Anyone here ever had a house moved?

Rita · #1 09/07/10, 08:05 AM

If anyone has had the experience of moving their existing home to another location, please fill me in on the details (good and bad) and would you do it again. I guess it's terribly nerve-wracking! This would be a single story house that we want to move. Thanks!!

GrannyG · #2 09/07/10, 08:14 AM

We are in the process of moving two houses at the present time...Yes, It is definitely nerve wracking to me...right now the rain is a big issue with us...I am keeping a blog daily of what is happening in our lives.
Start with the oldest post to get the whole story....
http://thejourneyofthehouses.blogspo...&max-results=9

watcher · #3 09/07/10, 08:16 AM

We had a house moved years ago. Other than some cracks in the walls everything went fine.

Navotifarm · #4 09/07/10, 09:10 AM

I don't know if this counts, but I have had four mobile homes moved. Each had a story of its own! The mh I actually live in had been in place for some years. It could not be taken out the way it was brought in so arrangements had to be made with a farmer to cross his land which involved his putting his cattle up, cutting and repairing his fencing, and waiting for the land to dry up from spring rains. Another trailer had the wheels go flat, blocking traffic and finally requiring another tow vehicle and driver plus some tire swapping. I know of a case where a really nice stone house COULD have been moved, the logistics problems were all solved, but it had to cross a stream which caused so much hassle the project was abandoned. I know with "real" houses as opposed to mobile homes, permits are required including making sensible precautions such as making sure they will fit under bridges and power lines - or not be so wide they get stuck in tunnels or bridges. There are all sorts of problems with disconnecting and reconnecting plumbing and electrical fixtures, making sure the home is empty so the weight doesn't make it split apart in traffic and there are surely a lot of regulations on the books. In my area, actual houses almost never get moved whole because they are too big and there are too many regulations but there have been homes, especially old log cabins, which have been dismantled carefully with each log or timber noted, and then reconstructed. We have a local genius, Charles McRaven, who has written several books on this topic including blacksmithing and stone masonry.
And I know some folks who moved small homes or sheds on sundays to short circuit regulations but wild horses could not drag their names from me.

Navotifarm · #5 09/07/10, 09:26 AM

Oh, and one time I planned to bring a mobile home to my land. I bought it and obtained the legal go-ahead from the county including permission, approved location and set-back from the property line and a printed permit which I was required to post. Betwwen the time I posted the permit (now this was way back in the woods a third of a mile from the hard road) and brought in the home, a neighbor hired another neighbor, a contractor, to tear up the access road. And then make a big bank and a ditch in front of my driveway. When the tow vehicle would have come in, there was some sort of way, because of the angle, that it would be impossible to bring in the home. Despite all the hassle I had to go through to get the permits, these guys got away scot free with their saboutage! The inspector said the contractor could lose his license but it was one of those black holes. I got my $ back on my purchase but that was it. So I suppose when moving a house if you have nasty neighbors, one would be well-advised to exercise some civil disobedience and NOT post the permit! (And possibly schedule the move when there is a big gun show in the next county.)

agmantoo · #6 09/07/10, 09:29 AM

Rita

I had a brick veneer two story ~2000 sq ft of conditioned space moved a little over 5 miles. I got the house ready to move and I did the foundation footers and piers myself. I had sold the house, excluding the land, for $88K. When the land was converted to commercial use, the house surplused and I was asked if I wanted it back for free and accepted the gift. I spent $10K getting it moved and I did a full renovation on the exterior; new brick (including the chimney), roof, two car carport, deck and the interior got the drywall redone and a full paint job. Total cost came to $40k including the move. The county tax appraisal was $112 for the house alone. I included these figures to give you a background of the effort so that you could determine for yourself if the project was worthwhile.

Fae · #7 09/07/10, 09:57 AM

GrannyG, I was just overjoyed reading your blog. What a blessing to read of your faith in God and His timing. I am looking forward to the next installment of the houses.

Rita · #8 09/07/10, 11:26 AM

Agmantoo, how many years ago was this move? That price of $10K sounds real good. The deal you got on the house was terrific!

Granny G, enjoyed your blog!

agmantoo · #9 09/07/10, 11:45 AM

Rita,

It was about 5 years ago. I did a lot of preparation for the moving plus the cleanup. The initial quote was $14K

here is an after pic, the house is a rental now.

Anyone here ever had a house moved? - Homesteading Questions

Anyone here ever had a house moved? - Homesteading Questions

Rita · #10 09/07/10, 01:43 PM

Very nice!

stars01 · #11 09/07/10, 01:57 PM

I did have our house moved but only about fifty feet into the driveway. I had a foundation put in and moved the house back onto the foundation. It's a two story house and it was a little scary to watch it move but it would have eventually collapsed if we didn't get it fixed.

We ended up with some cracked walls and a cracked upstairs window but all in all not too bad. Having a full cellar has been nice.

It was a three month job and we lived here the whole time~even without water for most of the time. I would do it again if I had to.

paula

springvalley · #12 09/07/10, 02:52 PM

We have had three houses moved near us, not sure what it cost but it sure didn`t take them long and they always ended up going to where they were suppose to. The guy that moved them around here always said you could leave the dishes in the cupboard and they would still be there in good condition when he was done with the move. All of these houses were moved off of farms. The expensive part of the move is if you have to take down power lines, that gets pricey. You may also want to check into realestate taxes, as around here if you put your old house on a new foundation, it will cost you alot more taxes. >Thanks Marc

Alice In TX/MO · #13 09/07/10, 04:06 PM

Get bids. WRITTEN, binding bids.

I got ripped off with "additional expenses."

**highlands** · #14 09/07/10, 04:19 PM

I moved our house - straight up. I put a foundation under it and then I moved the second story straight up five feet more and put in knee walls. There was a time when you could see right through the house to the sky behind. We used cribbing and automobile jacks.

Our neighbor is having his house done. Expensive way with lots of equipment but faster than I did. I got a great photo:

http://flashweb.com/blog/2010/09/up.html

I saw a story about a brick house that was being moved once, it fell apart. Oops. Make sure who ever is doing yours has insurance, or is yourself.

Belfrybat · #15 09/07/10, 05:22 PM

I had a small house (900 sq. ft) moved about 30 miles. Ended up with a few cracks on the sheetrock, and a few leaks in the metal roof. Turns out if you move a house with a metal roof, some of the screws will loosen. All it took was for someone to tighten them back up. No more leaks.

debmac · #16 09/07/10, 06:20 PM

We moved a 2story 1915 farmhouse 8miles from one farm to ours. It really was an uneventful process. NO damage except for a few minor cracks in old plaster. We had a new basement put in. It was really amazing. They soaped the bars with ivory soap, gave a little push and the house slid over. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I found out recently from a previous owner that this was the second time the house had been moved. Built on one site in 1915, moved in the 50's then again 3 years ago. Check your movers out very thoroughly.

Deb

Rita · #17 09/08/10, 08:46 AM

I guess I should have asked if anyone had a house moved up and down hills. We have a lot of those here! Thanks for the replies.

jbowyer01 · #18 09/08/10, 09:03 AM

Thanks for asking this question. DH and I are weighing all our options on what to have built or moved on our property. I want to find an old farm house and have it moved (there are a lot of abandoned ones in the rural area that we bought our property). This is answering a lot of questions for me.

JuliaAnn · #19 09/08/10, 12:14 PM

We had our single story 1890 farm house moved about 110 miles, over hills. It took 3 days as they moved the house in a single piece. They had wanted to cut the house into three sections but we refused, and they did move it intact. Due to the size of the house and distance, they were only able to get permits to move it between 11 pm and 5 a.m. or something similar, I don't recall the details. Anyway, we had a few broken windows and some cracked sheetrock, and where the old floors had been patched with plywood, some of the plywood had buckled up but it flattened out again when the house was put on the piers and leveled. We paid the movers $12K, but that was many years ago. The house was a gift from a family member so we did not pay for the house itself. But it was so old, had not been inhabited for several years, and in the 30 years we have been here, we have probably spent about $40K in renovating it. Seems there is always something needing to be repaired or replaced in old houses. I guess that's part of the charm. (not).