House Raising Resources

If your home is situated in low lying areas that are susceptible to floods or if your house has already been damaged earlier due to floods, you have choices on whether to raise your house. Even if you live in a moderate flood-risk area, you may still choose to elevate your home for added protection.

When you decide to elevate the house to comply with floodplain regulations, then the state and federal authorities will offer you valuable information and helpful suggestions about the process of house raising.

What To Do before Lifting Your Home

Elevating your home is necessary to protect it against floods – particularly, when your house is situated in a low lying area that is prone to floods. There is no denying that lifting your home will cost you heavily. However, the heartening news is the government has realized the gravity of the problem and has allocated fixed grant money for you to lift your house.

When deciding to elevate you house, you need to study the local ordinances and codes that will let you know what you can do and what you should not do. You should determine the level of elevation you want in order to protect your house from flood – base level or the 100-year flood, the 500-year flood, or any other level?

You must conduct a pre-study as to what kind of flooding your house is likely to suffer – taking into account the depth of flooding, the likely velocity of the floodwaters, the frequency of floods in any given year, the probable rate at which floodwaters would rise and fall, the time duration of the floodwaters remaining stagnant before they recede, and the impact of floating debris on your house.

After completing your pre-study taking into account all the above cited factors, you should consult with your local building authorities and your contractor regarding the implementation of your house elevation project.

What is home lifting?

Home elevation, simply means, raising the lowest floor beyond the flood protection elevation (FPE) -a level at which your chances of flooding are either considerably minimized or totally eliminated. The FPE will mean an extra foot of elevation to safeguard your house from the uncertainties such as floods. When a house has been elevated to FPE, it still may be subject to inundation but then only during extraordinary floods.

To those who may be less familiar with the process of house elevation, it is good to know that when a house is elevated, it is separated from its foundation by hydraulic jacks and is held up with temporary supports till a new or extended foundation is constructed beneath. As regards the choice of the new foundation, it can be extended walls or independent piers, posts, columns or pilings.

Advantages of home elevation:

There are quite a few advantages in elevating a house:

The elevation will mean complying with your community’s floodplain management plan.
It will substantially reduce the flood risk to the house and its contents.
There will be no need to shift vulnerable contents above the water level whenever flood occurs.
It can meaningfully reduce flood insurance premiums.

You may know that house elevation does not require you to buy an additional land.

House Raising

House-raising is a lengthy process that involves separating a house from its foundation and temporarily raising it with hydraulic jacks. The process is similar but distinct from house-moving, in which a house is transported some distance to a different location. Homeowners raise their houses for the following reasons:

This house was raised to add living space

A basement can be constructed from an existing crawlspace. Basements significantly increase property values, and they provide additional storage and living space for occupants.
The foundation is in need of repair.
Flood protection can be added after a home is built by house-raising. Habitually wet basements are subject to mold growth, and the situation can be permanently remedied by raising the basement above the water table. This move can also lower flood insurance rates or ensure compliance with building codes. For homes located in special flood hazard zones, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) states that homeowners must either elevate the lowest floor above the flood-protection elevation or move or flood-proof their building.
House-rasing can offset excessive settling.
House-raising is done to move and rotate the structure for aesthetic purposes. For instance, buildings are sometimes rotated to avoid the unpleasantness of nearby highways or commercial structures. Houses may also be rotated to fine-tune when and where different parts of the house receive sunlight.

House-raising is a hefty undertaking, as the utilities must be disconnected and reconnected, truckloads of dirt must be excavated, and concrete walls need to be poured. The actual lifting of the structure involves long, steel I-beams and hydraulic jacks. It’s possible to lift a house rapidly, although, in certain situations, such as to avoid damage to drywall, the building might be lifted as little as 1/8-inch per day. A homeowner can expect to pay up to $10,000 to raise their 1,200-square-foot house by a few feet, and older homes may be more difficult to lift, as they typically weigh more because of their plaster construction and sturdier wood. After being raised, the building is held in place by support cribs for however long is necessary to complete the project.

The idea of hiring workers to crawl beneath a precariously perched 40- to 80-ton structure may conjure up various nightmare scenarios. And the dangers to life and property are real, which is why house-raising companies typically carry insurance to cover an unlikely, yet tragic and costly, collapse. Such an incident happened in 1994, when contractors in Canada had to scramble for their lives when inadequately nailed sheathing caused the house they were working under to slide from its foundation.

Additional Considerations for the Homeowner

The condition of the foundation must be carefully assessed. If it’s cracked, it might need to be fixed before the house can be raised.
Hire an InterNACHI inspector to inspect for indications that the raising process did not degrade the house’s structural integrity.
Anticipate and plan around the impact that the house-raising will have on the neighborhood. Street parking might be temporarily blocked while the house is being raised.
Check on height restrictions. Do the building plans exceed height restrictions set by the local jurisdiction? A municipal inspector or engineer may be required to approve the construction.
Building permits are required, and they can be expensive.
Items that can be moved, such as furniture and the furnace, might have to be moved out until the house is set down.
Be sure that all power, gas and electrical connections are not only shut off, but disconnected, as well, before construction begins.

In summary, house-raising is an intensive process performed for a variety of structural, safety and aesthetic purpose

From House Raising – Int’l Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI) http://www.nachi.org/house-raising.htm#ixzz2JYv1L1SE

Insulated Concrete Forms

Insulated concrete forms (ICF) are the best way to build a foundation, no question. Stack the foam blocks (expanded polystyrene), fill the void with concrete, then leave the forms in place for an already well-insulated foundation wall. Todd Parge (Advanced Building Systems) supplied us with Reward Wall Systems blocks with 2.5 inches of foam sandwiching an eight inch void for a total of thirteen inches of wall thickness. To use less concrete we could have used an eleven inch thick block with a six inch void, but it uses the same amount of rebar and we have an extremely heavy concrete floor on the main level that will serve as thermal mass for this passive solar design.

N.J. Sandy rebuilding rules: Go higher or pay more

A great trick is to frame the main level floor, partly complete here, before you pour the concrete in order to hold everything straight and plumb. We’ve even temporarily screwed floor joists on edge to the middle of the walls to ensure straightness and stability. Thanks, Todd Parge, for all the helpful tips.

New federal flood maps approved Thursday that will govern rebuilding in the state following superstorm Sandy leaves many residents with a tough choice: Go higher now or pay more later.

The new guidelines will force homeowners in flood zones to spend tens of thousands of dollars to raise their houses now or pay exorbitant premiums of up to $31,000 a year for flood insurance later.

“This rule protects the public and our residents by ensuring that the Jersey Shore and our coastal communities will be reconstructed smarter and more resilient,” Gov. Chris Christie said in announcing the maps, which were recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to municipalities last month. Read full article here.

Many at Shore will be forced to raise their homes to protect against future storms

Large numbers of homeowners along the Jersey Shore will in effect be forced to raise their homes to protect against future storms after Gov. Christie announced Thursday that the state would adopt the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new floodplain maps.

Those whose houses were damaged in Hurricane Sandy have been struggling to figure out how to rebuild, if they can at all, since the release early last month of the new flood maps.

The maps are the basis on which federal flood insurance rates are determined, but they are likely to face challenges from local officials and are not expected to be formally certified by FEMA for up to two years. Read full article here.

What is a raised wood floor?

A raised wood floor system is an assembly of beams and girders, floor joists, and plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) floor sheathing, all properly sized, connected together and placed on a foundation. A raised wood floor system is designed to elevate the living space off the ground, isolating it from moisture and pests. American homes have been built on raised wood floor systems since Colonial times, and the aesthetic and practical reasons for building a raised home still apply today.

Many terms are frequently used to describe raised floor systems in different regions of the country. Examples include raised wood floor, off-grade floor, pier-and-beam foundation and crawlspace construction. Regardless of the exact term or construction method used, a raised wood floor system provides numerous advantages.

Types of raised wood floor foundation systems

A solid foundation is the most important part of a new home. A raised wood floor can be supported by a variety of foundation types (several are presented below). Always check the local building code for specific foundation requirements. Regardless of the foundation system used, the foundation and the footings must be of adequate size and strength to support the design loads. Once the foundation is in place, a system of beams and girders, floor joists, and plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) floor sheathing, is installed to complete the raised wood floor. View the Raised Wood Floor Foundation Systems Photo Gallery.

	Pier-and-beam foundation A builder has several options for constructing piers when building a pier-and-beam foundation. The piers can rest on spot footings or a continuous footing. The placement and spacing of the footings and the piers is determined by the location of load bearing walls and the span capabilities of the floor joists.
	Stem wall foundation A continuous foundation wall around the perimeter of the home. It is frequently constructed of reinforced masonry or poured concrete and supported by a continuous, reinforced-concrete footing.
	Wood stem wall foundation A continuous foundation fabricated of lumber-framed walls sheathed with structural plywood or OSB panels on top of a continuous footing. Wood stem walls reduce concrete costs, simplify leveling and are easily built on site.
	Wood pile and pier foundations Treated wood piles and wood piers minimize or eliminate the use of concrete altogether. They are popular in coastal areas for acquiring necessary height, but can also be cost effective for raising floors just a few feet. Piles are often used in soils with low-bearing capacity.

Building with wood

Consumption of fossil fuels addociated with three floor designs

Throughout history, wood has found favor as a building material due to its strength, economy, workability, beauty and durability. Wood-frame buildings are economical to build, heat and cool, and provide maximum comfort to occupants. Wood construction is readily adaptable to traditional, contemporary and the most cutting-edge building styles. Its architectural possibilities are limitless and its durability spans the centuries.Learn more.

Wood building materials are good for the environment, too. Wood is a renewable, sustainable resource that is manufactured in energy efficient processes that optimize use of renewable energy sources. In fact, in a comparison of fossil fuel consumption associated with the materials for three floor systems – wood, concrete and steel – the wood joist floor required the least amount of fossil fuel energy.