Pre-1980 wood-frame homes in the Bay Area share two structural weaknesses: soft-story garages on the ground floor of multi-unit buildings, and unbraced cripple walls between the foundation and the first floor.
The good news: a standard cripple-wall retrofit on a Bay Area single-family home is a relatively quick job — bolt the sill to the foundation, sheath the cripple wall with structural plywood, and add hold-down brackets at corners.
Total cost in San Francisco, Oakland, or Berkeley: $4,500–$8,500 for a typical single-family. Earthquake Brace + Bolt grants currently provide $3,000 toward qualifying retrofits — apply before scheduling.
Use only a structural-licensed pro for this work. Every seismic retrofit specialist on HandyMandyMan in the Bay Area has been verified against the California Contractors State License Board (CSLB).