Jacking Up A House
Posted on 04. May, 2010 by Laura-Jane - Whimfield in House, Prince Edward Island, Projects
On Monday morning our house looked like this. See the photo above? Normal house. Almost level to the ground.
Monday afternoon, steel girders were slipped underneath the house… See above?
And by Monday evening, the house was jacked up in the air and dangling four feet above the ground.
Thankfully, like the driveway project, we’ve recruited experts to help us with this jacking-up-the-house phase. (But, of course, Cameron is still involved.)
When I’ve mentioned in passing conversation that we’re jacking up our house, onlookers tend to ask me where we’re staying while the house is dangling in the air.
“Um, were still living there, of course,” I answer.
In all honesty, it never dawned on me to do anything else.
We just use a ladder to get in.
LJ
May 4th, 2010
Did you get bored with nothing to do that you decided to jack up the house? Or is this for a new basement? Move it to a different location? WHY!
Vicki
May 4th, 2010
Thanks for posting some pics so quickly. You guys are amazing!! I don’t know what else to say I am speechless. You never cease to amaze me with all your talents. I hope the project runs smoothly.
Micheline
May 4th, 2010
Ah yes. The ladder. The best tool on the job. It helps you get from A to B. It doubles as a dining room table. It’s one half of platform if you have another ladder and a 2 x 8. And in some cases it becomes like sculpture adorning your living room for months on end. Gotta love a ladder.
p.s. Your house is looking fabulous. This is going to be one exciting summer for you guys. Busy… but exciting.
Louise
May 4th, 2010
Whew! I was being quite proud of all our renovations in the past 3 months, but I would not have attempted half of what you two have done. This certainly is an exciting adventure!
christy
May 4th, 2010
This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen! My grandma has a similar story; they moved their house 8 miles or so and lived in it all the while. Of course that was like 1940; I’ve never seen anybody’s house look like yours in these photos!! GOOD LUCK with this project!
Meg S.
May 4th, 2010
I may have missed it in a previous post, but why are you jacking up the house?
Julie C
May 5th, 2010
My parents did this to their house years ago. We also lived in the house while the work was being done. The strangest part to me was the way the house felt when anyone with a heavy foot step would walk. It reminded me of being in a boat. lol
Since my parents project involved digging down more than moving the house up, our path into the house was two very long boards that went over a very deep hole in front of the door. We had some guests that refused to come in the house. They were afraid of falling off the boards and didn’t like the distance to the bottom of the hole.
Andy Collier
May 5th, 2010
If you are putting in a new foundation make sure you insulate it! Insulating the outside of the foundation with 2″ of type 4 insulation will keep the foundation from ever freezing, your heating bills will be lower and it’s easier to do the insulation on the outside will doing a new foundation than the inside afterwards.
Give me a call if you have any questions.
Johanna
May 5th, 2010
Wow!! Hope it all goes well.
brenna
May 5th, 2010
Deja vu? Dad…
N&M
May 5th, 2010
I’m going to see that jacked up house sooner than you think! P.S your thigh looks skinnier than my arm in this picture. Can’t wait to see your thighs! Oh, and you too :) :)
Vicki Lerch
May 6th, 2010
Dear N&M are you going to the gentle island?
Toni
May 6th, 2010
Sweet… hope your new drywall and paint didn’t crack.
p.s. Ch to Co $309.00 June 11
Co to Ch $294.00 June 18
hint hint :)
Angela
May 6th, 2010
Dear Laura-Jane,
this morning I sat down at the computer, my husband next to me on his computer, to continue planning our north American road trip (We got married, sold our home, quit our jobs, moved to a new country… it seems we can’t sit still either ;) A shot-in-the-dark search brought me to your first blog. Three coffees and two meal-breaks later, I find myself here on your latest entry, having read through each word. I’ve never read a blog before. I couldn’t stop. I felt that with each entry I was catching up with you in time. I didn’t expect this today. I am renewed, revived and reassured. I admire your courage to ask the difficult questions that life just isn’t equipped to answer. Don’t underestimate what you’re doing Laura-Jane. You are manifesting magic!
We will be visiting your lovely island in mid-late June. We’d love to meet you and Cam if you’re interested.
Peace and light in your inner adventure,
Angela
Kim
May 6th, 2010
Oh yay, you’ll have a lovely concrete foundation soon! Hope all goes well!!
Vicki Lerch
May 7th, 2010
Just wonderinghow the progress is going? Cam, I see you are smiling, so I guess that is a good thing!!
Naomi
May 9th, 2010
Wow! You weren’t kidding! That must be fun living in there while it’s all happening. I miss you tons. I will be wishing I was there when those other girls are visiting you. By the way, your shutters have inspired me. We’re getting shutters too! I’ll send you some pictures once they are on. xoxox….
Michelle
May 9th, 2010
How nice for you to have this project underway! I would imagine the cost to have this done isn’t small but it will be SO worth it, I’m sure.
Our renos are somewhat stagnant right now due to my hubs issues with chronic pain (the list is too long to mention) and juggling our budget. We have a basement but with a dirt floor. We talk about finishing it one day but there are other priorities. My brother is a builder and in the process of moving here. He’s generously offered his help and I’m gratefully grabbing at it like a starving person.
Can’t wait to see the progress as you move along. Hey… what about the plumbing and all of that with the house being lifted so high? Is it all intact? Sorry if that’s a stupid question but it was one of my first thoughts… like, can you still flush your toilet?
Heather
May 10th, 2010
That’s pretty neat. I was wondering “why?” as well and also about the plumbing. Maybe the internet was disconnected and that is why there has been no reply. :(
Laura-Jane - Whimfield
May 10th, 2010
Ummmmmmmmm, yes, why are we doing this?? Good question, good question. But yes, there is a reason.
Our house did not have a foundation. It was on wooden posts. Our house was very crooked and creaky.
We are having fun living here. But. We are also business minded in many ways, and we realize that our house is an investment. It would be much harder to sell a house that sits on wooden posts (and you wouldn’t be able to ask as much for it). Thus, we are forward thinkers, and we figure if we’d put in a foundation before we sell, we might as well put it in now and then enjoy it while we live here.
Plus, we wanted to do the foundation and de-crooked-ify the house before we totally finished the interior. So, yeah. I hope that makes sense!
And…the house actually looks even crazier now than in the above photos because all the earth from underneath the house has now been removed. You can’t even use the ladder anymore! (There’s nowhere to set up the ladder anymore, just…a big hole!)
This is rambly but I don’t care! Muah!
Naomi
May 11th, 2010
Ummmmmmmm…..so you’re stuck inside the house then???!! I don’t mean to complicate your post, but I am curious!!!
Vicki Lerch
May 12th, 2010
Hope that the pouring of the footings went well & that the weather was cooperating!
Barry J
May 13th, 2010
OK, thats just friggin’ hard core now. Impressive (and very necessary) by the sounds of it!
Kevin
May 14th, 2010
Interesting site, I found it while researching yardwork’s log splitter on youtube.
My wife and I (27 and 29) recently moved back to New Brunswick from Alberta and purchased a 68 acre farm/woodlot/orchard on the river. We are both professionals and wanted more than just the standard city life…this must be Generation Y thing.
Kevin
Michelle
May 15th, 2010
No… not just a Generation Y thing. It’s also a Baby Boomer thing. We thought we were doing something unique when we moved from BC to NB five years ago. Little did we know there are many like-minded people who are just fed up with city life for one reason or another.
Freda
May 16th, 2010
WOW!!!!!!!!
That is all I can say………….WOW
Much luck and hope all is going as planned.
warren
May 17th, 2010
WOW! And I thought my foundation fun was drastic! I am sure that you will appreciate all of this when it is done…but still…WOW!
Olivia
May 18th, 2010
As fellow Islanders, we also did this over a quarter century ago, when our 2 oldest kids were then 1 and 4. A neighbour recently gave me a photo of the house up in the air, balanced on steel beams, a gangplank leading up to the front door and my 2 babies playing outside!! (What was I thinking?) I can still remember the sound of the bulldozer underneath us while we were in the house – and then there was the great flood when it rained nonstop for several days and the earth started caving in . . . and we had to line up bulldozers and septic tank trunks to pump out the water and shore up the earth berms. **shudder**. Ah yes, we have been down the renovation route many times as we tear down and rebuild this 140 year old house around ourselves – and we are still at it. Old Chinese proverb says, “Man finish house, he die.” I think my husband takes this too literally!
Vicki
May 20th, 2010
Wow!!! Footings are poured!! Bring on the new pictures Laura=-Jane.
Vicki Lerch
May 23rd, 2010
How is the Little House that COULD?
Laura-Jane - Whimfield
May 23rd, 2010
Vicki, thanks for asking! New update here
vijay patel
Nov 11th, 2010
Who was the contractor to lift the house 4 feet?
Laura-Jane - Whimfield
Nov 13th, 2010
Yogi Van Wiechen Construction was the company that jacked up the house and then lowered it back down. We were very happy with their work. They operate mostly in the Kings County area, but perhaps they do work all over the Island, I have no idea.
Also, we got our concrete floor finished by Freddy (Freddie?) Nicholson (in the Montague area) and he and his son did a very good job at a very reasonable price, as well.