Architectural Designs

How would I raise a small house with no foundation 3 feet off the ground?

This is a small cottage (aka shanty) that has been added onto twice before I moved in. The floors are uneven. The whole place is approximately 600 square feet. I need it to be at least 3 feet off the ground, if not four. What is the best way to handle this? I do not plan on doing this myself.

Public Comments

1. House jacks and braces. Any one you hire should know enough to use these.
2. You need house jacks. Just like a car jack it uses a lever to lift a weight off the ground. It is a job for a professional.
3. Get a licensed, bonded professional to do this job. If they 'drop' your cottage, at least there's coverage. There are companies that just do floor leveling; also companies that move whole houses. Either can do the job. And, yes, the procedure is to put wood or steel beams under the building and then jack it. If lifting the whole house, the pro will probably use a hydraulic or pneumatic system that lifts the whole place at the same rate.
4. Be sure when you use house jacks to put some cross bracing in so the house wont tweak out on you and cause it to come down. I`m sure you where aware of this. If you are having it done professionally this is what they should do.
5. Bridget Yea it wood b very hevy 2 lift. Use crane 2 get it up!
6. Raising any kind of structure is tricky! You have to make sure it's raised evenly to prevent damage. Is this "shanty" resting directly on the ground? If so, there will be more work involved. Heavy wooden or steel beams are usually positioned beneath the building so that lifting equipment(crane or hydraulic jacks) can be used. If your shanty is already off the ground (on concrete blocks etc.) it's just a matter of positioning several heavy duty jacks at the corners and slowly raising it to the required height. You'll probably have to do this in short intervals, building up your supports as you go.
7. For such a small home, especially with additions that were added at different times (and are probably not consistent with the main structure), I would not count on even being ABLE to lift the structure. The contractor would have to dig under the structure, insert cross-bracing, add jacks, raise and level, and then provide stable structural support, and some way to get 'up' to the doors now. (Porch, stairs, etc.) The house might look strange 'perched' so far off the ground, as well. Doors and windows would seem to be in-between levels, making the structure look out of place. Have you considered leveling the building, adding a proper foundation, and rebuilding from scratch?