My wife and I went through the pretty byzantine CA Earthhquake Brace and Bolt (EBB) grant process in order to get our house more quake-resilient and get the Berkeley rebate and CA grant money. I had spoken to Jerome early in the process for an estimate, and he came prepared with all sorts of literature about what brace and bolt consists of, the soup-to-nuts process and general earthquake preparedness. We had to get multiple quotes, but other contractors were either dismissive or way more expensive. Once we decided on Quakebusters, Francisco was tremendously patient with us and guided us through the entire process and helped with advice about how to gather the information we needed. The crew took exactly as long as they anticipated, arranged their own porta-potty facilities, were punctual, arranged for the special and city inspections, worked with our schedule and cleaned our crawlspace nearly better than they found it! Quakebusters were also transparent that there were cheaper options than to go through the official EBB grant process, but we decided spending the extra money for peace of mind and to have permits was out best option. Thank you guys so much! Who you gonna call? Quakebusters! read more

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I 100% recommend QuakeBusters. Jerome and his team were nothing but professional and got the job right and recommended by multiple structural engineers. read more

Quake Busters was recommended by a structural engineer who evaluated our old foundation. They came by and gave us an estimate. They were very professional and reinforced our old foundation in a timely manner. When it was all done, an inspector from city of Berkeley inspected their work, and there was absolutely no problems. The inspector told me that Quake Busters always do a great job. It was a very good experience and I highly recommend this company if you have any worries with your foundation. read more

We are not going to get the work done yet, but they were very thorough. Expensive gave a detailed estimate of the work they would do.

After receiving several quotes for a Soft-Story retrofit and a Brace&Bolt -we chose Quake Busters. The entire team that worked on our project was fantastic! From the project overview, timelines and daily work - they kept us informed. The project was timely and on budget. It was a total pleasure to have a team that genuinely appeared to enjoy their job on the worksite. I highly recommend Quake Busters! read more

I did not know where to start with getting help with retrofitting my home, however once I reached out to Quake Buster's, they assisted me with all my detailed questions and made the process so much easier then I thought it would be! I highly recommend Jerome and his team! read more

We used Quake Busters 25 years ago to retro-fit our 1956 house for earthquakes, even though we had an earthquake policy. Recently we realized that we could get a discount on our earthquake policy premium if we had a general contractor certify that our house had been retro-fitted to current seismic standards, so in April of 2025 we had them back. They said that our house, even with the work we had done 25 years ago was not up to current standards, and they gave us a detailed bid to bring it up to current codes and standards. They just completed the work, and I submitted the documentation to our earthquake policy holder, and I upped the replacement value of the policy by about $120,000 and raised the deductible from 10 to 20% since there was now less risk of having major damage. I was expecting a 10-15% reduction in our policy premiums, even though I had upped the value of the policy. What we wound up with was almost a 50% reduction in the annual premium. The bottom line is that the work we had done will pay for itself in less than 4 years in saved premiums, and we are now much less likely to sustain any damage in a major quake at all. These guys were professional, friendly, and good communicators. All work was done with county permits. It took four days of crawling around in a tiny crawlspace to do the work. On a house with a less tight crawlspace I would expect the work would have been less costly. I highly recommend these guys. They will save me thousands and thousands of dollars in earthquake insurance premiums going forward. Honestly, I suspect that after the work was done we have could completely canceled our earthquake insurance but since our house is one of our most valuable assets, we are just not willing to go completely bare insurance wise in the event of a major earthquake. At least get an estimate from these guys. I would definitely hire these guys again and am glad we spent our money this way. read more

The retrofit project was very well managed from start to finish, and all the details mentioned in the estimate were completed efficiently and within the estimate. The crew worked quickly, without any disruption to us or our neighbors. They arrived promptly each day, and the jobsite was kept clean and tidy each day when they finished work. I would not hesitate in recommending them for future projects. read more

Jerome, Nancy, David, Lupe and crew were all professional, friendly and prompt. We were able to get some long overdue retrofitting done on our house and are feeling much better prepared. The crew worked hard and did a great job. Thanks Quakebusters! read more

We hired QuakeBusters in 2018 to retrofit our home. We called around and they were the only ones who offered to come out and provide a free estimate. From start to finish, it was a very smooth process. They handled the permits, plan revisions, and inspections. Friendly, reliable, and hard to beat. Thanks so much! read more

We were happy working with Quakebusters: 1. Competitive on price compared to the other folks we talked to 2. Strong referrals from neighbors I've talked to 3. The team was courteous and responsive to any requests we had while work (e.g when we needed them to move their materials). 4. The project finished on-time and with no issues I'm aware of. read more

Quake Busters retrofitted our home over the summer of 2022. Everyone was super professional and easy to work with and the price was reasonable. The construction work is very neatly done and they managed the city inspectors without any work on our part. I'm reserving one star here until we have a big quake and we get a chance to stress-test their work. ;) read more

As a new homeowner, I wanted to make sure my house had adequate earthquake safety, but I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Jerome came over and did a thorough inspection and even looked at some blueprints with me. I was impressed with how thorough he was even though he concluded I didn't need any retrofitting early on in his inspection. He spent about 30 min at my property, and although he didn't do work on my house, I could tell he was honest and highly proficient. I feel guilty it wasn't a paid service but hopefully this review will add to his strong reputation. read more

Count another happy customer for Quake Busters! We shopped around a lot before going with Quake Busters. We chose them based on their good reviews, as well as the fact that Jerome really helped us understand the why's and how's of earthquake retrofit. They're typically booked a few months in advance, but some miracle happened, and they were able to squeeze us in about a month after we put down our deposit. The workers did their jobs quickly and efficiently, and cleaned up their mess when they left. It took just under a week for the work to be completed, and now we feel much safer should the earth start trembling. read more

What an amazing company. Having worked with a lot of contractors over the last year, I know a quality crew when I see one. Things were a little slow to get started, because I'm not a big user of personal e-mail, but once we ironed out how we would communicate, the crew showed up when I expected them to, did an amazing job cleaning the job site every day, and did high-quality work that went way beyond original estimates I got for the job, which has greatly increased my peace of mind. While I would have liked to have seen their plan prior to the work starting so that I could have planned other aspects of our remodeling better, once the work started, the quality of this crew was evident from start to finish. On the rare occasions that they made mistakes, they were on top of repairs and communication about those mistakes (which involved things like cut pipes - my house is old and doesn't have all the required pieces that prevent people from cutting into underlying services). They went above and beyond to bring things like that up to code so that we could pass inspection. They gave me time to replace some pipes that needed to be swapped out with copper, and to add insulation into the walls and ceilings while the walls were open. Their crew was happy. Happy, singing all day, and wonderfully polite and accommodating. Their foreman was just a stunning communicator, letting me know what to expect each day and in the coming days. Moreover, in Oakland, with a notoriously over-booked planning department, they had all the inspections scheduled like clockwork so they could keep their crew moving and minimize impacts to those of us living in the house. Let's see how it performs in an earthquake, but I'm very very pleased with the job they have done so far and would highly recommend them to anyone else. read more

I contacted these guys after getting another quote for my earthquake work that was really outrageous. The Quakebusters quote was MUCH more affordable. They came out and did an evaluation pretty quickly, and were pretty easy to work with. I didn't have to be home for most of the work they did, so it was pretty easy to get the work that I needed done, and their crew leader (Frankie?) was very responsive to my questions. They made recommendations for other work they think I should have done (termite work), and gave me some suggestions about who to use. The guys who did the work were polite and unobintrusive. Quakebusters even allowed me to set up a payment plan to pay for the second chunk of the work (I paid for half up front), and were very nice about it. My only complaint about them is that about six weeks elapsed between the time that I authorized the work and when it started due to some health problems for a key staff person. My complaint is that no one contacted me about the delay; I had to contact them. The delay meant that I had to ask a brand-new boss for time off to be present for the inspection, due to the change in timeframe. But I would recommend these guys to anyone. Good company to work with. read more

I'm sure they do great work, but I couldn't handle Jerome's attitude. I felt like he was talking down to me during his estimate for a simple seismic retrofit of our foundation. His estimate was significantly more expensive than the others I got for the same work. He made a big deal of his fair employment policies as part of his costs, and I respect that a lot. But given our budget and our experiences talking to others about the project, we decided to go with someone else. Then, after phoning me repeatedly to ask whether we'd accept his proposal, he badmouthed the contractor I'd chosen instead - inaccurately. I guess you don't get into National Geographic unless you're good at self-promotion, but I felt that the dressing-down I got when I told him no was truly unprofessional. I actually hung up on him because he wouldn't stop telling me I had made the wrong choice. If you want to talk to someone who's confident in his expertise, to the point of treating you like you're stupid and insulting you if you don't pick them, call Quake Busters. read more

Jerome and crew worked hard to get my job done on time and on budget. My crawlspace is about 12-14" in some spots and they methodically went around the entire foundation over a week and took care of everything. Of the nine contractors I've worked with over the past few years they were the easiest to work with and delivered everything they promised. Jerome also took the time to talk about earthquake risk, codes and standards - an excellent education component of their work! I cannot recommend them enough. On another note, there was a 4.0 earthquake this morning - centered under my driveway! As I ducked and covered with my infant daughter I kept thinking how glad I was to have had QB do our retrofit when we did. The peace of mind is almost as good as knowing the house is ready to take what the Hayward fault throws at it (to a certain extent anyway). Thanks Jerome and thank you QB! read more

Excellent job. Hard workers. I would like to address the person who was happy with the work but thought they were too expensive cuz they weren't there long enough. That makes no sense to me. I'm paying for a quality product and that's all that matters. I don't get to figure his overhead anymore than he gets to figure mine. He quoted me a price I said yes and the job was done to my satisfaction. read more

Jerome, Nancy and the rest of the team were professional, courteous, and delivered there services in a timely manner. They also helped walk me through my reimbursement from Brace and Bolt program. read more

I did a lot of research for a seismic retrofit company before I called Quake Busters, and I am so glad I finally found them. Several of the bigger companies -- the ones with more reviews -- refused to even give me an estimate unless I hired an architect to do the plans (at a cost of about $1,000). One company wanted to charge me a few hundred dollars just to give me an estimate! There was a certain arrogance with some other companies I called that was totally missing with Quake Busters. Because I had done some research, I knew that we had a simple bungalow and that we could use the standard Plan Set A to do the work. Jerome came to my house, explained the seismic options to me, agreed that we could use Plan Set A, and gave me a much lower estimate than any other company. He got the permit, and did all the paperwork necessary for us to get the homeowner's seismic rebate from Berkeley (as we did the work within a year of purchasing the house.) I spoke to the Berkeley inspector who signed off on the final permit, and he told me he is always impressed with Quake Busters' work. He said they don't cut corners and always do more than what is required, so they get the permit the first time around and don't have to go back and make repairs. Quake Busters worked with me on scheduling, and they showed up on the appointed morning as promised. The workers were cheerful and polite and neat, even though our crawl space is so tiny it required them to work on their bellies most of the day. Nancy, their office manager, was always available to answer questions and concerns related to paperwork and permits. I would use them again in a heartbeat! read more

I had some concerns about cracking in a door frame. Jerome took a look and explained the full situation, everything seemed fine and told me some things to watch for. There wasn't much to be done, but Jerome was gracious with his time, friendly and informative. read more

We had a generally positive experience all around with QuakeBusters. Jerome's initial visit was informative and thorough; he made sure we understood what we were having done, and also some recommendations about how to improve drainage to keep our crawlspace dry. His bid was considerably less than others we had solicited, and we liked how he offered us the option not to take his word on things (he said that our one-story "textbook" house didn't need a structural engineer's evaluation, but also gave us contact information for several structural engineers who he works with in case we wanted to double-check). Although the work was scheduled a few days later than the office originally estimated, once things got turned over to the work crew everything ran like clockwork. The crew arrived on time and worked hard; a job that they'd estimated would take 3 full days was done in just a bit more than 2. Crew foreman Frankee took time on the first day to answer our questions, and also worked to accommodate our special needs (in this case, a slightly-neurotic cat who we didn't want to close in the bathroom all day and also didn't want to lose under the house; the crew was able to close off part of the house as their work area and let him have the run of the rest). Our crawlspace is barely 18" and involves squeezing in through the closet floor, so the job certainly wasn't easy for them. We would recommend QuakeBusters to anyone looking to get this kind of work done. read more

I had a great experience with Quake Busters. I really appreciate the way that Jerome explained the whole retrofit process and created a specific plan for my home. His staff was professional and polite. The work was done on time and passed the inspection. read more

I recently had my house retrofitted by Quakebusters and will absolutely use them again if I ever buy another house and need another retrofit. I highly recommend them. From the start, I very much appreciated how well Jerome communicated with us about what needed to be done. He was knowledgable and clear, in addition to being personable and relaxed, and his manner made me relaxed about the whole process. When they started the work, Jerome was there to introduce Frankie, the on-site manager, who was equally competent and direct. I liked that he gave me his cell number and told me to call him anytime I needed to. As it turned out, I didn't need to, because they were so professional and thorough in their work. They also went above and beyond, as I ended up having a plumbing leak in the area where they were working, while they were there and I was not. They took the time to figure out where the problem was, went upstairs to turn off the offending appliance, then called my cell to tell me what had happened. Every one of their employees who entered my house was professional, hard-working, friendly and unobtrusive. They were also very careful to keep the dirt contained and even washed my floor when they were finished! It was truly a pleasure doing business with them. read more

I had a great experience using Quake Busters to do earthquake retrofitting for my new home. They were efficient, conscientious, and meticulous in their work. ,Jerome runs the business and his brother, Frankee oversees the workers. The business has a family feel to it. The work crew was great also. . It t was important to Q Busters that I be satisfied and Jerome gave me some excellent suggestions re deciding what work needed to be done. They are good people;. . read more

Quake Busters just completed a seismic upgrade job at our house. They did a perfectly fine job; they were organized, they got a building permit, their crew was on-time and polite, and they did everything they said they would do. My only concern is with their pricing compared with the amount of actual work they did. We paid about $7900 for our seismic upgrade, but most of the work was done in less than one day. To be clear; on Day One the foreman dropped off four skilled Hispanic laborers at 9:45 AM, who worked hard for four hours, then took a half-hour lunch. They then worked hard for another 90 minutes and left our home by 3:45. On Day Two one man returned and worked a solid four hours, then was done for the day. On Day Three the same man returned and worked a solid four hours to complete the work. I did a quick count of the Simpson Tie hardware and epoxy they used and it totaled less than $800 in materials. So, about 32 hours of actual work at perhaps $25 per hour is about $800 in labor cost, and another $800 in materials, plus the cost of the porta-potty they put in front of our house for 4 days. Of course, they have overhead like their initial 2 hour job survey and sales pitch, insurance, bonding and office rent, Still, it seems that their overhead costs and profit margin are high compared to the actual work that was done. I wish I'd spent more time comparing other seismic upgrade contractors who might have gotten the same job done for less. . read more

Meticulous, thorough work on my sort-of-complicated retrofit project, where some bolting had been done before. Jerome and his team worked tirelessly to make sure everything was done exactly right. They are experts in the Earthquake Brace and Bolt project, as well as in dealing with city inspectors, and they made sure all my paperwork was in place and on time. Special shout-out to Nancy, the office manager, who followed up at every turn. This is a critical project--it definitely pays to hire the experts. read more

In 1989 I hired Quake Busters to secure my house to the foundation using foundation bolts and shearwall plywood for earthquake protection. We agreed that they would not bolt the rear wall of the house because they said the crawl space was too low. (The house is a rectangle with 4 exterior walls.) Recently I learned that it IS possible to secure the rear wall. In addition I discovered they did not bolt half of the front wall of the house and applied no shearwall plywood to the entire front wall. This is especially distressing because the rear wall is not bolted making it extra important that the other 3 walls are properly reinforced. Quake Busters has offered me $500 but according to two estimates this is not enough to finish reinforcing the front wall and I am taking them to Small Claims Court. read more

These guys are great. The tough thing about seismic retrofit is you don't really know if it works until the day that you really need it to work. So you really have to rely on the professionalism of the people doing the work. And these guys are real pros. They are smart and knowledgeable. They show up on time, stick to schedules and don't leave a mess at your house. They are a pleasure to work with. They did the seismic on our house in 2011 and I highly recommend them. I hope to only have this type of work done once and I only own one house but if I ever buy another house I would use Quakebusters again in a heartbeat. read more

We came away very satisfied after hiring Quake Busters to do the earthquake retrofit for our new home. Super friendly, with an eye towards educating and explaining why they do what they do. Always accessible for questions and guidance. The crew did the project on time and as promised. The financial terms were also very competitive. Am recommending QB to my friends. read more

Jerome is really dedicated to his work. I found him to be dependable, cooperative, and creative in getting my foundation upgrade done. I recommended Quake Busters to my son, and the project is now underway. read more