house mover

A second life for a well-built or cherished house comes in the form of carefully calculated measurements of the foundation to receive the structure, then lifting up the building in order to insert steel girders underneath, along with any temporary bracing the hold the structural members of the house in place during the transportation from original site to the receiving site. This early morning photo was taken in Fowler, Michigan and shows that the house has successfully arrived at its new host location, whether the journey was 1 mile or 15 miles, the building seems to have moved with no harm.

This photo shows the carefully moved house poised to be lowered onto the newly poured foundation at the receiving location. Before the large mass is fitted with wheels and is moved down the road, special permissions must be arranged to manage traffic flow, to raise or perhaps replace any utility lines that the big structure will have to pass underneath along the transport route. After everything is in place and the building rests on the new foundations, then the water supply service and connection to the sewer line, along with electric, natural gas, and telephone utilities will have to be completed and tested before the residents move in and the foundation dirt is back-filled. Although the movers charge a lot of money for their expert services, it is still a lot cheaper than to build from scratch.

See the close-up view of the transport girders, carefully sized new foundation, and the house itself at https://archive.org/details/housemover2020jun9fowler48835detail