Raising the House
House raising is a fairly common step in residential construction. Perhaps you need to add a story or repair the foundation — whatever the reason, the lifting your house may actually be worth the seemingly expensive cost. In our 147 Bronte project, we decided to raise the house 6", just enough to deal with the headroom clearance at the garage door entrance, while staying within zoning height limitations.
The company that did this lift is Fisher Brothers, who has been in business in Norther California for over 30 years. The only tricky part of our project is the steep and narrow street. Thankfully our little existing house is only about 30' deep, so the steel beams used to lift the house were not overly long and could be fairly easily slipped into the garage level.
First, the connections between the ground and upper levels were broken. Two holes were then punctured in the front facade. The steel beams were then “needled” into the ground level, resting on crib structures. Cross beams were then slipped into position to form a box frame.
After the structure is in place, the actual lift happens in just a few minutes. A unified hydraulic jack is used to lift the house to specific elevations. Final supports are placed and the existing floor above is leveled. Once the house lift is complete, the builders can immediately continue the excavation and foundation work.
