wrote:

On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:57:01 -0400, "EXT"
wrote:

Is this a troll -- to have a house move 3" on a slab foundation would place
the toilet in the wrong location or broken off its flange, and shear off all
the plumbing lines and possibly any wires that were embedded in the slab.
Finished floors would all be out of position and doors would not close
properly along with many other problems.


If you think I am a troll, go look at this photo.
http://couleeonline.com/upload/photos/17/1774.jpg

This is one of the worst cases in which this house floated down stream
and stopped on top of railroad tracks from this same storm.

We have had severe flooding in this area, covering the states of MN,
WI, and IA. Being a hilly area, some houses floated, others slid down
hills ending in the road, and some completely collapsed. You can see
many more photos of this storm by going to www.wkbt.com and clicking
on "viewers photos".

The house I am referring to is in an area that had lesser flooding,
but enough water came down the hill behind the house to cause the
house to shift 3" on it's poured concrete basement walls (NOT a slab).
No, the toilet did not shift, but the PVC pipes were strained where
they exit the wall to the septic. The romex wires all remained intact
but some of the staples popped where they were stapled to the sill
plate. He has since taken the strain off the pipes and wires by
extending a few of the wires and temporarily modifying the drain pipe
with a fernco coupler. In some ways, I think the pipe and wires may
have helped keep the house from completely shifting off the
foundation.

I think we have found a solution to get the house back where it
belongs. We have taken some heavy duty bottle jacks and have been
lifting the house a litttle at a time to place pieces of 1/2 solid
steel rod under the sill to act as rollers. This is a slow process.
Once we have these rods under the entire sill, a few of us farmers are
going to run a cable around the entire house at the sill plate, and
using large angle iron on the corners to keep the wood intact, we will
pull the house back with our tractors. To insure it dont go back too
far, we plan to dig a few 8 inch fence posts in the ground in the rear
and put old tractor tires on them to act as bumpers. When the house
is back in place, we will have to remove all the rollers and then bolt
it to the foundation.

The homeowner has no insurance and we are all happy to assist him.
Actually, we find it a challenge. The house was not structurally
damaged so this should work. When we move the house, the breaker box
will have the power cut and it will hang loose and the plumbing drain
pipe will be disconnected. We also have had to remove the vinyl siding
along the bottom edge of the house.

The yard will be modified afterwards to make for better draining. At
least two feet of mud came down that hill and was piled against the
house. This has now been removed with skid loaders. We plan to create
a ditch at the base of the hill to allow water to run off to the sides
of the house and the soil removed will create a dike of sorts.
Hopefully there will not be another storm like this again, but it
happened once so it could happen again.

Joe

-----------------

wrote in message
.. .
This is about my neighbors house. They live nearby and we recently
had real heavy rain and flooding. The water came down the hill behind
his house and pushed the house about 3 inches forward on the poured
concrete foundation basement. The house is still solid, but they are
worried about further rain, which is predicted. Yesterday he had a
guy come with a skidloader and dig a trench around the rear of the
house, put down plastic tarps closer to the house and put the soil
from the trench on top. He said that way the water should channel
around the house, and that seems to make sense.

What he cant figure is how to get the house pulled back the 3" it
shifted. Knowing this guy, he wont hire any outside pros. He built
the house himself and insists he can get it back where it belongs. I
explained to him that he neglected to bolt the house to the concrete
walls, and he agreed and said he plans to do it as soon as the house
is pulled back. The question is how to get the house pulled back. He
seems to think he can do it with a few come-alongs. I personally dont
think that they are strong enough. This is a smaller house, but it's
still heavy. This house is in a rural area. My suggestion is two
powerful tractors with chains, and just inch it along. But then comes
the next question, what to hook the chains to? I think the sill plate
would just pull off and chains or steel cables need to go around the
entire house, and said to take off the bottom siding before doing it.
What do you think?

On the other hand, I thought he could add a layer of brick on the
inside of the basement in the rear and on the outside in front, but
that almost seems like more work, and definately more cost than
pulling the house back.

He was lucky to not have any pipes or wires break, and there is no
solid chimney so there is little to worry about except the house
itself. The house is only 3 years old, stick built framed with vinyl
siding.

Joe


I hope you're taking pictures throughout your moving attempt. Seems like
an interesting method, I've done similar to move a 40' container.