Why To Raise Your House
If your home is situated in low lying areas that are susceptible to floods or if your house has already been earlier damaged due to floods, you have no choice but to raise your house. Even if you live in a moderate flood-risk area, you may still choose to elevate your home for added protection.
When you decide to elevate the house to comply with floodplain regulations, then the state and federal authorities will offer you valuable information and helpful suggestions about the process of house rasing.
Do before lifting your home
Elevating your home is necessary to protect it against floods - particularly, when your house is situated in a low lying area that is prone to floods. There is no denying that lifting your home will cost you heavily. However, the heartening news is the government has realized the gravity of the problem and has allocated fixed grant money for you to lift your house.
When deciding to elevate you house, you need to study the local ordinances and codes that will let you know what you can do and what you should not do. You should determine the level of elevation you want in order to protect your house from flood - base level or the 100-year flood, the 500-year flood, or any other level?
You must conduct a pre-study as to what kind of flooding your house is likely to suffer - taking into account the depth of flooding, the likely velocity of the floodwaters, the frequency of floods in any given year, the probable rate at which floodwaters would rise and fall, the time duration of the floodwaters remaining stagnant before they recede, and the impact of floating debris on your house.
After completing your pre-study taking into account all the above cited factors, you should consult with your local building authorities and your contractor regarding the implementation of your house elevation project.
What is home lifting?
Home elevation, simply means, raising the lowest floor beyond the flood protection elevation (FPE) -a level at which your chances of flooding are either considerably minimized or totally eliminated. The FPE will mean an extra foot of elevation to safeguard your house from the uncertainties such as floods. When a house has been elevated to FPE, it still may be subject to inundation but then only during extraordinary floods.
To those who may be less familiar with the process of house elevation, it is good to know that when a house is elevated, it is separated from its foundation by hydraulic jacks and is held up with temporary supports till a new or extended foundation is constructed beneath. As regards the choice of the new foundation, it can be extended walls or independent piers, posts, columns or pilings.
Advantages of home elevation:
There are quite a few advantages in elevating a house:
- The elevation will mean complying with your community's floodplain management plan.
- It will substantially reduce the flood risk to the house and its contents.
- There will be no need to shift vulnerable contents above the water level whenever flood occurs.
- It can meaningfully reduce flood insurance premiums.
You may know that house elevation does not require you to buy an additional land.
There are many professional elevation companies with certified and experienced personnel undertaking house lifting projects. One of the most reliable long-standing and frontline elevation companies is Southern Elevations & Shoring Inc located at 18 West 24th Street, Kenner, LA, 70062, 504-305-5858.
Southern Elevations & Shoring Inc has one of the most advanced $200,000 truck mounted hydraulic jacking system for raising houses. The use of this type of equipment enables easy and safe elevation of the entire house without any cracks. Southern Elevations & Shoring is fully insured and licensed contractor and their team consists of certified electrical and mechanical technicians.
You can contact them on 1 800 LIFT MY HOUSE to attend to your house lifting work and also visit www.southernelevations.com, for more details.
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-305-5858
18 West 24th Street
Kenner, LA 70062
