te lawrence

I have a property in Iowa with poured basement wall. Walls are 7 feet high. All walls are structurally sound and about 32 years old. I would like to remove the house (or jack it up) and make the walls 9 feet high. One wall is exposed and it has an entrance door, 1 car garage door, and a picture window. Structure is a rectangle 24' x 36'.

1. Is something like this possible?
2. Would the end result be structurally sound?
3. Is this a project that a typical foundation contractor could handle?
4. Are there any pitfalls of which I should be aware?
5. If you know how this should be done, can you give me a thumb nail sketch of the proceedure.

Thanks

handystan

It could definity be done. But its going to be expensive. A crew comes in and shores up the building with steel beams. Then special jacks that work in tandem lift the home off the foundation. It shouldn't be that bad since the building is only 24' x 36'.

As far as the foundation goes, only an structural engineer can determine what can be done to rise the foundation walls. For only a couple hundred dollars a engineer will come out and give you a report. You could also pick his brain about the details.

Hope that helps.