House moving

[det28]

I was wondering if anybody on here has had a home moved to another site. I have found a wonderful 100 year old home for $10,000, that is just beautiful. The problem is the home is in northern Texas and my land is in NW Arkansas. It is a two story, 3300 sq ft. home. I've tried to find out approximately what it would cost to move something like that so far, but I've had no success. Has anybody else faced such a challenge? I love old homes, and it is an excellent value for this house. My husband says that it will cost more to move it than we could ever afford. :waa:
Is he right?
det28


ps I'm also posting this question on the Countryside Family forum in case somebody there knows also. Thanks for your help.

i suspect hubby is corect every county will probably require you schedule an apointment to do the deed provide bonding to cover any damage to utility lines or roads and provide an exact route taken provide chase and lead vehicles move during non peak road usage (often at nite)times as well as pay to let down and rehang any utility lines. Some will require you hire police or sheriff escorts. It usually costs several thousand to move within the same area and not pass through any cities. To move that far is probably not even feasable for historic buildings. I have never heard of house movers going over a few miles it also would cause much more moving stress and may colapse before you arive as well. I would guess it would be much cheaper to build a duplicate, or (much more expensive) to disassemble and reassemble.

[uncle Will in In.]

It would be much cheaper to move your ground to Texas. That is buy some close to the big house. A move that distance would be a fantastic undertaking. Building a new smaller modern one might cost less and be way more efficent to heat and cool.

I've rarely heard of moving a house more than 25-40 miles.

So, how many miles are you talking about?

I've also very rarely heard of a house to be moved costing more than $3,000. Think you could have the house a lot cheaper than $10,000! Sounds like they are fishing - don't be a big fish.

--->Paul

[agmantoo]

The house I had moved was free except for restoring the site. Initial price quoted for the move was $14000 and was adjusted downward to $10000 with me doing some of the prep. Houses are typically moved less than 35 miles in this area. The price difference between a 5 mile move and a 35 mile move is only a few thousand dollars.

[Ken Scharabok]

Keep in mind houses are moved very slowly. I think about 1 mph or so.

Ken Scharabok

[fordson major]

as too the speed they travel my brothers house was coming down the road 40 miles an hour! still depends on the house and the road. best to get the house closer to home

[witness]

http://historicrelocations.com/

[Ann-NWIowa]

It is not feasible to move a house any distance unless it is in pieces small enough to travel on a semi flatbed. We were "given" a house and only needed to move it about six miles but could not because it was too large to cross available bridges. It costs a fortune to have utility companies take down lines along the way, to have law enforcement direct traffic and getting permission to use a roadway can be impossible. Country roads don't work well because bridges are too small and main roads cannot have traffic blocked. Plus, even moving a house a short distance isn't really a good idea unless it is a very sound structure and the moving people are absolute experts. Believe me you could build a $100,000 home for what a move like you're contemplating would cost.

[BamaSuzy]

My in-laws moved a one-story house (and placed it on a basement) about 15 years ago...They moved it about 40 miles. I don't know how much it cost to move it but the house I think only cost about $5000 because they were selling them because of a Birmingham Airport expansion. please let us know how all this works out. I'm afraid it is too far.

[Ken Scharabok]

As noted, movers sometimes cut a house in pieces and then reassemble them at the new site. For a two-story this would require a very large crane. More costly on disassember/reassemble, but perhaps less on the overall move.

If you are in love with the style of the house, and not necessarily the house itself, you can take lots of photographs and measurements and have an architech draw up new plans for you.

While those old houses were built strong, it also means they are hard to retrofit with modern plumbing and electrical wiring.

Ken Scharabok

Don't even think about trying to move a house that far. Unless it is small enough to load onto a flatbed and still fit easily under bridges and powerlines. Which is unlikely given that 100 years ago they didn't build houses with these extremely low roof pitches that you find on trailer homes.

I wouldn't even consider it even if the house were free. And there are plenty of 100 year old houses out there that are free for the taking if you are willing to pay to move them.

The only chance would really be if you can chop the house up and move the pieces, thus avoiding all the special permits and temporary removal of power lines. But even that will end up being very expensive. Probably it would cost you more to chop it up, move it and then reassemble it than it would to just build a new house. The only reason to do something like this would be if the house had significant historical value or if you are an eccentric millionaire.

Better to look around for old, vacant houses very close by to your land. If it's just a few miles then you may have a chance at moving one without wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars.

-Jack_Cville

old houses being built stronger or with greater craftsmanship is a myth. many of the old framing methods were inferior to today. as to worksmanship you can find old houses that were tossed together and old houses that were built by skilled craftsmen same thing today. material quality is similar some old material was good quality some wasn't today it is a bit more standardized by codes and grading of lumber.

[det28]

Oh well, it was a dream. Thank y'all for all the input. You brought up some mighty good points. I know I can always depend on y'all to keep my feet on the ground.
det28