House Lifting

I had been curious to know what the house lifting process was like. Had a chance to watch our contractor, Alex, and a West Seattle house in action this summer. The homeowners saw wee ones in their future and to prep for that event, they wanted to create more usable space in their basement with better living conditions and more natural light. The couple wanted to make good use of what they had and expand on possibilities within. They decided to raise their abode 2 feet to make that happen. There were 4 cribbing piles built on the foundation floor in a Lincoln Log fashion, where the timbers were stacked up to support the house once it was raised. Steel i-beams directed on top of the stacks of timbers were inserted through the west end of the house and projected out the east. Likewise w/ beams through the north and south. Several jacks were strategically placed and operated by a compressor staged off the alley way. I was invited to hang out in the underbelly of the home while it was being lifted, but I chickened out, opting for the close-up external view, instead. As the house went up, piles of cribs were built up by careful, scrambling fellas- orchestrated by shouts of commands and questions by the lifting guru. The house popped and creaked mightily, but it went up like a charm. When all was meticulously level and confirmations made that all was as it should be, the jacks were extracted and the home rested comfortably on the i-beams and cribbing. Very cool.
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