Our new house is finally in place. That does not mean it went off without a hitch, however. We had plenty of excitement on house-moving day.
Our house on the foundation.
The day started with clear(ish) skies and mild temperatures. The set crew and crane arrived right on time. They got the crane in place and added the counterweights. By my estimation, they had at least 20,000 lbs of steel plates to keep the crane from rolling downhill because of the weight of the house and the slope of the mountain.
The crane is weighing itself down.
While part of the crew handled the crane, the rest began stripping the plastic from the open side of the front half of the house. They also needed to unbolt the transport trailer from the bottom before they could move it. First Reader watched from across our property while I did my best to stay out of the way. Oh, and not fall on my keester while walking around the uneven ground trying to take pictures and video.
My nerves were a bit on edge as I watched the living room, bedroom, and office half lifted into the air. The crew had attached ropes to each corner and communicated with the crane operator as he inched the house over the foundation. An inch at a time, they guided the house into place. To get those last silly millimeters, they levered the edges into place.
The front half is set.
The next step was one of the neatest parts of the operation.
After releasing the sling straps from one side, they attached another shorter set of straps with steel hooks on one end. I watched in awe as they lifted the peak of the roof into place. When all the nails had popped loose, one of the crew climbed into the attic and moved the joists into place. They bolted and nailed the inner braces to the rest of the roof structure.
After raising the roof.
Close-up of the joists in place.
While that crew was blowing my mind raising the roof, the other guys were getting the plumbing half ready to set. They moved the trailer into place, pulled plastic, and unbolted the transport trailer. This time, though, they popped the roof peak free and put in place, then they lifted house into place.
The plumbing half is in place.
While the crane was busy stacking the transport trailers out of the way and offloading its counterweights, I snuck in and poked around. I got to look into the areas that were covered in plastic on our previous visits. I also took pictures of some of the damage that occurred during the moving process. For all that this poor house has been through, the repairs look to be minimal to my untrained eye.
We also have a bit of a new view.
The view from the front door.
The plot twist of the day came when the crane tried to leave. I’ve mentioned before that our region has had copious amounts of rain this season. So much rain that a few days of dry weather had little effect on the underlying earth. While the weight of the crane likely did wonders to help pack all that fresh dirt, it’s still sloppy in that area. When the operator tried to drive it out, he lost traction, and the crane slid toward the house. 😱 That’s another repair on the list that will need to be completed. Thankfully, it was just a corner of the roof and not the foundation.
Our driveway is steep on a good day, and the climb out can be a challenge. Monday was a challenge for the heavy equipment. Because the operator drove the crane down into position, that meant he would need to back up to the road. Prior work left a pile of dirt and a hole where the crane might have been able to maneuver and get turned around, but that wasn’t an option this day. The crew used the skid-steer to help get the behemoth out of the parking area and into the driveway.
Trying to back the crane out of the steep driveway.
Getting the weight over that last little hump onto the road is always a pain. The reaction is to let off the accelerator to make the turn as the vehicle reaches the top. There’s just enough angle at that spot to cause problems. And the crane had a problem. In the end, the semi assisted the skid-steer, and the semi with the counterweights assisted the skid-steer.
Tomorrow, I’ll meet Mr. Contractor and get an idea of a time-line for completion. He’ll need to get the utilities hooked up before the set crew can complete the rest of their work on the upstairs. Getting the siding, steps, windows, and sliding glass door measurements for the basement is another priority. So is the deck.
We still have a lot of work to do before we can move in. But now, the finish line is in sight. 🤞🏼
J.J. Shaun 