R E A L E STAT E
AHEAD OF THE Sometimes we all need a little lift – and when it comes to houses on the Outer Banks, higher is often better. BY CATHERINE KOZAK THESE DAYS A LOT MORE HOUSES HAVE BEEN – OR POSSIBLY SOON
And it’s not just the increasingly unpredictable degree and frequency of flooding that’s been worrying folks, it’s also the pending updates in the National Flood Insurance Program that’s spurring urgency to get structures up above potential flood waters. “The demand is high,” says Jason DeVooght, an owner of DeVooght House Lifters, based in Bridgeton, North Carolina. “In this market, in North and South Carolina, we bid about 40 home elevations every month.” Jason, whose company has been in business since 1964, says nearly all its work on the Outer Banks is done during the fall, and the vast majority of the jobs in recent years relate to getting safely above base flood elevation in order to meet flood insurance standards. “What we’re seeing is a shift in the whole industry since 1990,” Jason says. “Ninety percent of our work used to be moving houses down the road. Now, ninety percent of our work is raising houses.” A lot of calls for work in North Carolina, he explains, come from owners with houses in flood zones that have experienced 51 percent damage during a flood. To get flood insurance premiums down, the house has to be raised two feet or more above base flood levels. “It’s the only thing that ever protects houses in flood zones,” DeVooght says about lifting. WILL BE – LIFTED.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced in April that under a new rating system – the first major update in 50 years – price changes for flood insurance will start being implemented this October. According to FEMA, the first phase of the new rating methodology will kick in for new policies on October 1, and existing policyholders who renew will see an immediate decrease in premiums. In Phase II, which starts in April 2022, all remaining policies will be subject to the new ratings. The agency asserts that most property owners will see decreases, while estimating that four percent of properties will see increases. It’s not yet clear what impact the new rating system will have on the Outer Banks, but it is clear that rising sea levels and a higher water table, as well as increasingly intense rain events and tropical storms, means that flooding is a concern that isn’t going away. “It’s cheaper to FEMA mitigation grants are also available, build up than however, for primary residences in a flood zone that aren’t on pilings, covering anywhere from out.” $30,000 or more of the costs to elevate houses -Steve Bray, above the base flood level. “People are being more proactive than they Bray’s House Moving, Inc. were in recent years,” says Steve Bray, an owner of Bray’s House Moving, Inc. “People seem to be paying more attention to the weather.” When Steve’s 80-year-old father, Julian, started the family business in 1972, most of the work was house moving. And until the late 1990s, most house lifting jobs only involved raising structures around eight to 10 feet. Now about sixty percent are lifted at least 12 feet, with the rest going up closer to 14 or 20 feet…and sometimes more. Recently, says Steve, who is also president of the N.C. House Moving Association, a house in Frisco was lifted 26 feet – his highest job yet.
THE HOUSE RAISING PROCESS Stilt homes with enclosed ground floor spaces are typically the ideal candidates for raising.
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STEP 1 Remove decks, remove power and water services, and demolish any ground-level structures.
STEP 2 Use hydraulic jacks to raise the home inch by inch while stacking wooden cribbing blocks to take the weight of the home.
STEP 3 Continue raising the home and adding cribbing blocks until reaching a desired height.
STEP 4 Install new pilings and any necessary structural lumber.
STEP 5 Lower the home onto the new structure and remove cribbing.
