House Move - Existing Home

This house is listed as a contributing resource in the West Ninth Streetcar Line Historic District. It is a one-story frame structure, built on the back half of a corner lot, facing the side street. According to the district nomination form, it was constructed circa 1913. The main house was built circa 1910.

The house will be picked up off it's foundation and moved to a new foundation across the alley (you can see the vacant lot at the very left side of this photo.

Digging the Foundation Hole

Nothing is as simple as it seems. About a third of the way into digging the hole for the new foundation, I got a call from the trackhoe operator. He informed me that he was concerned about the soil he was finding below the surface.

He kept digging and I called an engineer to inspect the soil. That afternoon the engineer called back and said we had a foundation hole full of "shale". Shale is a type of expansive soil, meaning that it expands and contracts with varying moisture levels. This is not good for a foundation to sit on!

The solution: excavate an additional three feet and replace the poor soil with compacted limestone or recycled concrete fill. Not an inexpensive venture!

This is a picture of the foundation hole before the extra work.

While I was trying to get the fill work lined up, one of the side walls fell into the hole. Nobody was hurt, but I had to get the trackhoe operator back out to pull all the fallen dirt back out of the foundation. Cost: more money and another day of work gone!

Pouring in the Crushed Concrete Fill

In order to prepare the hole for the new footings and foundation, we had to replace about three feet of expansive soil with crushed concrete. This provides a stable place on which to build the foundation for the house move.

The truck distributed the concrete into the hole where workers evened it out and flattened it with a plate compactor.

Footings Poured

Once the crushed concrete fill was in, the foundation contractor was able to come back and pour the footings. The building inspector required a compaction test from the soils engineer to make sure the fill was adequate.

Foundation Poured

The new foundation went in in less than a day. Workers arrived early in the morning to install the forms and reinforcing steel. By 4:00 in the afternoon concrete trucks were arriving to fill the forms. Work was completed by 6:00.

The concrete hardened overnight and the workers came to remove the forms early the next day. The next day, the waterproofing was sprayed on.

Now the concrete has to cure for several weeks. During this time, I will have the plumber in to install the sewer and water connection as well as the waste pipes that will be under the basement slab.

Foundation Waterproofing

A tar-based waterproofing material is sprayed on the foundation walls to reduce water infiltration. The basement is deep enough to allow for a semi-finished space if the owner of the house ever decides to do so. It will also be plumbed for eventual addition of a bathroom.

The yellow piece under the window is a fiber-based material designed to wick water away from below the window.

It looks like the waterproofing material was sprayed above the final grade line. If this ends up being the case, I may consider painting it to match the foundation.

Sewer and Water Connection

The sewer and water connections are made below the front foundation wall to the utilities in the street. In this case, the plumber had to dig 15 feet down to reach the sewer! Once the sewer line is visually located, the rest of the excavation around the line must be done by hand. The connection is made by drilling a hole into the sewer and attaching a rubber gasket with a huge "o" ring. The new waste line from the house fits into the rubber gasket connector.

Backfill

Once the water and sewer connections are complete, the foundation can be backfilled. The foundation contractor came back out and pushed the dirt back into the hole around the foundation.

Basement Floor

With the foundation backfilled, it is time to level and pour the concrete floor. Gravel is placed on top of a poly vapor barrier. Then a new 4" thick concrete floor is poured over the gravel.

Lifting the House - Part One

After holes were knocked in the foundation, large steel beams were inserted all the way through the house from front to back. These beams rested on stacks of wood (each piece was about the size of a railroad tie) called "cribs".

Lifting the House - Part Two

Pneumatic jacks placed on the cribs lifted the house off its foundation. The west wall was knocked out to allow the movers to slide the house off the basement.