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I’m looking at buying an older house that is built on piers and beams. The floor is uneven, and probably more critically important is the fact that my wife doesn’t like the thought of “critters” possibly getting under the house.
I suggested that I had seen a few jobs over the years where the houses had been jacked up and moved over so that a slab could be poured underneath. The house was then repositioned on the new slab.
Questions: 1. Is this cost effective?
2. What does one have to “keep an eye on” in this type of remodeling? ie: What are the potential pitfalls?
3. Any suggestions?
4. We’re in north central Texas and I know that costs vary across the country, but does anyone have a ballpark idea on costs for jacking, and moving a house with a footprint of about 1,400 sq. ft. – 2 stories.
5. Further north of here I’ve seen houses raised, basements dug underneath and the house just lowered back down on the new foundation. Can a house be raised enough to pour a slab underneath, thus eliminating the need to move it out of the immediate slab area?
Thanks guys,
Cliff.
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cliff: yes you can do it.. call a building mover and get a price.. then call a cement contractor and get a price on pouring the slab..
b BUT
why don't you just fix the floor and lay a block wall around the perimeter to close in the crawl space..
most of the old houses here were built on cedar posts as summer "camps".. over the years they would get winterized and closed in.. usually with a block wall on a shallow footing..
*Can we all chat and try to be a little innovative and install a slab "without" jacking or even moving the house?How about openning all of the floors to the joists, installing footings under the load bearing walls, by sections. Install masonry blocks under them, fill the remaining cavity with crushed stone or gravel, vb and then concrete infills.We do it to garages all the time, why not a cheap alternative for a house?Just a thought for discussion,Gabe
*In my area, you can't put a two-story house on a slab; you have to have footings to below frost line. Not sure what Texas says, but it would be good to check first. If Mike's cost-effective footing/block wall flies with the inspector, you still have the problem of creepy-crawlies tunneling up through the soil.My guys had ten acres of sagebrush to maneuver in when they brought my one-storey 1450' house, but their vehicles would have trashed an established yard. Think where the cement trucks will be driving, too. Sorry i can't help with costs, as my move was part of the cost of buying the house itself.Don't know if it would work in your situation, but what about building a foundation of whatever type beside the house, and moving the house over to the foundation? One move instead of two?Hooking up drains and supply lines through a slab could get interesting.Some movers slide very large beams underneath the joists, pick the floor up as a unit; others would use an array of cribs to do the same at several points. If your floor is weak, best to do the first alternative, but it means they need access to slide the l-o-n-g beams underneath. If you're going to raise the house enough to pour a slab underneath it, as opposed to moving it to the side, you may as well put in the walls and have a nice, cool basement for escaping summer heat.
*Iowa, past summer, raised 2 story farm house, dug out old foundation, and poured new. About $25k for that part, plus backfill work. That's here, and I was told that moving house 50 feet would have been quicker, but cost more for foundation, as the way we did it, they simply plumbed down from sills for foundation walls, whereas with move, measuring and transferring these measurements would have been more difficult and time consuming.
*I recently put a price together and to raise a house, dig for a 8' foundation, form and pour, back fill and set the house back down. This would cost the home owner about 30 to 35k. You have to way this cost into the resale of your house, will you recoup your cost. If you get the house cheap enough it might be worthwhile.