Our home is 69 years old and has some cracks in walls, inside and out. We seriously researched which foundation inspection company was the best. Without a doubt, Bear Engineering is the top of the line! The owner, Nathan, was very responsive! Our inspector, Kurt was the most thorough person that we've hired in years! His grad degree and interest in his field was obvious from the start! His final evaluation summary, possible solutions and photos, along with his expertise and experience were SO worth the (minimal) amount of dollars. We highly recommend Bear Engineering! read more

We hired BEAR Engineering for a Foundation & Drainage inspection on a new home. The experience was easy, transparent, and professional from start to finish. Their website let us know exactly what to expect, and made it simple to schedule the inspection online. Jakob responded to our request and was very responsive to our inquiries prior to the inspection. On the day of the inspection, he over-delivered by providing a same-day report. His in-person review of the inspection results was concise and informative. The written report exceeded our expectations: not only was it thorough, but it also included referrals and useful supporting information. It was a real pleasure getting to work with such a competent firm! read more

We first engaged with Bear during a home buyer's inspection back in July 2022. Jakob was our guy. And we were so happy that he was. His evaluation was detailed and thorough which included pictures, measurements and professional evaluation of current state + recommendations. And upon learning that he took it upon himself to navigate his way through the tight crawl space under the house to ensure his evaluation was comprehensive, it made us appreciate his effort and attention to detail even more. Based on his evaluation, we felt relieved there were no major red flags and proceeded with the purchase of the home. Fast forward to Feb 2023. Out of the the heavy rains, we found water had seeped into our crawlspace and we weren't sure where it was sourcing from. We sent an email to Bear to see if they could help us evaluate the situation and use the previous inspection as a foundation. We received a reply from Jakob advising that he remembered our inspection and took the time to review his notes/pics to provide an informed reply with possible mitigation options for consideration. This was SO helpful and allowed us to avoid wasting time working with someone else and having to start the convo from scratch. What sealed the 5 star rating was Jakob offering to hop on a zoom call with us to not only walk through the suggestions but to help us further assess the seepage + think about some mitigation options that weren't in the first reply. The fact that Jakob/Bear was willing to go above and beyond was something we appreciated so much! Highly recommend! read more

BEAR Engineering is excellent. They performed an inspection of the failing foundation on our 100-year old house. The report was clear, detailed, and well-written. It included many photos and text descriptions of their findings, as well as a wide range of possible mitigations, including the cost-benefit tradeoffs of each of them. This was exactly what we wanted: detailed information from experienced engineers, that presented us with all our options clearly and dispassionately. Their staff also went above and beyond. In addition to the detailed report, we spoke on the phone several times with the inspecting engineer, to make sure we understood its contents. I also followed up nearly a year later with their principal, Nathan Toothman. Nathan was well-prepared for the conversation, and had the original written report ready as a reference, along with other supporting information. He again provided useful, clear, actionable guidance, which I found extremely valuable. I cannot recommend their services highly enough. If you need clear, useful, unbiased advice on a foundation or other structural issues, please consider contracting them! read more

Very impressed! They are diligent and write a great report! Friendly as well, highly recommend!

BEAR is super responsive and reliable. As a first time home buyer I have rare knowledge about foundation/structures and Nathan was kindly giving his objective and professional opinions and addressing my concerns through both zoom calls and on-site checks. Will continue to work with Nathan until I find my home! read more

Jakob was extremely informative, thorough, and had a very detailed report ready within a week. He also answered several followup questions promptly, which helped avoid a costly mistake by the contractor in installing the French drain. Well worth the money. read more

We used remote service and they were very professional and reliable. Definitely recommend them.

I would never recommend this company to anyone. They will take fancy photos of your crawl space and tell you that water should move away from the house. I was given around 30 pages of companies to do needed work. I contacted the owner prior to inspection if items like the fence, chimney, and large structures would be analyzed. He said it's included in the basic report and I was willing to pay more for that analysis. The inspector said all those things were out of the scope of this service. The company also posts sample reports on their website which includes trees fences. I used them because they state they want homeowners to understand their specific home. This did not happen and spent 1000.00 to be told to divert water away from house which I knew and was already in the process of. The owner offered to Zoom but then emailed me he was busy. After this waste of time and money I contacted a local foundation contractor. In his free 15 minute consult he showed me so many things BEAR Engineering missed. I would definitely seek a local foundation contractor or any other structural engineering company out there. read more

We initially engaged BEAR Engineering to inspect the seismic retrofit work that was done before we purchased our home 20+ years ago. The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) required an engineer to sign off on that. While they were here we decided to have them to do a full foundation inspection and to provide us a report. At all times we found BEAR to be professional, responsive, thorough, communicative and kind. The owner, Nathan, was amazingly gracious in following up with me after the work was completed to check in with me to be sure we were happy with their professional services. This place is a class act all around. read more

We recently purchased an 1890's Queen Anne Victorian, and just a matter of weeks after close started noticing small cracks in random locations. I immediately assumed the worst. I scheduled a Facetime call using their online scheduling tool, and was able to get in later that day. A 30 minute Zoom call later, and I was reassured that what I was seeing was completely normal. Nathan offered up a floor level inspection to baseline and - to my surprise - found that we were considered 'level.' Now I have the data to monitor for any ongoing issues. Jakob did a great job of explaining my home, how the history works, various quake safe options, and even provided a comprehensive referral list of resources should I choose to further enhance the structural/foundation profile of my home. Both Nathan and Jakob were incredibly helpful, thoughtful, and patient. I'll definitely use BEAR in the future should we have any further needs. read more

We are on the house hunting process. After reading many disclosures, Nathan and his report really impressed me. His reports include detailed pictures, description, repair option including cost estimate and recommendation. They are the real experts and trustworthy engineers. I would use them when I decide to purchase any houses. read more

I recently used Bear Engineering's inspection services to get a foundation inspection done. The data they have is incredibly useful, I wish I had access to it at the time of purchasing the house! And am going to refer all my friends who are buying homes to Bear's! Nathan was very good, thorough and in time with his work- and patiently addressed all my questions. The best thing about Bear besides their rich experience is that their inspection is genuine (unlike some of their competitors who also contract) they don't have an incentive to over or understate the issues. So, it's trustworthy and they took away a lot of anxiety the process comes with read more

We were looking at a property and had some questions regarding the foundation. We needed to make a decision within two days to put in an offer. Our realtor recommended BEAR engineering to us as she had a good experience with them. I was able to book a same day appointment on a Sunday and appointment scheduling was very easy. I talked with Nathan, co-founder of the company. He had gone through all the documents I have sent earlier and he walked me through the relevant details to my question. His analysis was rooted in the data not only from this one property, but also from other properties in that area and all over the bay. He answered all the questions I had regarding the foundation and was able to show me in a map how the conditions in that property compared with others of similar age/area. He recommended what is the best course of action if we were to buy this property and answered all my questions. Nathan was very responsive throughout this process. With the peace of mind of having consulted with an expert, we were able to proceed to next step. In the bay area market of no contingency offers, BEAR's virtual consultation services were such a relief to the buyers. read more

I made an offer for a waterview townhome in Redwood Shores that I really like. It was constructed 12 years ago, however already had severe foundation settling (greatest slope is 5.4 inches). HOA suited the builder and using the fund to repair the foundation. As a buyer I have concern about the foundation issue and resale value in the future, and need to decide whether to back out the offer or remove the contingency. Foundation issue can be really scary to people who has zero knowledge about the structure, especially new home buyers. You either totally ignore it or freak out. After a couple of sleepless nights and endless googling "foundation settling", I was so stressful and just about to back out the offer, until my friend said "you need to talk to a structural engineer". So I googled and set up a zoom consultation with bear engineering. And that is the turning point. After the meeting, I realized things are not as bad as what I imaged. Being able to understand why differential settlement happened and how soil consolidates over the time, the solution contractor is using really helps calm me down. After the meeting, I finally could have a good sleep. Nathan also did a floor survey and checked out onsite repair work in other buildings and reassured me that the repair solution and quality is solid, and he thinks future movement should be minimal. Eventually I feel like the risk is at a level I'm comfortable with and decided to remove the contingency. It was a dramatic change in one week, and I would recommend other buyers who has similar foundation concerns reach out to bear engineering read more

We hired Bear Engineering to inspect the drainage around the house and crawl space, and also to get feedback on the state of our foundation. Nathan came out and did a detailed inspection. He took his time to discuss various improvements we might want to consider as well as their pros/cons. I am really happy with the information I've gotten from Nathan. It was a great learning experience and will help us protect our property in the long run. read more

We are so thankful for finding Bear Engineering. They are the real deal when it comes to engineering assistance. We are in the middle of a major remodeling project are ran into an unexpected structural issue. We needed engineering advise ASAP. We had heard about Bear through a friend and reached out to them for consultation. We were able to book a appointment online with ease and talk to someone in almost immediately. We had the pleasure of having a consultation with Nathan. His knowledge and experience was immediately evident.He was able to understand our issue and explain the options we could pursue to address the issue properly. He explained everything clearly in a way that we understood. After our conversation we had a clear understanding of what we should do to keep our project on track. Bear Engineering did not try to sell us anything. They did not refer us to anyone. They simply explained the issue and explained possible options. This is a wonderful service and would highly recommend them to anyone with an engineering issue or question. Thank you Bear, read more

I am very pleased with BEAR's service. Response times were quick, all my questions were answered. Jakob spent a lot of time with us, explaining what he saw and suggesting next steps. We did not feel he was rushing out of our house after he was done with the inspection. He was very professional, polite, and knowledgeable. I highly recommend BEAR. read more

I had a 30min remote homeowner consulting service with BEAR Engineering. Excellent experience. Nathan patiently answered all of my questions regarding my concerns about the possible foundation issues. He was super professional, and explained everything in great details. I was also impressed by their large amount of data showing the overall foundation conditions in my neighborhood areas. I'd highly recommend BEAR. read more

A huge thanks to Nathan Toothman at BEAR Engineering for deftly handling a sticky client situation with patience and professionalism, upholding a reputation that I've come to trust and rely upon. Nathan performed an inspection on the foundation and crawlspace of a home for sale that I was representing as the listing agent. I contacted him for further evaluation after the home inspection flagged some items. The appointment scheduling was easy, he showed up on time, and he discussed his findings onsite, with the written report following a few days later. All of that was fairly routine. Where I really came to appreciate Nathan's professionalism was in how he responded when a buyer in contract performed a secondary inspection with a lesser-credentialed person who had a significant difference in opinion. This guy recommended a rather expensive fix that seemed biased - as if he was looking for a way to impress us with his knowledge and his determination to reveal a "gotcha." It was very stressful because this had the potential of tanking the sale we worked hard to put together. I also knew there was a chance that relations could become adversarial, which could damage important partnerships down the line. I asked Nathan for a followup consultation with all the parties involved and he was quick to comply. I explained that we wanted to keep emotions at bay and be as neutral and factual as possible. He understood, and stepped into what felt like an interrogation over Zoom. Although the buyer hammered him with questions, he did a great job of answering calming and clearly, (often having to repeat himself,) and he avoided getting defensive. In the end, the buyer conceded somewhat, and opted for a 3rd inspection. All turned out fine when the drama settled but I was impressed with Nathan's conduct throughout. I've always held BEAR in high regard, and I do even more so now. Thank you! read more

We purchased a house last year and noticed several cracks on a beam, it's been concerning as we hear different recommendations from different people. That's when I find bear engineering. We did a video consultation together with a bunch photos I sent to them, and overall I feel they're trust worthy experts, they could easily earn more by doing onsite inspections but I feel they're offering recommendations based on their expertise honestly. After few months, I asked follow up questions and still getting timely and good recommendations. I think BEAR engineering would be my go to for any further structural consultations! read more

The historic storms that drenched the Bay Area caused water intrusion in my families home in oakland that was built in 1912. I turned to yelp for help in determining where the water was coming from and its impact on the foundation. Bear Engineering's yelp page provided the information, cost estimates and case studies needed to book an appointment for a drainage and foundation inspection. The Engineer that came to do the inspection, Jakob Walter, was phenomenal. He was on time, professional, thorough and informative. He explained the readings and measurements taken, provided in-person reports on his findings and most importantly provided recommendations. His summary report and willingness to answer follow-up questions exceeded expectation. I would highly recommend Jakob and Bear Engineering for drainage and foundation inspections. read more

We had a 30mins remote foundation consultation with Nathan for our home remodeling project. He was very professional, knowledgable and helpful. He knew the area very well, answered all of our questions and provided extra guidance for our project. He also provided the recording afterwards so that we can review it anytime we want. Overall, it was a great experience and we highly recommended BEAR Engineering! read more

After spending the pandemic at home, we started to stress over every crack in the ceiling, every door that didn't quite close right, every indication that the house might collapse in a 7.0 tremor. The house is typical for this area: single story tract home built after World War II. It had been holding up fine for 70 years, and we were hoping it would last at least another 70. A friend in the real estate business recommended BEAR Engineering. I submitted the online request for an appointment, and not too long after that, Matt arrived at our house, ready to examine, measure, and photograph. The bad news: the cracks looked even uglier in his photos. The better news: they were normal and our house was not in imminent danger. The detailed report enumerated every item that we might want to consider fixing, with options and recommendations for each. Some required minimal investment, like adding spouts to carry rainwater farther away from the foundation (this assumes that someday it will rain again), some cost more (fixing the brick chimney that's attached to a fireplace we never use). The report included an appendix with a long list of vendors who might be able to handle various pieces of the work. BEAR is a small, service-oriented shop, the kind of local business that we like to support. Nice people, quick turnaround, a very reasonable price for the level of detail. The document that Matt created will help guide us through the next few years of renovations. read more

I had my best foundation inspection experience with Nathan from Bear engineering. He is very friendly and patiently listened to all of my concerns, inspect the house and answered all of my questions. I strongly recommend him. read more

I'm a realtor in the Bay Area and I have used BEAR Engineering for consultations as well as foundation inspections. Nathan is very knowledgeable and always available to answer questions in a timely manner. Most recently, I used Aleena for a foundation inspection and she did a great job! Aleena spent the time to explain the findings to my first time home buyer clients who as a result felt more at ease about moving forward with the purchase. When it comes to a home purchase, you want to work with a reliable, knowledgeable and professional team by your side and in my opinion BEAR Engineering meets all the criteria! I look forward to working with them in the future and definitely recommend others to give them a try! Betcy Jacob BRE 02000087 Coldwell Banker read more

Nathan was very helpful in giving a consultation regarding some potential foundation issues with a house we were looking to purchase. He was able to answer our other questions about the house and also gave additional data points about houses in the locality. Would recommend him for any consultation regarding structural issues. read more

I had a great experience working with BEAR Engineering and would highly recommend working with Nathan and team. I recently bought an older home that had some foundation issues flagged in the inspection report. Fearing the worst and not knowing anything about structural engineering, I did some googling and decided to go with BEAR based on their positive reviews, transparent pricing, and easy scheduling process. Once I made my appointment online, Nathan reached out promptly to confirm. On the day of, Nathan and his team (Noelle and Aleena) showed up on time and followed all COVID-related safety protocols. They explained what they would be doing, where they needed access, and worked efficiently as a team. The team did a thorough inspection, including walking around the exterior of my home, measuring the high and low spots in the corners of the property, and investigating the crawl space. After about an hour, they huddled as a team and reported out with their findings and recommendations. Fortunately, the BEAR team let me know that I didn't have any major structural issues and that there were some minor things I could consider for the future. They provided a list of recommended contractors in the area that could help with the work if I decided to pursue it and followed up promptly with a detailed report that summarized their observations and recommendations. Overall, I had an easy and positive experience as a customer and am glad that I decided to work with them. Thank you! read more

I've found my go-to company for foundation issues that come up in real estate transactions. Their remote consultation services is perfect when clients have a short time period to investigate foundation issues and want a rough idea on potential repair costs. I found Nathan to be very helpful, and his written summary was informative and fair. I also appreciate that they do not offer contractor services themselves, so I trust his assessment is unbiased. Scheduling appointments online is easy and efficient, and the value offered with his remote consultation is well worth it. I'll definitely be calling them again. read more

Nathan was extremely helpful after a home inspector flagged some foundation issues during our real estate transaction. We booked a virtual consultation timeslot and sent over photos and reports, and were on a video call with Nathan the very next day (a Sunday!). He provided very useful insights regarding the inspection findings. He also shared a (very slick!) map view summarizing historical inspection data along with other key information about the area - earthquake information, soil characteristics, etc. Thanks to Nathan we feel much more informed and able to make the best decision possible. Highly recommend! read more

Nathan offered me timely help on the houses I helped my clients to purchase here in the bay area. It was over the weekend and I can not get any help from anywhere else. Time is very senstive. Nathan is the one provide me the remote consultation for the foundation concern I had. He is very quick to reponse , professtional and knowlegable. I would recommed bear engineering to all my realtors friends and homeowers here in the bay area. read more

During the demolition of our house, we found some water stain behind the drywall in the garage and basement, went on Yelp, and contact BEAR right way. Tiffany was able to help me to navigate what to do next, very easy to book an appointment. Jakob came out, and I had such a great experience working with him. I liked the experience so much I gave his name to my architect for future references. 100% recommend BEAR! read more

Nathan and their team gave a very thorough review of the state of our foundation and repairs needed. Their inspection report is very detailed and Nathan spent good amount of time going over the report. read more

Very personable, knowledgeable, professional and thorough. We contacted Bear for a slab issue and had them do an evaluation of the entire property. We now have a much better grasp of the scope and nature of the age and settling issues we've got to address. I mean... for the house. Not... you know... personally. Those issues are beyond the scope of structural engineering. On a side note, is there anywhere I can give a yelp review for gravity? And water? Both of them have a lot to answer for. read more

I can't recommend Bear Engineering enough. They are a wonderful resource in the community. They were actually referred to me by another inspection company, and now I know why... when the going gets tough, the smart thing to do is to reach out to Nathan and Jakob. They won't steer you wrong, and if there is an issue, they will work very hard to make it right. read more

BEAR Engineering - Water coming on to my property from the neighbor's. - Home Inspectors Near Me - San Mateo, California

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I wanted to make sure to carve out some time to write about our wonderful experience, from start to finish, with BEAR Engineering. For peace of mind to make sure the foundation of our home was in solid shape, we started researching foundation inspection companies on Yelp. We came across BEAR Engineering with 5 out of 5 stars with 120 reviews. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon that we left a voice mail, co-founder Tiffany called us back in what couldn't have been more than 15 minutes or so. She was so nice and helpful over the phone, listening to our foundation concerns, and explaining their process. We then schedule to have Jakob Walter come to our home. Jakob really took his time to listen to all our questions, took his time on inspecting our foundation including the inside of our home, and educated us in an easy to understand way of many different aspects. We both could also tell that Jakob was extremely knowledgeable as a Licensed Civil Engineer & Foundation Specialist, and really knows what he is talking about extremely well. He also couldn't have been any more warm and friendly in speaking with us. We didn't feel any pressure that Jakob was just trying to leave our home as soon as he could. Quite the opposite. He was very patient and well spoken. Based on all of this, we cannot recommend highly enough BEAR Engineering. The reason for the 5 out of 5 stars on Yelp over 120 reviews is now very obvious to us how this was accomplished. A first class operation, through and through. Keep up the great work, BEAR Engineering! We both appreciate all of you very much. -Jay and Sheena Carson read more

I highly recommend BEAR engineering, we had a great experience working with Ky Rhoda. I am a first time homeowner with an older house and hired BEAR to get an evaluation of structural and seismic risks. Ky was thorough, great at explaining the details and put all of the issues into context so we could prioritize actions. He was responsive to our questions in the inspection but did not limit the scope to just things we asked about. The write-up was well documented and delivered earlier than expected. I also appreciated the transparent pricing on the website. read more

We bought our house last year and hired BEAR engineering for a foundation inspection after the Jan 2023 storms. We were worried because our house is on the slope of a hill and we had water in our crawl space and were seeing cracks in our walls. We had a really great experience with BEAR engineering from the get go. The scheduling was super easy. Jakob from BEAR engineering was very knowledgable, courteous and thorough. He went through the process with us, explained his findings and patiently answered all our questions and also provided us with recommendations and resources for a few repairs needed. After Jakob's inspection, we were finally able to stop worrying. The full report was very thorough and delivered promptly. We would highly recommend BEAR engineering - couldn't have hoped for a better experience. read more

We hired Tim from BEAR Engineering to assess the condition of the foundation of our house. It is over 100 years old and the design standards and practices are quite different now. Tim is SO knowledgeable! He was an excellent source for information and recommendations. He was able to describe what was done originally, what changes had been made over the years, and what should be done for seismic retrofit work to bring it up to current code. At all times, we found Tim to be professional, responsive, thorough, communicative, and kind. A++ recommendation all around. read more

I had a fantastic experience with the 15-minute remote consultation that BEAR Engineering offers. It was simple to book online, and the whole process was really seamless and straightforward. Nathan was super flexible with my crazy work schedule and he was also very friendly, informative, and went above and beyond to make me feel confident and comfortable with the questions I had about our home. Thank you to BEAR for the great service - this team will absolutely be my first call for any future related needs! read more