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Any experience with raising a house?

15 years ago

My sister is going to raise her house a couple of feet so her insurance costs are not through the ceiling. The house is currently a slab built ranch, approximately 1400 sq. ft with attached garage. She lives in a Katrina hit area. What does she have to look forward to as it relates to problems that will arise in the plubming that have to be reconnected? What about the interior, how much damage will the house sustain? Will her tiled floors and walls crack? Any information or referral to another site where I can research this for her, is greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Comments (4)

annzgw
15 years ago
Years ago we raised a home we remodeled but ours was a different situation since we had a crawl space under it. We raised it 10' and then built another floor under it. Talk about some memories.........we lived in it during that time with a 2 yr old!

I would be concerned with her choosing the option of raising the whole slab due to unstable soils around N.O.
She needs to talk with several contractors and price out all the options. From my experience, I would think the best choice would be to make the lower level a garage/basement and then make the second floor the living area.
I would find it interesting if she found raising the slab cheaper than building a second floor since it's often more economical to build 'new' vs restore/remodel.

There will be no guarantees as to how much damage will occur within the house. Expect cracks in the walls and tile floors if she raises the slab. When she gets bids on the work, she needs to be sure and include all other costs from other contractors/subs for electrical, drywall repair, plumbing, repair of siding, any possible roof damage, etc. Plumbing will be much more labor intensive with a slab floor.

The link below describes the options your DS has for Katrina damaged homes.

I'm sorry she's going thru this. So many people don't realize the nightmare of Katrina continues.......................

Here is a link that might be useful: Projects
User
15 years ago
Cheaper to build new by the time the process us done and the damage is all fixed. You basicly need to create new foundation walls and a complete new floor system. It's not practical to raise the slab itself. You'd have to replumb everything, and put in all new joist system for flooring, new subfloors, and new finish floors.
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homebound
15 years ago
Years ago a family member had a beach home elevated about 2 feet due to storm flooding issues every couple years. By the time the project was done, it had cost triple the estimate ($40k up to 120k) I recall the family argument at the time was whether to rebuild or not.

Among other things, a lack of proper footing was discovered, and plenty of rotted/damaged joists underneath, etc. etc. etc And yes, there were cracks everywhere.
Hold on to your wallet.

It might be a good time to look into rebuilding, and also into the affordability of manufactured homes.
brutuses
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone for your advice. Annz, I printed out that information you linked, to give to my sister. Thanks again.

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