Moving a house is really expensive and a lot of movers want to move the house then have the basement dug underneath of it after it is up on beams. I've put new basements under 2 houses. Pain in the ass. The cost completely depends on the size of the footprint, depth and soil type. The depth of digging depends on water table levels and then at what height you want your main floor. I've built homes where I backfilled 4 feet of dirt to get the desired floor elevation. In my current home I did that so I could sit in my recliner and watch sailboats on a distant lake out of the window. I also did that on another of my farm houses so I could put a walk out basement under it. I think that last house the digging and foundation was around 15K but that has been a while. That was 9 foot 6" walls under an 1100 sq.ft. house. If you know how to run a Bobcat and run a transit, you could rent a Bobcat and dig it yourself in probably under 2 days depending again on soil type and depth. Otherwise you would probably spend anywhere from 2 to 5 grand. Getting it to the right elevation and the bottom level is the trick.
The last house I did we jacked it up and dug out from underneath it then poured the basement. We've done that twice and hired movers to jack the house up both times. Before I built the last new house I built, I looked at buying a factory built home and they wanted to either set the house up on beams and blocks and have us dig underneath it OR they were going to have to come in with a huge crane to set the thing. If we poured the basement ahead of the house they only wanted their crew to be sure the foundation was right. Cranes are really expensive. When you dig the basement and pour the walls underneath a house which is elevated you eliminate the chance for errors by the wall crew in dimensions. Then you just lower the house down on the walls once they've cured. I've seen some real wrecks (not mine) where a crew was off by a foot when they tried to lower a moved in house over a foundation. I've been doing these kinds of things for over 3 decades in my spare time. Yeah, I know what I'm talking about. I'm an older guy with ADD. I get bored easily and have moved from different kinds of projects for about 40 years.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. One thing I've found is that house movers are about as independent as they come. They all have their own way of doing things. One guy won't touch a job and the next will shoot you a quote so low for the same job that you wonder what you're missing. I had one little deal 30 years ago where the guy came in really low with his bid. I was helping him build piers that the beams would sit on and he shared that he had lived in that little house as a kid and was happy to see somebody save it.
The ones we jacked up all needed most of those things anyway. You always damage plaster or sheet rock. Windows and the roof weren't a problem as I recall. Just get your bids from the subs and see where the money line falls. Make sure you've got a really sound house to start out with that doesn't need re-wiring, new insulation etc before you dive in. Material costs are up so maybe that makes moving a house more attractive if you can get it REALLY cheap. Factory built homes in my area anyway are way higher than site built stick framed houses if you can act as your own general contractor.
Just get the bids from the subs and see where it ends up. Bids from house movers can vary wildly. I've seen bids be 2-3x different from different movers. There aren't as many house movers around as their used to be. Where are you located?
Just from the elevation standpoint it's normally better to hire a pro than to tackle the digging yourself although I've done it. If I've got excess fill from the digging and I know I will have it I have always liked to raise the house up a little bit and maybe at least make the basement a daylight basement in back if at all possible. I've never paid to have dirt hauled off. Seems like a waste to me.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone move a house without the basement being poured first. My sister just moved her house and the basement was poured weeks before the house was moved. Secondly, they don’t need to be put on the foundation with a crane. The moving company just drives the truck next to the foundation and then pulls or winches the house onto the foundation using beams.
absolutely.. I think a person could dig something pretty suitable in less than 2 weeks.
You can get a house moved over a foundation without a crane. I've worked with multiple house movers over the past 30 years. SOME who don't own cranes prefer to pull the house in on the moving beams, build pillars under the ends and then let you go to it with the digging and walls. The last time I looked at buying a factory built home for a rural site they insisted on using a crane and their own foundation people. The big operators generally like the foundation done first, but as I said, I've seen some huge screw ups where the foundation didn't match the house when they lowered it. What do you do then? Your F'd. When you look at moving a house, IF they're site stick built they're almost never square. How in God's name do you match that foundation if the original house is off a bit. One house I looked at buying for a rental had almost a foot of foundation sticking out from underneath the house that they tried to cobble up a cover over.
You're one guy who has your way of doing things. I've worked with multiple house movers and builders over the past 30 years and have seen it done multiple ways. Like yourself, most of them are sure that their way is the only way. Every area I've lived in has had some variation in the way they do things as well. I'm just stating the facts as I know them from over 30 years of being involved intermittently with building houses and rehabbing old houses. I'm not a home builder but I've been my own general contractor on 4 different new homes with 2 of them over 5000 square feet. I've normally done a good share of the dirty jobs on them including the flat concrete work.
Just had that happen on my recent build where I wanted to go ahead and hire somebody to build walls in the basement that I didn't have time to do myself.
You would be better off just building from scratch with a basement from the start.
an old old (over 100) friend who died a while back said that he remembered them digging in a sewer main in front of his house by hand with pick axes. He said in places it was over 12 feet deep due to the terrain.. I would think back then they would have at least had drag lines to raise the clay to the service but yikes. They did things back then nobody would be willing to do today. We've got it so easy.
Regarding the 10-foot ceilings - agree this would be great, but keep in mind you will be living in the bottom half of that space. In terms of insulation, HVAC, etc., make sure your contractor takes the measures necessary to ensure the basement isn't an icebox in the winter months.
in floor radiant heat with 2 inches of high density polyfoam underneath it is the cat's pajamas.
10 foot ceilings in a basement is just silly. Aestetically speaking, 9 foot is the way to go whenever possible for a flat ceiling, and the only times it makes sense to go higher is if the roof truss system demands it for the roof line. Assuming you aren't going with 8' interior doors because you're super tall, 9 foot is plenty even if you need to put the ductwork below the joists. But, there's no accounting for taste so go with whatever you like best.
