NW Seismic

Tim Cook came by to assess our single family home for a seismic retrofit. He was friendly, approachable, and took the time to explain things to us thoroughly. Our foundation was ultimately deemed too soft for the job, but he was still willing to talk through their findings and provide additional resources. I would absolutely trust Tim / NW Seismic if you get the chance to work with them!
Feb 26th, 2024

Tim is a standup guy who doesnt upsell. He took the time educate me and even cancelled our appointment for now as he didnt think a seismic retrofit was needed for our house. Highly recommend.
Sep 23rd, 2023

Apr 5th, 2023

NW Seismic exceeded our expectations in every way. We had bids from two competitors who simply did not understand how to work with old and historic homes. Those competitors aimed to over-complicate, over-engineer, and over-charge us. By contrast, NW Seismic gave us an attractive bid within a week of request, honored the schedule, and sent out a crew of professional, diligent workers to complete the work on time. We cannot recommend NW Seismic highly enough. Communication was great throughout.
Feb 23rd, 2023

HOMEOWNERS AND SELLERS BEWARE of this business as they are deal wreckers. Mid-sale, our buyers wanted an opinion about our seismic work. In July 2023, we regrettably allowed NW Seismic (NOT a structural engineer) to come into our home as we know the integrity of our recent seismic work; they commented on our excellent existing seismic retrofit work but then proceeded to tell our buyers that our foundation needed to be replaced to the tune of 89K. Conveniently, they of course offered to do the grand-scale foundation work. Note: this was after a qualified structural engineer thoroughly investigated, approved & calculated for our foundation to take on the load of a studs down remodel + second floor addition (both fully permitted) by a very reputable local design firm + contractor in 2017. Because of the audacity of NW Seismic, our sale was almost ruined. It was only after we obtained 4 bids including a qualified structural engineer (all of which agreed that our foundation did NOT have to be replaced and NO repairs were necessary, just minor improvement of waterproofing) that we conceded a minor credit to seller for improvements (NO repairs) to complete the sale. If youre looking for foundation work, DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS; it will likely cost you a whole new foundation when you only need less costly improvement. And if youre a home seller, DO NOT ALLOW THIS BUSINESS TO COME INTO THE YOUR HOME TO INSPECT YOUR SEISMIC RETROFIT WORK; it will only cost you unnecessary consequences such as them making unqualified recommendations such a new costly foundation and subsequently making your buyers feel insecure about their purchase. No wonder NE Seismic is not BBB accredited. UPDATED after Tims reply: the minute you stepped into my home we became your clients by proxy. Again, youre NOT a structural engineer. PERIOD. Stop trying to refute that fact. The crumble you refer to is called minor spalding from overly thick skim coating. Its a NATURAL occurrence that is common in basements. In our case, it was purely cosmetic and doesnt compromise structural integrity of our existing seismic work. From a scientific standpoint, seismic retrofitting is to help reduce owner's risk for injury or death resulting from earthquakes. When the 9.0+ occurs in PDX, the 100+ years old homes (and especially the new builds) will be decimated (seismic retrofit or not). You & I both know that. But your business is based on reassuring clients that their home wont implodeand while youre there youll happily recommend replacing foundations for 89K. Ill just let my 300K Google views speak for itself.
Aug 4th, 2023