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#1
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House shifting off foundation
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 |
#2
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House shifting off foundation
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#3
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House shifting off foundation
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#4
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House shifting off foundation
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#5
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House shifting off foundation
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. 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 |
#6
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House shifting off foundation
EXT wrote:
Is this a troll -- to have a house move 3" on a slab foundation ... .... ...pushed the house about 3 inches forward on the poured concrete foundation basement. ... It was clearly stated NOT constructed on a slab... -- |
#7
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House shifting off foundation
On Aug 28, 12:57 pm, "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. 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- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - sounds like a troll, to move a house 3" there would need to be enough water to have flooded it and have done extensive water damage inside, and his drains, Ng and water pipes are all fine-right, and he built it and would even try a come along, unless its a 15x15 ft shack |
#8
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House shifting off foundation
"dpb" wrote in message ... EXT wrote: Is this a troll -- to have a house move 3" on a slab foundation ... ... ...pushed the house about 3 inches forward on the poured concrete foundation basement. ... It was clearly stated NOT constructed on a slab... If the house was NOT on a slab, but on a regular poured concrete or concrete block foundation, it will be impossible to drag the house back without collapsing some of the walls, in fact I cannot believe that the house has moved 3" on such a foundation without some damage, especially since 2x4s would only be left with about a 1/2" purchase on the edge of such foundation walls. Must be a troll. |
#9
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House shifting off foundation
EXT wrote:
"dpb" wrote in message ... EXT wrote: Is this a troll -- to have a house move 3" on a slab foundation ... ... ...pushed the house about 3 inches forward on the poured concrete foundation basement. ... It was clearly stated NOT constructed on a slab... If the house was NOT on a slab, but on a regular poured concrete or concrete block foundation, it will be impossible to drag the house back without collapsing some of the walls, in fact I cannot believe that the house has moved 3" on such a foundation without some damage, especially since 2x4s would only be left with about a 1/2" purchase on the edge of such foundation walls. Must be a troll. Could be, but I've seen far more incredible things than this sounds like... -- |
#10
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House shifting off foundation
On Aug 28, 7:01 pm, "EXT" wrote:
"dpb" wrote in ... EXT wrote: Is this a troll -- to have a house move 3" on a slab foundation ... ... ...pushed the house about 3 inches forward on the poured concrete foundation basement. ... It was clearly stated NOT constructed on a slab... If the house was NOT on a slab, but on a regular poured concrete or concrete block foundation, it will be impossible to drag the house back without collapsing some of the walls, in fact I cannot believe that the house has moved 3" on such a foundation without some damage, especially since 2x4s would only be left with about a 1/2" purchase on the edge of such foundation walls. Must be a troll. - "especially since 2x4s would only be left with about a 1/2" purchase on the edge of such foundation walls." I'm not saying it's not a troll, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the significance of what your are saying. My house sits atop a block wall. There's a 2 x 6 sill plate lying flat on top of the blocks and the first floor joists sit on top of that. Theoretically the house could slide 3" in any direction and the "worst" sill plate would still have 2 1/2" purchase. |
#11
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House shifting off foundation
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#12
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House shifting off foundation
I agree, plus to have enough water pressure to move it at all, I doubt it
would stop at 3". I'll bet you'd have to have a foot or two of water up on the wall rushing pretty quick to get it started. And it's a lot eaiser to keep moving, than it is to start moving, so...... steve "EXT" wrote in message anews.com... If the house was NOT on a slab, but on a regular poured concrete or concrete block foundation, it will be impossible to drag the house back without collapsing some of the walls, in fact I cannot believe that the house has moved 3" on such a foundation without some damage, especially since 2x4s would only be left with about a 1/2" purchase on the edge of such foundation walls. Must be a troll. |
#14
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House shifting off foundation
Be a sight though, don't ya think?
s "aemeijers" wrote in message ... can pop out of ground like a swimming pool, septic tank, or grave vault. Literally floats to the top. For something as big as a house, that would take some scary-extreme conditions. aem sends.... |
#15
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House shifting off foundation
Steve Barker LT wrote:
Be a sight though, don't ya think? s "aemeijers" wrote in message ... can pop out of ground like a swimming pool, septic tank, or grave vault. Literally floats to the top. For something as big as a house, that would take some scary-extreme conditions. aem sends.... I've seen some old film from a 1955 I think it was flood in NW CT which shows three story brick buildings floating down main street. Doesn't get much more impressive than that. |
#16
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House shifting off foundation
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 |
#17
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House shifting off foundation
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. |
#18
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House shifting off foundation
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 One other comment: Do not attempt to pull the house with tractors for a 3" move, you just won't have the control. Use the tractors as anchors and use manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks to allow much finer control. |
#19
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House shifting off foundation
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#20
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House shifting off foundation
On 2007-08-29, dpb wrote:
I would much prefer the heavy beam between the sill plate and my loader bucket lip and then apply pressure there to push. If this is a one-story house over a basement, how about applying force at the level of the floor diaphragm? Wayne |
#21
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House shifting off foundation
Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2007-08-29, dpb wrote: I would much prefer the heavy beam between the sill plate and my loader bucket lip and then apply pressure there to push. If this is a one-story house over a basement, how about applying force at the level of the floor diaphragm? Good point/thought...depends on whether conventional joist or truss and how constructed. Typically the sill plate and directly above will be the most solid point but if is truss, might be as well at the top chord although I'd be inclined to try to spread it across the top and bottom chords I think... -- |
#22
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House shifting off foundation
On Aug 29, 3:06 pm, Wayne Whitney wrote:
On 2007-08-29, dpb wrote: I would much prefer the heavy beam between the sill plate and my loader bucket lip and then apply pressure there to push. If this is a one-story house over a basement, how about applying force at the level of the floor diaphragm? Wayne I would not use tractors, use a electric winch, or heavy duty come along, and speeed reducing, power increasing Block and Tackle. Cranes lift heavy loads because of Block and Tackle. The problem is what to attach it to so you dont rip apart the house. A winch may be to fast. |
#23
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House shifting off foundation
ransley wrote:
On Aug 29, 3:06 pm, Wayne Whitney wrote: On 2007-08-29, dpb wrote: I would much prefer the heavy beam between the sill plate and my loader bucket lip and then apply pressure there to push. If this is a one-story house over a basement, how about applying force at the level of the floor diaphragm? Wayne I would not use tractors, use a electric winch, or heavy duty come along, and speeed reducing, power increasing Block and Tackle. Cranes lift heavy loads because of Block and Tackle. The problem is what to attach it to so you dont rip apart the house. A winch may be to fast. I'll agree w/ the last. Heavy come-alongs are indeed an option other than they pull instead of push which unless there's a better attachment than the cable around the corners isn't a primo choice imo... Having moved a lot of stuff w/ tractors, I'll attest one can be pretty doggone delicate if have the right stuff -- that means either the hydrostatic tranny and/or hydraulics, not a fixed-speed manual transmission on a chain. I'd have no hesitation whatsoever in being certain I could nudge it along a fraction of an inch at a time w/ my bucket. -- |
#24
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House shifting off foundation
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#25
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House shifting off foundation
dpb wrote:
ransley wrote: On Aug 29, 3:06 pm, Wayne Whitney wrote: On 2007-08-29, dpb wrote: I would much prefer the heavy beam between the sill plate and my loader bucket lip and then apply pressure there to push. If this is a one-story house over a basement, how about applying force at the level of the floor diaphragm? Wayne I would not use tractors, use a electric winch, or heavy duty come along, and speeed reducing, power increasing Block and Tackle. Cranes lift heavy loads because of Block and Tackle. The problem is what to attach it to so you dont rip apart the house. A winch may be to fast. I'll agree w/ the last. Heavy come-alongs are indeed an option other than they pull instead of push which unless there's a better attachment than the cable around the corners isn't a primo choice imo... Having moved a lot of stuff w/ tractors, I'll attest one can be pretty doggone delicate if have the right stuff -- that means either the hydrostatic tranny and/or hydraulics, not a fixed-speed manual transmission on a chain. I'd have no hesitation whatsoever in being certain I could nudge it along a fraction of an inch at a time w/ my bucket. -- One key feature of the manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks used in that capacity is the feedback they give as to the load on them, something you do not get with powered hydraulics. Yes, with my backhoe I could lift and position materials very slowly and to a fraction of an inch, but there was no difference whether I was lifting a 1,000# log or a 200# generator. Particularly when pulling from multiple points that load feedback is very helpful in telling where things are moving freely and where they are stuck. |
#26
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House shifting off foundation
On Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:59:52 GMT, "Pete C."
wrote Re House shifting off foundation: One other comment: Do not attempt to pull the house with tractors for a 3" move, you just won't have the control. Use the tractors as anchors and use manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks to allow much finer control. This seems like good advice. Using 5 or 6 (or more) come-a-longs will give much better control. -- To email me directly, remove CLUTTER. |
#27
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House shifting off foundation
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. Could you get angle iron to go to the roof from the base? I think that you are right to pull from the base but guess that the angle iron needs to be on the two stongest parts and not the intermediate. There's a serious risk of crushing it. 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 |
#28
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House shifting off foundation
Pete C. wrote:
.... One key feature of the manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks used in that capacity is the feedback they give as to the load on them,... See my other response on my preferred suggested technique... -- |
#29
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House shifting off foundation
dpb wrote:
Pete C. wrote: ... One key feature of the manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks used in that capacity is the feedback they give as to the load on them,... See my other response on my preferred suggested technique... -- Yes, but hydraulic jacks, even being manual, don't give you very good feedback as to the force applied do to their very high ratio. The come-a-longs and high lift jacks are lower ratio and provide better feedback. |
#30
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House shifting off foundation
Pete C. wrote:
dpb wrote: Pete C. wrote: ... One key feature of the manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks used in that capacity is the feedback they give as to the load on them,... See my other response on my preferred suggested technique... -- Yes, but hydraulic jacks, even being manual, don't give you very good feedback as to the force applied do to their very high ratio. The come-a-longs and high lift jacks are lower ratio and provide better feedback. But it's a lot harder to get them to push... -- |
#31
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House shifting off foundation
dpb wrote:
Pete C. wrote: dpb wrote: Pete C. wrote: ... One key feature of the manual come-a-longs or high lift jacks used in that capacity is the feedback they give as to the load on them,... See my other response on my preferred suggested technique... -- Yes, but hydraulic jacks, even being manual, don't give you very good feedback as to the force applied do to their very high ratio. The come-a-longs and high lift jacks are lower ratio and provide better feedback. But it's a lot harder to get them to push... -- A high lift jack does both. Real handy gadget. I used a high lift jack, a couple chains, shackles, slings and a half dozen logs to move a 40' container (near 10k#) over rough terrain about 60' and then level it onto stacked solid concrete blocks by myself It didn't hurt that it was a heavily wooded area so I had anchors anywhere I wanted. |
#32
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House shifting off foundation
wrote:
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. I think you'd be better off with come-alongs, a winch, or chain fall. It will be hard to get the accuracy you need with tractors. -- http://911research.wtc7.net http://stj911.org http://stopthelie.com/1-hour_guide_to_911.html http://www.911truth.org |
#33
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House shifting off foundation
Hello? That was last week. I would hope they have it bolted down and are
drinking beer by now. s "Henry" wrote in message ... I think you'd be better off with come-alongs, a winch, or chain fall. It will be hard to get the accuracy you need with tractors. -- |
#34
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House shifting off foundation
How do you build a house without inspections... He did say 3 years ago
right..? 2004 not 1904..? Or is the house in malaysia..? I would think if you're smart and patient enough to build a house, you would not leave out the obvious step of fastening it to the foundation..? 3 inches is a long way to move.. I still say this couldn' t happen without at least one wall moving a different distance than the other 3... The op wants you to believe all 4 walls moved the same distance..?? Impossible..didn't happen.. I would imagine during construction, you'd notice you're not tied down when you start loading up those walls and tying them together etc... |
#35
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House shifting off foundation
How do you build a house without inspections... He did say 3 years ago
right..? 2004 not 1904..? Or is the house in malaysia..? I would think if you're smart and patient enough to build a house, you would not leave out the obvious step of fastening it to the foundation..? 3 inches is a long way to move.. I still say this couldn' t happen without at least one wall moving a different distance than the other 3... The op wants you to believe all 4 walls moved the same distance..?? Impossible..didn't happen.. I would imagine during construction, you'd notice you're not tied down when you start loading up those walls and tying them together etc... |
#36
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House shifting off foundation
"Charles Pisano" wrote in message ... How do you build a house without inspections... He did say 3 years ago right..? 2004 not 1904..? Or is the house in malaysia..? I would think if you're smart and patient enough to build a house, you would not leave out the obvious step of fastening it to the foundation..? 3 inches is a long way to move.. I still say this couldn' t happen without at least one wall moving a different distance than the other 3... The op wants you to believe all 4 walls moved the same distance..?? Impossible..didn't happen.. I would imagine during construction, you'd notice you're not tied down when you start loading up those walls and tying them together etc... Happens all the time, especially on partial-crawlspace, or crawlspace-only houses. The walls don't sit on the sill plate, the floor system does. It is a relatively strong box section, with lots of T joints and the floor decking (and X-braces between joists) to keep it square. The framing subcontractor, like in a subdivision, bids the work as a package. Once the foundation inspection is signed off, they want to get in and out fast. By the time they finish laying down the sill plates, the other guys on crew are already laying out the joists and rim joists, and starting the decking. There is a very short window to apply the washers and nuts and torque them down, from above. Task is often assigned to the kid on the crew, and is regarded as scut work. If kid is lazy, or the real carpenter that is supposed to be watching him is lazy, the bolt-down get skipped. It is a pain to do it from below after floor gets decked, and a pain for the inspector to look on later visits, so it often falls through the cracks. Floor system is still solid without it, and nothing will move around unless there is a high wind, so nothing will raise a red flag after the the floor is decked. The J-bolts mudded into foundation are usually only an inch at most above the top of the sill plate, so house has to rise 2.5 to 3 inches before it can shift sideways. 999 houses out of 1000, the wind (or floodwater) will never get that bad. I have seen 40 year old houses with the washers and nuts missing, that never moved at all. Yes, it would be unusual for house to move and stay perfectly square- it usually gets twisted. But on a small well-framed house, it may be stiff enough to look intact and square. So I do find OP's story plausible. I bet the doors and windows all stick now, though. aem sends... |
#37
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House shifting off foundation
there are plenty of places in this here US of A that don't have government
intervention in building. steve "Charles Pisano" wrote in message ... How do you build a house without inspections... He did say 3 years ago right..? 2004 not 1904..? Or is the house in malaysia..? I would think if you're smart and patient enough to build a house, you would not leave out the obvious step of fastening it to the foundation..? 3 inches is a long way to move.. I still say this couldn' t happen without at least one wall moving a different distance than the other 3... The op wants you to believe all 4 walls moved the same distance..?? Impossible..didn't happen.. I would imagine during construction, you'd notice you're not tied down when you start loading up those walls and tying them together etc... |
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