space, making it more resistant to earthquake activity. For more information, please visit http://www.EarthquakeBraceBolt.com.
Jason spoke with Janiele Maffei, Chief Mitigation Officer for California Earthquake Authority this morning. Check out that interview below.