Sound Seismic

While we ended up not using Sound Seismic, I wanted to give them a shout-​out because of the professionalism and courtesy with which they dealt with me recently by phone. We wanted to have our house retrofit and despite being crushed with inquiries and requests resulting from the recent New Yorker article on earthquakes, they got back to me promptly and scheduled a time to visit. They were up-​front and transparent about costs, including the cost needed to provide an accurate estimate.
When we later discovered (before they came out) that (fortunately) our house had already been retrofit, they sounded genuinely pleased that we were covered.
My suspicion is that if they handle their actual work with the same degree of quality that they handle just phone calls, emails, and estimates, they’re going to do right by you.

After reading through all the other reviews, (including the plethora of filtered ones) I really have little to add. They are really professional. They’re efficient, clean and more than happy to educate. I’ve recommended them offline to several neighbors who have followed through and are happy with their work too.

We did a retrofit for our 1960’s house. Leif came out for a quote and gave us a very thorough explanation of the anticipated earthquakes, what our crawlspace and foundation looked like and showed us diagrams of how they would retrofit it. We had to have structural engineering, but they take care of everything, including permitting, inspection, securing the water heater and a shut off valve. They were very professional and easy to contact through email and phone. Easy to pay with credit card. They also started the retrofit earlier than scheduled and did it within two days. Would definitely recommend.

We went with Sound Seismic to retrofit our 1946 North Seattle bungalow. They did an extremely good job and the cost was significantly lower than other bids.
Our job was complex enough that it needed to be engineered by an independent structural engineer. The total cost /​bid from Sound Seismic included the engineering as well as permitting. Sound Seismic went and got the permit themselves, and they coordinated the engineering for us. This was a huge help to us.
We did all of the prep for the job (removing drywall and clearing the space as much as possible) and when it came time for the job to be done, the fellow who came to do the work was extremely sweet, professional, worked quickly, cleaned up perfectly, was thorough and exacting. He had it done in two days (our basement is roughly 800 sf).
The work looks impressive. Everything done to the engineered specific details. Nails on the sheer-​walls spaced perfectly, anchors are straight and exactly spaced, anchor bolts were the extra long ones that the engineer specifically said to use. He did a fantastic job.
Of course the job was loud and our cats hated us for a day or so, but at least it was over with in only two days.
We would highly recommend them.

Sound Seismic did a seismic retrofit on our home & we are very pleased with their work. The whole experience was very professional. Leif was a great communicator, and kept us updated on the schedule. Matt did a fantastic job with the work. He left our basement cleaner than he found it, and the project passed final inspection without any problems. With all the terrible contractors we’ve had through our home, it was nice to work with a company that was reliable, honest, and tidy. They made the process so easy for us, and we are very pleased. We highly recommend Sound Seismic.

I hired Sound Seismic for a full earthquake retrofit. I was really happy with the crew. They arrived on schedule, took care of all the permits and city inspections, and cleaned up thoroughly. The work looks to be great quality and it gives me peace of mind to have had these reinforcements completed.

Lief and his crew at Sound Seismic were/​are fabulous!!!
I have been thinking about retrofitting my house for years but did not want to spend the money. Carried expensive earthquake insurance for 20 years but I finally realized «what good would the coverage be if the house crumbled with me in it».
I got a couple bids for the entire retrofit, anchors, bolts, braces and Sound Seismic was priced right in line. I have a huge turn of the century home. With an engineer behind the work, they started in. Every day clean up occurred and I was informed of each step as it went along. They were actually in and out very quickly. No extra charges added. Old house could mean rotten wood. They were honest in telling me that there was none. OK come on folks — we are at the mercy of contractors.
Anyway I was very pleased with their work, their respectful attitude and their profession ways. Even better — I can sleep at night knowing that if the BIG ONE comes, I will be far more protected. They did a lot (A LOT) of securing of my house.

We wanted to have the necessary earthquake retrofitting done to qualify for earthquake insurance. This included the installation of sill blocking, anchor bolts attaching the mudsill to the foundation, framing as necessary for shear panels, metal framing angles for first floor /​pony wall attachment, insulation in the pony wall stud cavities, and structural plywood shear panels. We also had them install a Northridge automatic gas shutoff valve.
After talking to our insurance company and doing research on the Internet, we found Sound Seismic to be highly recommended. I contacted Leif and setup an appointment for him to perform an evaluation and estimate. Leif arrived at the time scheduled and provided very detailed information regarding what is involved and required by the city. He even later sent me a PowerPoint presentation he had put together providing more details on earthquake retrofitting.
When the estimated start date got closer, I had to contact Leif a couple of times to confirm the start date. Once the official date and time were set, Matt from Sound Seismic showed up on time and went right to work. He estimated the project would take 2 to 3 days, which turned out to be accurate. Matt was very good at providing progress updates throughout the duration of the project and after the first inspection was complete. The crew also did an excellent job cleaning up after each day and keeping dust to a minimum. After the second inspection was complete and the project signed off by the city, I asked the inspector his opinion of Sound Seismic, and he said they are one of the best, which just strengthened my confidence in the quality of work performed.

Sounds Seismic did the Earthquake retrofitting for my 1919 craftsman home on Capitol Hill. They were extremely knowledgeable, and worked fast and efficiently, within proposal and estimated time. An excellent job overall! I will do business with this company again and can only highly recommend them to anyone looking for earthquake retrofits or general remodels.