TerraFirma
Earthquake Retrofitting in Olympia, WA

I hired TerraFirma to do a seismic retrofit on my house. The entire experience was outstanding! They showed up exactly when they said they would. The job was completed in the expected time and they cleaned up after themselves. I feel like the cost of the project was more than reasonable for the peace of mind l now have, knowing l have done what l can to protect my home in the event of an earthquake. I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a professional company to work on their foundation.

No clue if the job ws done technically perfect or not. Hopefully, I will never know (no earthquacks). they kept me well informed, were prompt, polite and left no mess.

It’s always been a joke in our house: “If you don’t want to be a responsible adult, you’re welcome to live in your mom’s basement.” It was funny because all I had was a dark creepy crawlspace with sharp rocks and whatever the last construction crew left behind. Unlit now. The Terra Firma team did exactly what they promised to do: in a matter of days, they terraformed the entire space under my house into an encapsulated sparkling-clean climate-controlled beauty. With the heat waves coming later this summer, I may be setting up guided tours for curious minds. The tour will include admiring a sump pump and earthquake braces, enjoying the cool clean air, and sliding like penguins on the white encapsulation layer. I haven’t decided on the fees yet, but it will definitely be a no-shoes, white socks-only service and I am NOT kidding about it. Thanks to Terra Firma, “living in yo-momma basement” turned from a threat into a perk.

Seth visited our home to give us a quote on seismic retrofitting. He was on time (and made sure to call when he was heading our way), did a thorough assessment of our home, and was an absolute pleasure to work with. During the assessment, Seth patiently answered all of my questions. It was clear that he was extremely knowledgeable about the available retrofitting options and what best suited our home. The final proposal was easy to understand; it clearly outlined the work to be done, why it needed to be done, and how much various options would cost. Overall, it was an excellent experience.

When we first bought our 1900s fixer upper, we had no idea what lurked behind the walls of the illegal basement apartment. Once we opened up the space we were in for quite the surprise. All the wooden post holding up the main beam of the house were rotted through at the base. You could stick a pencil through the old, soft wood. Working with TerraFirma to fix the issue was an easy choice. Eric came out to assess our problem. He was friendly and professional as he walked me through the process that was needed to fix our foundation. It wasn't going to be cheap. Don't expect this kind of work to be inexpensive (especially on older homes). We needed concrete to be cut, 2ft cubic footers poured, and six shiny new steel posts. (And while they were coming out anyway, we had them do seismic retrofitting too). There's all kinds of math and engineering that goes into determining what's needed to structurally support a home. TerraFirma handles it all. And they are experienced enough to know what it's going to cost. One of the best parts of working with them (besides the friendly employees and professional workers) is that the price they quote you is going to be the price. Full stop. There are no unexpected add ons at the end. I can sleep well at night knowing TerraFirma's work is holding up our home. A few months later when the rains started in earnest and our basement flooded (an issue we guessed had been going on for a while, hidden by those illegal apartment walls and leading to the rotting of the old wood posts) we knew who to call. Eric came out again to look at options for a sump pump system and even worked on adjusting those plans (while he was on winter vacation with his family!!) when we discovered that a third wall was seeping water and we needed a much larger amount of fixing than originally thought. We no longer have to worry during downpours. While our old fixer upper still needs a lot of work and love, we know that we are (literally) starting from a strong, solid foundation thanks to TerraFirma.

I had two estimates. TerraFirma was much cheaper but more than that they moved fast, were clean, professional. The inspector gave them high marks and I have a house that is earthquake secure to magnitude 8 give ir take.

Excellent from start to finish. I am very impressed! The team who did the earthquake proofing were hard working, friendly, and professional. They did a great job of cleaning up after completing the project.

I worked in the real estate industry for 5+ years and would recommend TF to clients but never had the chance to use them personally until recently. They are simply the best around as measured by the people on their team, the proposal they made (I had 3 different contractors bid our basement work), the execution, the willingness to get it right, and the fact that in my instance I was able to complete Radon, Earthquake Retrofitting, and Basement Waterpoofing with the same outfit with great long term financing and a warranty in place. I highly recommend Terra Firma. Thanks guys!

Everyone, from the job estimator and office staff to that guys that repaired my foundation/driveway and installed the earthquake mitigation system, were very professional and courteous. Very happy with the final result!

TerraFirma installed EverBrace on our hundred year old foundation. It was a cost-effective way to proactively prevent foundation failure while also adding waterproofing and earthquake resilience. TerraFirma was a joy to work with, especially considering the size and complexity of the job. Our sales person and project manager made it feel easy from the very beginning. The installation crew was particularly great, always arriving exactly on time, explaining what they were doing each day, and answering any questions. They went above and beyond to not only complete the project as planned (and right on schedule) but also took care to leave the site in better condition than they found it. It's clear that Rocky and Harley take pride in their work. Earthquakes now don't seem as scary, and we love our new clean and dry basement!

I can't praise Terra Firma enough for their superb service throughout the process of having an earthquake retrofit done on my house!! Design specialist James Kershaw did a thorough assessment and explanation of the recommended work. Scheduler Jonah promptly contacted me with the work dates and coordinated with the plumber for related work. My OUTSTANDING team of workers with Jonathan (foreman), Nathan, Rom, Matt and Daniel worked tirelessly and efficiently and with cheerful and respectful attitudes. They exercised great care in protecting my home and in cleaning up at the end of the job. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this company for their superb, specialized services!!

We purchased a home in 2020 that had undisclosed water infiltration in the basement that resulted in all basement finishes needing to be demolished to clean up the water and remove mold. TerrFirma was the only company who was able to diagnose and address both water infiltration caused by poor exterior yard grading and drainage and also the interior water proofing needed. They also repaired and stabilized a very large structural crack in our basement foundation wall. In addition to doing all this work they were also able to fit earthquake retrofitting into the project while here when asked (after they showed up to start the project). The estimator, Bridget was very meticulous in her bid and made comparing estimates easy. Her experitse, flexibility, follow through and communication were superb. Working with Spencer Hunt, the project foreman, was so stress free. He was able to accommodate our request for earthquake retrofitting even though TerraFirma was extremely busy. He was excellent at explaining everything the crew was doing. He checked in with us through every step of the process to make sure we were educated about and happy with the work. We are so happy we used TerraFirma and would recommend them to anyone who needs drainage, foundation, concrete, earthquake and waterproofing work done in the future!