How much does foundation work cost in San Francisco? The usual foundation & seismic job filed with San Francisco is $17,848, from 762 priced permits (October 2023 through September 2026); the middle half of firms file between $10,000 and $36,000. A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, not a quote or the final bill.
The usual foundation & seismic job filed with San Francisco is $17,848, from 762 priced permits, October 2023 through September 2026. The middle half of firms usually file between $10,000 and $36,000. Half of jobs were filed for less, half for more. A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, not a quote or the final bill. A foundation & seismic permit here usually takes 191 days from issue to final inspection. How long permits take →
Approximately, from each firm's own spread: every firm's range of filed values, weighted by its 762 priced permits across 393 firms, pooled into one. Half of San Francisco foundation & seismic permits were filed between $8,200 and $40,000.
| Percentile | Filed value | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $5,000 | 1 in 10 permits filed below |
| 25th | $8,200 | 1 in 4 filed below |
| 50th | $18,100 | the middle permit |
| 75th | $40,000 | 1 in 4 filed above |
| 90th | $92,600 | 1 in 10 filed above |
Firms split into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on, with each third's usual filed value weighted by permits. Home values: San Francisco Assessor-Recorder 2025 assessed values (Proposition 13 values, which usually sit well below market value). Under Proposition 13 a home assessed at its 1980s purchase price can carry a value far below what it would sell for today, so treat the home-value matching and the price-versus-similar-jobs comparison as rough.
| Firms working on | Usual home value | Usual filed value | Firms | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower third | under $793,786 | $9,075 | 129 | 318 |
| Middle third | $793,786–$1,819,856 | $22,152 | 130 | 275 |
| Upper third | $1,820,700 and up | $30,000 | 130 | 174 |
Top 10 by permits in the last 12 months. Usual is each firm's middle filed value; middle half is the range its middle half of jobs were filed in. Busy is not the same as careful: pick what you value to build a list.
| Firm | Permits | Last 12 mo | Usual | Middle half | Finished |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Home Depot USA Inc | 126 | 19 | $9,075 | $5,888–$14,868 | 84.7% |
| Seismic Retrofitters Inc | 27 | 9 | $22,152 | $16,900–$30,400 | 89.4% |
| Warner Custom Homes Inc | 12 | 6 | $7,000 | $7,000–$13,250 | 6 of 6 |
| Connor Daly Corporation | 10 | 6 | $28,000 | $8,000–$40,000 | — |
| Matthew Kelly Construction Inc | 7 | 6 | $30,000 | $23,000–$40,000 | — |
| Jean Design Build Inc | 6 | 5 | $7,800 | $7,500–$8,400 | — |
| Maap Corp dba Save Energy Co | 7 | 4 | $20,000 | $10,709–$23,974 | — |
| Peace of Mind Structural Inc | 6 | 4 | $14,722 | $10,825–$26,873 | — |
| Bay Area Retrofit | 5 | 3 | $36,385 | $26,000–$38,000 | — |
| Engineered Soils Repairs | 5 | 3 | $28,041 | $25,000–$67,492 | — |
Line your quote up against the file. In San Francisco, 1 in 10 foundation & seismic filed values sit under $5,000, the middle half between $8,200 and $40,000, and 1 in 10 over $92,600.
San Francisco files the fewest foundation & seismic permits in February (81 against an average month of 100) and the most in May (114). If you can choose, ask for quotes in a quiet month. We have no prices by month, so this is about crews' schedules, not a discount. When each trade is busiest in San Francisco →
Source: San Francisco DBI building permits on one- and two-family homes, with the contractor from the city's permit contacts file. The window is October 2023 through September 2026; a permit filed after that isn't here yet.
Usual is the middle permit: half were filed for less, half for more. Only permits with a filed value count; a value of $0 or none is left out.
The spread is approximate: we keep seven points of each firm's own range of filed values, not every permit, and pool them.
Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. How the records work in San Francisco →
Foundation & Seismic cost in other cities: St. Louis San Diego Colorado Springs Greensboro Arlington, VA Cary Palo Alto Denton Wheaton, IL Marin County (unincorporated)
Other job costs in San Francisco: Roofing · Kitchen, Bath & Remodel · Windows & Skylights · Decks, Stairs & Porches · Siding, Dry Rot & Exterior Repair · Addition · Fire Sprinklers & Alarms · Solar & Battery · ADU