Earthquake Retrofit + Kitchen Remodel: How California Homeowners Are Saving Thousands by Bundling Projects

By California Construction & Remodeling Experts | February 2026

The $4,000 Decision That Could Save You $400,000

There's a conversation we have with homeowners in Los Angeles that almost no other remodeling contractor is having. It usually starts with a kitchen. The homeowner wants new cabinets, new countertops, new appliances, maybe a reconfigured layout. They've been saving for it. They've browsed Pinterest. They're ready.

Then we ask a question that stops them cold: "When was your home built?"

If the answer is before 1980, and the home has a raised foundation with a crawl space, we're about to show them something that could be the smartest financial decision they make during the entire project. Not a more expensive backsplash. Not a fancier range. A seismic retrofit, done at the same time as their kitchen remodel, at a fraction of what it would cost as a standalone project, with up to $10,000 in grant funding from the state of California to help pay for it.

This is the bundled retrofit opportunity. And right now, almost nobody in the remodeling industry is talking about it.

📌 Key Takeaways: What You'll Learn in This Article

• The Bundling Advantage: Why doing seismic work during a kitchen or bathroom remodel cuts retrofit costs by 30% to 50%.

• Free Grant Money: How the California EBB program provides up to $3,000 (or $10,000 for income-eligible households) toward your retrofit.

• Real Cost Comparison: Standalone retrofit ($3,800–$9,100) vs. Bundled ($2,200–$5,500) vs. Bundled + Grant ($0–$2,500).

• Insurance Savings: How a completed retrofit can earn you up to a 25% discount on earthquake insurance premiums.

• The Full Process: A step-by-step walkthrough of how bundled projects work from design through grant reimbursement.

Why a Kitchen Remodel Creates the Perfect Window for Seismic Work

To understand why bundling makes sense, you need to understand what a seismic retrofit actually involves and how a kitchen remodel creates natural access to the areas where that work happens.

What a Standard Seismic Retrofit Looks Like

A residential seismic retrofit for a raised-foundation home focuses on two things. First, foundation bolting: installing anchor bolts that connect the wooden sill plate of your home's framing to the concrete foundation. Without these bolts, your house can literally slide off its foundation during an earthquake. Second, cripple wall bracing: reinforcing the short wooden walls in the crawl space between the foundation and the first floor with structural plywood. Without bracing, these walls can collapse under lateral seismic force, causing the floor above to drop.

The work happens underneath your home, in the crawl space. A retrofit crew needs to access that space, set up lighting and ventilation, bring in materials, and work in what are typically tight, uncomfortable conditions. When seismic retrofitting is done as a standalone project, this setup and access represents a significant portion of the total cost.

How a Kitchen Remodel Opens the Door

Now consider what happens during a kitchen remodel. Your contractor is already on site, already mobilized, with crews, tools, and logistics already in place. In many kitchen remodels, especially those involving layout changes or plumbing relocation, the subfloor is already being opened. Plumbers are already accessing the crawl space to reroute water lines, drain lines, or gas connections. The crawl space is already lit, ventilated, and accessible.

In this scenario, adding foundation bolting and cripple wall bracing to the scope of work is an incremental addition, not a separate project. The setup costs are already covered. The access is already created. The crew is already there. The marginal cost of adding seismic work in this context can be 30 to 50 percent less than what you'd pay if you hired a separate contractor to come out and do the retrofit on its own.

Let me put that in real numbers. A standalone seismic retrofit for a typical raised-foundation home in the Los Angeles area costs $3,000 to $10,000 depending on the size of the home and the extent of work needed. When that same work is bundled into an existing kitchen remodel, the additional cost is often $2,000 to $5,000 because the mobilization, access, and site management are already handled.

That's a potential savings of $1,000 to $5,000 just from timing.

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The Grant Money: Up to $10,000 From the State of California

Here's where the math gets even better.

Earthquake Brace + Bolt (EBB) Program

The California Residential Mitigation Program (CRMP) administers the Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, which provides grants of up to $3,000 to eligible homeowners to help offset the cost of a qualifying seismic retrofit.

To qualify, your home must meet the following criteria:

Your home must be a wood-framed house built before 1980. It must have a raised foundation (meaning there's a crawl space underneath, not a concrete slab). It must be located in one of over 1,100 eligible ZIP codes, which includes most of Los Angeles County, including Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, and surrounding communities. And the home must not have already had a brace and bolt retrofit completed.

In 2025, the program expanded for the first time to include rental and non-owner-occupied properties, meaning landlords can now register up to five properties. Over $20 million in grant funding was available in the most recent registration period.

Supplemental Grant for Income-Eligible Households

If your annual household income is $89,040 or less, you may qualify for a supplemental grant of up to $7,000 on top of the standard $3,000 EBB grant. That's up to $10,000 in total grant funding toward your seismic retrofit.

⚠️ Pro-Tip: For a homeowner whose bundled retrofit costs $3,500 in marginal addition to their kitchen remodel, a $3,000 EBB grant means the net out-of-pocket cost for earthquake-proofing their home is $500. For an income-eligible homeowner, the retrofit could effectively be free.

Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) Program

If your home has a living space built over a garage (what engineers call a "soft story" configuration), you may qualify for the separate ESS program, which offers grants of up to $13,000 (covering up to 75% of the total retrofit cost). Soft-story retrofits are more complex and more expensive, typically ranging from $15,000 to $28,000, but the grant significantly reduces your out-of-pocket expense.

Insurance Premium Discounts

Beyond the grants, the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) offers premium discounts of up to 25% on earthquake insurance for homes that have been properly retrofitted. To claim the discount, you'll need to have your contractor or a structural engineer fill out a Dwelling Retrofit Verification (DRV) form after the work is complete.

Over the life of your insurance policy, this discount can save thousands of dollars in addition to the grant funding. It's another financial incentive that tips the equation firmly in favor of bundling.

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The Numbers: A Real Cost Comparison

Here's the actual financial picture for a typical scenario, side by side.

Cost Category	Standalone Retrofit	Bundled With Remodel	Bundled + EBB Grant
Mobilization & site setup	$500 – $1,000	$0 (already on site)	$0
Crawl space access & ventilation	$300 – $600	$0 (already open)	$0
Foundation bolting (labor + materials)	$1,500 – $3,000	$1,200 – $2,500	$1,200 – $2,500
Cripple wall bracing (labor + materials)	$1,000 – $3,000	$800 – $2,500	$800 – $2,500
Permits	$500 – $1,500	$200 – $500	$200 – $500
EBB Grant	—	—	−$3,000
Total	$3,800 – $9,100	$2,200 – $5,500	$0 – $2,500

For income-eligible homeowners with the supplemental grant (up to $10,000 total), the net cost is often $0.

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What the Bundled Process Actually Looks Like

We've done this enough times to have a clear, repeatable process. Here's how it works when a homeowner decides to bundle seismic work with their kitchen remodel.

Phase 1: Assessment and Design (Weeks 1 to 3)

During our initial consultation and site visit, we assess your home for both your remodeling goals and its seismic condition. We inspect the crawl space to evaluate the existing foundation connections, the condition of the cripple walls, and any areas where the framing is not properly anchored.

If your home qualifies for the EBB program, we help you register during the next open enrollment period. Registration periods typically open twice per year and last approximately six weeks. We'll walk you through the application and ensure your home meets the eligibility criteria.

Simultaneously, we're working with you on the kitchen design: layout, cabinets, countertops, appliances, finishes. The two scopes of work are planned together so that the seismic work fits naturally into the construction sequence.

Phase 2: Permitting and Grant Coordination (Weeks 3 to 8)

We submit your combined permit application to the city, covering both the kitchen remodel and the seismic retrofit. Because the seismic work is part of a larger remodeling project, it's incorporated into the same permit set, which streamlines the review process.

If you've been accepted into the EBB program, we coordinate the grant requirements with your permit timeline. The EBB program requires that the retrofit be performed by a licensed California general contractor and that the work meets the program's specific standards.

Phase 3: Construction (Weeks 8 to 16)

This is where the bundling efficiency becomes tangible. During the demolition phase of your kitchen remodel, when cabinets are removed, flooring is pulled up, and plumbing lines are being rerouted, our crew simultaneously accesses the crawl space to begin the seismic work.

Foundation bolting typically takes one to two days for a standard-size home. Cripple wall bracing takes another one to three days depending on the linear footage of wall being reinforced. Because the crawl space is already open and accessible for the kitchen plumbing work, the seismic crew works alongside the plumbing crew without adding significant time to the overall project schedule.

By the time your new kitchen is being assembled above, the foundation below has been properly secured. Your home is stronger, and you barely noticed the seismic work happening.

Phase 4: Inspection and Grant Reimbursement (Weeks 16 to 20)

The city's building inspector reviews both the kitchen remodel and the seismic retrofit as part of the same final inspection. If you received an EBB grant, the program requires photographic documentation and a verification of the completed work. We handle this documentation as part of our standard closeout process.

Once verified, the CRMP issues your grant reimbursement. Most homeowners receive their EBB grant funds within 8 to 12 weeks of project completion.

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Beyond Kitchens: Other Remodels That Create Bundling Opportunities

While kitchen remodels are the most natural pairing (because they so frequently involve subfloor and plumbing access), they're not the only remodeling projects that create efficient bundling opportunities.

Bathroom Remodels

Any bathroom remodel that involves moving or replacing drain lines, supply lines, or the subfloor creates crawl space access that can be leveraged for seismic work. First-floor bathroom renovations are particularly well-suited because the plumbing connections run directly through the crawl space.

Room Additions

If you're adding square footage to your home, the foundation work for the addition is already being done. Extending the seismic retrofit to the existing portion of the home while the foundation crew is already on site is one of the most cost-effective bundling scenarios we encounter.

ADU (Garage) Conversions

Garage conversions often involve significant foundation work, especially if the existing garage slab needs to be modified to accommodate new plumbing. If your main house has a raised foundation, this is an excellent time to address seismic deficiencies in both the main structure and the new ADU.

Whole Home Remodels

A comprehensive renovation that opens up multiple areas of the home creates extensive crawl space access. In whole home remodels, the seismic retrofit becomes a relatively small line item in the overall budget but provides enormous value in terms of safety and insurance savings.

What Happens If You Don't Retrofit

We don't use scare tactics. But we do use facts.

The average cost of earthquake damage repair to an unretrofitted home ranges from $50,000 to $260,000 or more, depending on the severity of the damage. A home that slides off its foundation is often a total loss. Even moderate foundation displacement can crack every wall in the house, rupture plumbing and gas lines, and render the home uninhabitable until extensive repairs are completed.

The LA Times has reported that a $4,000 retrofit now could prevent a $400,000 repair bill after an earthquake. NASA and USGS scientists have stated that Southern California is statistically overdue for a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault, with experts estimating a 60% probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake in the Los Angeles area within the next 30 years.

The question isn't whether a large earthquake will happen. The question is whether your home will be ready when it does.

⚠️ Pro-Tip: A $2,000 addition to your kitchen remodel is the most asymmetric investment you can make: a small cost now that prevents a catastrophic cost later.

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How We Handle Bundled Projects at California Construction & Remodeling Experts

We've built the bundled retrofit into our standard process for every qualifying project. Here's what that means in practice.

During your free consultation, we assess your home's seismic condition alongside your remodeling goals. If your home qualifies, we include the retrofit cost as a separate line item in your estimate so you can see exactly what it adds to the project.

We help you navigate the EBB grant application, including checking your ZIP code eligibility, timing your registration with the next open enrollment period, and coordinating the program's documentation requirements with your project timeline.

We perform the seismic work with our own licensed crews, not subcontracted to a separate retrofit company. This means one contractor, one schedule, one point of accountability.

And we handle the post-completion documentation, including the photographic verification required by CRMP and the Dwelling Retrofit Verification form for your earthquake insurance discount.

If you're planning a kitchen remodel, a bathroom renovation, a room addition, or any project that will bring our crews into your crawl space, let's talk about what it would cost to secure your foundation at the same time. The consultation is free, and the answer might be the best news you hear during your entire remodel.

About the Author

This guide was produced by the expert team at California Construction & Remodeling Experts. Specializing in high-end Los Angeles renovations and structural safety, we bridge the gap between architectural vision and complex California building codes. We are fully licensed ( CSLB #1130438 ), bonded, and dedicated to transparent, code-first remodeling for homeowners in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and beyond.

Planning a remodel?

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• Remodeling Your California Home in 2026: Navigating Seismic, Energy and Fire Codes (Pillar Page)

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