The steps of raising a house are relatively straightforward however, they can be very dangerous and costly if not done properly. You can read more here.
Can raising my house cause damage? The answer is yes and no, it is inevitable that minor damage will be done to a house when it is lifted into the sky. But usually, there will only be minor damage or in some instances no damage.
It might be surprising to hear, but raising a house is a very gentle process and in most cases, the damage will be between ‘little’ to ‘none’. If ‘technically’ speaking, we are damaging the house when we break the original foundation so we can raise it, but the rest of the structure is well looked after and braced properly. On occasions we’re faced with houses that start really low to the ground. These are not that common, but if the house is only above the ground by about 30cm there can often be more movement inside the house, as there is less access to support the house with structural steel at the beginning of the lifting process. The good news is that a house really low to the ground can be lifted (even if we have to dig under it to start the process).
To safely raise a house we use Hydraulic Jacks which have the ability to raise a house at a very slow pace, hydraulic jacks are very smooth machines and don’t jerk when they stop as some other machines might. This means that it doesn’t put any pressure or stress on the house as it can be raised slowly and smoothly.
So, if there is damage, what is it? For the average house, the most damage that can occur tends to be minor plasterboard cracking. While the frame of the house can handle movement, plasterboard is typically not flexible and tends to crack. This is a really simple fix, once the house is settled on its new foundation, the cracks can be repaired quickly and easily without much hassle. In saying this very few of the houses we raise have plaster board as an internal lining, most are VJ and VJ handles the movement of the raise the best of any internal lining.
Whether you choose to leave or remove larger furniture items has no effect on the house raising process. We suggest leaving your furniture inside the house as it’s easier for you and requires less hassle. 95% of our clients choose to leave their furniture inside the house, the furniture does not fall over or is not affected by the house being raised in any way. We do recommend emptying fish tanks and letting the house raising crew know where your piano is inside the house if you have one.
If you would like to find out more information you can contact Raise My House today!