Sound Seismic LLC

I'd had them give me a quote back in June, and at that time we scheduled the work for September 15. In the meantime, the NYT article about "the big one" had come out, so I was amazed that they were able to proceed with my job on time. That doesn't usually happen with a contractor even without some major rush of business. All the communication with the owner and the office was thorough and clear, and the crew was courteous, kept things cleaned up and tidy each day after they left, and even did me a favor by pulling out some unused wiring that was accessible while they had the walls open. I don't intend to move, but if I did and I needed earthquake retrofitting done, I'd definitely call them again.

I am listing this to save people some time. I called today to get an estimate and I was told that they would not even come out and do an estimate for at least five months (forget scheduling the work). Additionally they were unwilling to take down my information so that I could even setup an appointment five months in the future. Don't bother even calling at this point. they have more work than they know what to do with and they clearly acted that way over the phone. He was also unable/ unwilling to give any suggestions about other contractors that do this work in the area. I was pretty much at a loss for words not sure I've ever had a contractor be so utterly unhelpful in all respects.

Very responsive, very helpful. Overall a positive experience.

The estimate was for the retrofitting for earthquake. He was very knowledgeable and explained me everything. I was comfortable while talking to them.

Very professional. Cleaned up after themselves. Stuck to the bid, which was significantly lowered than others.

Sound Seismic came in and did a seismic retrofit of our 1927 home. The basement had been previously been completely finished so getting the retrofit done was a big job. They were more than up to the task. We did most of the demo ourselves and did the painting to save on costs, they did the rest. Great outfit. Highly recommend them for this kind of project. A+

In October of 2013, we bought a house, built in 1928 with dubious permits on a second story addition. In order to qualify for earthquake insurance, we had to have the house retrofitted. I priced a job with four different contractors, all of whom gave us pretty much the same estimate. We chose Sound Seismic because they are retrofitting specialists. The job is now finished and we are extremely happy, not only with the results, but with the whole experience. I cannot say enough good things about Mat Robinson, who did all of the work by himself. His work ethic is amazing. He showed up on time, is extremely organized, he has perfected his craft, does a beautiful job of cleaning up at the end of each work day, listens patiently and answers all of the homeowners questions, is polite and worth every penny and more that his employer pays him. If you need the job done and want the job done right, and without a lot of drama, I would recommend sound seismic 100%! This job took 5 days to complete.

They were great. They were very thoughtful and explained everything carefully. They had a lot of integrity.

I can't remember his name but a gentleman came out and did the estimate. He was extremely knowledgable and went out of his way to explain the process and inherent problems due to the age of our home which also had a mixed material foundation of concrete and brick. The final cost came in within their estimate although it was the higher estimate due to the amount of brick in our foundation. Their workmen were very professional and cleaned up after themselves each day. They finished on time. We are considering other projects and will definitely request an estimate from them.

I am very pleased with the professionalism and Excellent workmanship.

The guys who did the work were great. They were nice to my kid and cats. We opted to have them redo the drywall and you cannot tell where the seams are. They laid down protective paper every day and took it up every night (which they didn't have to do). My only complaint was that a contractor left the bathroom window open.

Initial communication and consultation when without a hitch. After Leif came out and crawled under my house I had a bid in my hand free of charge. After getting a few more bids I had a few questions and Leif was very responsive to my questions. After signing the contract I was verbally told that the job would start the week before Thanksgiving. As the Thanksgiving week came closer, I had a hard time getting information out of the office on when the crew would be out and what they needed. I finally made contact with someone who knew what was going on and got the info I needed. Once the crew arrived everything went without a hitch. They cleaned up after themselves after each day of the two day job. The building inspector came out and signed off the permit on the first visit. A big Thank You goes out to the Jackson Remodeling Sound Seismic crew!

They were fantastic. I was impressed with the quality of their workmanship, it was really excellent. Their communication was very good and they were willing to follow up with us on some issues that were not their responsibility. Leif the owner was willing to help us out even though it wasn't his responsibility.

It was a great experience. They were professional, nice to work with and were always on time. They did a quality work.

The experience was good. My realtor told me about them. They do a 3 hour workshop about seismic retrofitting so I went to it and they talked through how it works. They basically teach you how to do it yourself if you want but I still hired them because it was very time consuming. I didn't compare their prices. The quality was great.

Work done per specification by one craftperson per outlined process. Do ask questions about what you are getting done. Got quote for additoinal work on rot repair and support rework which was much more expensive than other contractors.

The work turned out excellent. We worked closely with the owner, Leif Jackson. We chose them because they seemed very knowledgeable and their track record with this service.

Leif was punctual (even received a reminder note in the mail a few days in advance of the appointment) and spent about an hour or so with me walking through the house, explaining the various requirements for seismic retrofits in good detail (incl. going into crawlspaces, poking around with a flashlight in basement ceilings etc.) and at the end of the 1 hr session concluded that our home did not really need any seismic retrofitting work to be done. I sincerely appreciated that he spent an hour of his day with me, knowing that we probably would not need anything done - it would have been easy for him to cut the appointment short and just say "this is not the type of work we do" and leave me still in the dark about whether we needed to do something or not (which other contractors have done). I would definitely recommend them to my friends and family.

We initially met with Jackson Remodelling at our house and went over what to expect with the earthquake retrofit. The day that work began, some old panelling had to be pulled off of our basement walls to get access for the retrofit, and that revealed very wet and crumbling wood in many places. That discovery meant that more work unexpectedly needed to be done before the actual retrofit could proceed. Jackson Remodeling assessed what needed to be done, answered our questions, and kept us informed on what the new situation entailed, cost and time-wise. We appreciated that they kept us updated along the way and answered all of our questions. At the end of every day, our basement was left very clean and supplies were stacked neatly. Jackson Remodelling also spent some time with us walking around the outside of our house to understand why we have water issues in the basement and what steps we could take as homeowners, which was definitely helpful to us. We really liked this company and would work with them again. The cost of service (above) includes the earthquake retrofit and the wood rot repair.

Really well. They fit me into their schedule fairly quickly (couple of weeks). Only hiccup was the installer had a family function that delayed the start of the work by 1 day, so an additional day the following week was needed. This wasn't a big deal to me, and they communicated with me throughout the job so I knew what was going on. Everything was cleanly done and I am really happy with the quality of work.

I want to give special praise to Matt who did most of the work. He was the most considerate and tidy worker we've ever had!

Sound Seismic was great to work with. They explained in detail what they were going to do and answered all our questions. They were courteous and punctual. The job was completed quickly and neatly. We would definitely consider hiring them again.

We have a 1930's Tudor and I want it to stand up in an Earthquake. Leif came for an estimate and I grilled him pretty thoroughly on the value of earthquake retrofitting. He was prepared for all my questions and took the time to explain the value of what we were embarking on. We purchased the house with a finished basement, which is not ideal for this job becuase you have to remove drywall. Leif and his team were surgical in the removal and didn't do any more damage than was necessary. The only thing that went wrong was that one of the guys backed the truck into a concrete half-wall outside my garage, and chipped off a portion of the concrete. He said they would prepare it and they did without my having to ask twice. Very good company and the price is reasonable for what you're getting. Note: fixing drywall is not included in what we spent. We had more jobs to do so I thought it would make more sense to get everything done and fix all the drywall at the end. Drywall repair can be significant on a job like this. Do the work before finishing your basement!

The work turned out very well. I thought they did a good job, and I thought they were reasonable with the payment. I had no problems with them!

The work turned out well! They did a good job, courteous and they cleaned up at the end of the day. The price was exactly the said it would be. I would recommend them!