I contacted Joshua B. Kardon, PhD, SE, F.ASCE, on the advice of a friend who is an architect after…read morewe won the bidding war (for $869K) on a 1924 Craftsman home in San Leandro in 2019. It had several issues, especially a problematic (cracked) original foundation. When Joshua Kardon informed us that we might have to spend a considerable portion of the above purchase price to properly fix up the house, make it earthquake-safe, and bring it up to current codes, we decided to pass on this lovely house. (He told us that replacing the cracked original foundation and raising the basement ceiling from 75 inches height to 96 inches on the 1400-square-foot home - all by itself - might cost $200-$300,000 and take many months. The home had other issues, too.) We later purchased a smaller 1954 ranch-style home in almost-as-built condition and called Joshua Kardon again for a consultation about seismic strengthening. He designed the almost-finished project that spans the front of our home and protects it against earthquakes. Joshua Kardon selected a "SkinnyBrace" by Thor Matteson, SE, of Quake Bracing LLC as the most cost-effective way to anchor our garage and the front of the house using attic collectors and garage shear walls. Nieto Valle Construction of Hayward has executed his designs and will soon finish the garage drywall and attic insulation. Joshua B. Kardon, SE, has always insisted on designing and implementing the best possible seismic strengthening solution for us and his solution is now in place. His attention to detail and insistence on doing things "the right way" are highly reassuring and have produced great results. Josh is also very personable, patient in educating us as to why certain design strategies work better, and has a great sense of humor. I would recommend Joshua B. Kardon + Co., Structural Engineers, in a heartbeat to anyone considering seismic strengthening or any other projects requiring the services of an experienced, thorough, detail-oriented, and friendly structural engineer.

Josh was very kind and helpful in providing feedback on an early inquiry as to how I should…read moreapproach working with a structural engineer and contractor in an aspirational project I've started to think through. His calm, kind and approachable energy is exactly the kind of professionalism you want on your upcoming project.

I have worked with Reza and his team on multiple projects. They always make sure to provide best…read moreoptions for each project and ready to go the extra mile to accomplish the goals.

I had a wonderful experience with Babak and his team. He is…read morevery professional and always replied to my email within a business day. The design I requested was completed earlier than they anticipated and at a very reasonable price. I couldn't ask for more! I'm sure I'll use their services again in the future in case I'm planning any addition or modification to my house.

We purchased an older, fixer upper and needed an engineer to look at the foundation and structural…read moresupport beams. SF Bay sent over one of their engineers whom I found to be extremely knowledgeable and presented us with options on how best to deal with the situation. We were so impressed that we hired them when it was time to do a large addition and remodel to the house. Marcus, the business owner, is an experienced engineer who really knows his trade. During the design process he worked hard to accommodate my "wish lists" that I kept adding to (yikes!). At the same time, he advised me on things I should consider in order to keep costs down. I always felt he had my interests at heart, while at the same time he was doing what was necessary to meet codes, so we could avoid problems during construction and inspections. While engineers and architects seem to be really busy these days, SF Bay's turnaround time is reasonable, and when you need something in a hurry, they try their best to accommodate. This is a top notch engineering company that charges modest and fair pricing for doing excellent work. If you are lucky enough to come across them, don't hesitate, just hire them and you will be glad you did.

I bought a new, old home and wanted the foundation and floors evaluated…read more Fast response time. They provided a quote ($600) in no time, offered to send out a sample report and asked for the address of the house. When I probed them with what the evaluation involved (such as mapping floor levelness) and whether they were independent without financial ties to contractors, I learned they don't map floor levelness. They didn't answer the bulk of my questions, and they ended stating they don't have the bandwidth to take on my project.

We have been working on a 2nd floor addition to a 100 yr old house. As one can imagine, there are…read moremany significant structural issues that may arise unexpectedly when opening up walls and seeing how people build things 100 yrs ago. David and Ray have been incredible since the beginning of the process, helping us navigate through all the structural concerns and always trying to find a value engineering approach - whether it was optimizing depth of foundation work, or finding ways to reinforce old windows, coming up with ways to get headers into locations where there isn't the space, and/or proposing alternative shear wall options when there isn't room to fit things. Ray, our project engineer, has been the best communicating and responding to all our questions and worries. He carefully reviews the problem at hand that arise and often will provide 2 or 3 possible options that our builder can work on. With our current project, Ray is always super prompt to resolve any issues via call or email, or video conference and if necessary an onsite visit to inspect the construction phase. He was just crawling in our crawlspace the other day and notified our builder if some items that needed to be addressed to maintain a positive continuous connection from 2nd floor down to 1st floor and to crawlspace foundation. We are now adding the 2nd floor framing and almost done the most stressful part of the project. We have done 3 major remodels in the past with other firms where it was difficult to get in touch with anybody. With Ray and David at Simplengi Engineering, it has been a very refreshing experience to have experts that promptly responds to all our concerns. Value engineering, great timely communication, attention to detail, common sense, simple and smart engineering. We highly recommend Ray and David and Simplengi Engineering for any structural work. Simply great engineering. We don't plan to do another remodel for 100+ years but if we did, we would hire Simplengi 100% for sure.

​If you want the highest degree of professionalism​, the best customer service​, and an incredibly…read morewell trained and highly ethical engineer​, who is a supreme problem-solver and someone who actually responds to your questions, then you'll be 1000% satisfied with Dave Yadegar at Simplengi. ​D​ave is a superbly qualified engineer with a ​v​ast amount of varied professional experience​, and with his knowledge and skills​, ​h​e has saved us substantial amounts of time, money and perhaps most importantly - aggravation.​ ​I​nterestingly, I have met ​two other clients​ of Dave's, and they both shared the same opinion of​ his ability.​ ​D​ave will save you time, money, frustration, etc. New construction, remodels, expansion, - commercial and residential: he will simplify your life as ​he has done for me. He is absolutely the very best. PS- a shout-out goes to Antwon Trinh and Santosh Chitturi for helping round out the team!

Working with Kais at Oaktown Engineers was hands-down one of the best decisions we made during our…read morehome-buying journey. He is super sharp, unbelievably knowledgeable, and incredibly thorough. He took his time walking us through everything--we never felt rushed for a single second! On top of his expertise, Kais is genuinely kind and a pleasure to work with. His insights gave us total peace of mind to make our offer. We feel really fortunate to have found him.

My wife and I have been in search for a home to purchase in Oakland CA…read more We had our eye on a beautiful home that was built in 1923. Sadly the disclosures said nothing about the foundation. My agent strongly advised me to hire a structural engineer to assist with the overall inspection. That's when I came across Kais with Oaktown engineers. Kais was very easy to get ahold of, a great value based on other engineers in the area, prompt with response, & available on short notice, a huge plus given the short window to place home offers. During the walk around process my agent and I could quickly tell Kais was not only familiar with houses in Oakland, but was knowledgeable about how the beams, foundation and structure should be settling on a home after one hundred years. I was very pleased with the information provided by Kais in aiding my wife and I's decision on the home. Sadly the home itself needed a whole new foundation, new retaining wall on both the side and front of the home and much more. I felt very reassured in my decision based on the report Kai's provided. If you're looking for a structural engineer, I would absolutely recommend them. They're also a small family business, something we need more of in Oakland. Great job all around Oaktown engineers!

Zhang Architects Inc has collaborated with Austin and his team at Upright Engineering on several…read moreprojects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area where Zhang Architects provided architectural design services. Their team consistently delivers high-quality civil and structural engineering services with strong attention to detail, professionalism, and responsibility. They are responsive, easy to work with, and maintain reasonable turnaround times throughout the project process. We appreciate the collaborative working relationship and look forward to continuing to work with Upright Engineering on future projects.

We had great experiences working with Upright Engineering for our house addition project in SF…read moreBernal Heights. Our project located on steep slope and the structural design and cals requirements are extremely strict from DBI SF, we even went through the SAC meeting! Because Austin and his team have extensive knowledge to compliant with SF DBI's codes and requirements, we did go back and forth too many times for revision of the design or plan. the city was pretty happy with their works. Upright Engineers worked on our foundation, stairs and structural documents. Amber is very responsive throughout our permit application process, whenever there were new comments or changes from the city requirement, she responded right away and contacted the right person in the team for the request. we highly recommend Upright Engineering! Thanks

Engin is prompt, responsive, and extremely knowledgeable. I found myself in a very difficult…read moresituation after my property was red-tagged by the City of Oakland due to foundation issues. After speaking with several engineers, Engin stood out as the most thorough, knowledgeable, and solution-oriented. He quickly understood the situation, provided a clear path forward, and worked effectively with the City of Oakland Planning and Building Departments to address the issues. Throughout the process, he was professional, communicative, and helped reduce a tremendous amount of stress and uncertainty. His expertise and guidance were invaluable, and I would highly recommend him to anyone needing structural engineering services. Thanks to Engin, a situation that felt overwhelming became manageable. I am very grateful for his help.

We hired ECR Engineering for a seismic retrofit design and build project in our Pacific Heights…read morehome, and we couldn't be happier. Navigating SF building codes is a nightmare, but Engin and the team made the structural side of things seamless. They provided cost-effective design solutions that saved us on construction costs without compromising safety. They were incredibly responsive to our contractor's questions and helped us get through the permitting process faster than expected. If you need a structural engineer in the city who actually understands old SF buildings, this is the firm.

Our 100 year old house is about 1 mile from the Hayward fault. After 20 plus years of getting wild…read morebids for seismic upgrade work we went to KSF Structural and asked them to design us a new foundation. Kent was great to work with. He provided excellent drawings and a work package that resulted in almost no change orders. The bids were very tight for the work and the contractor's work crew did an excellent job. We are very happy with Kent's help on our project.

I did a whole house remodel down to the studs, that included a complete foundation replacement…read more After looking and interviewing a few structural engineers, I chose Kent, and am so happy I did. He was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire process (and trust me, it was a process lol). He provided plans and details that were easy to follow and build, was open to feedback, and provided clear communication of the tradeoffs involved. His rates are fair and work is quality. I would highly recommend Kent for your next project.