AHEAD OF THE TIDE

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 WILL BE – LIFTED. 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.

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.

FEMA mitigation grants are also available, however, for primary residences in a flood zone that aren’t on pilings, covering anywhere from $30,000 or more of the costs to elevate houses above the base flood level.

“People are being more proactive than they 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.

Tide

“It’s cheaper to build up than out.”

-Steve Bray, Bray’s House Moving, Inc.

THE HOUSE RAISING PROCESS

Stilt homes with enclosed ground floor spaces are typically the ideal candidates for raising.

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.

Tide“If you have to raise your house anyway, why not raise it just a few more feet?” Steve says, explaining the homeowners’ thinking – many of whom want to build under the first floor and still be above the base flood elevation. “It’s cheaper to build up than out.” There’s also been a big improvement over the years in the engineering and equipment used in lifting. Steve’s company, for instance, uses the same advanced hydraulic technology used to lift and move the 4,830-ton Cape Hatteras Lighthouse back in 1999. Mike Blake, an estimator with Wolfe House and Building Movers, started out in the industry at age 13 by helping his father and grandfather with Greensboro-based Blake Moving Company, which has been in business for 55 years. Over the years, Mike has seen the various scenarios of erosion and flooding that property owners so often contend with. “They either lift, or they leave it as long as possible,” he says. “Some houses are being eroded on the shoreline, and they’re in the surf right now. Some of them have to be torn down because there’s not a good way to get them to a new lot.” Cost can be a factor, depending on the size of the house and whether it’s wood, brick or mason. A 600 to 700-square-foot house might cost $18,000 to $20,000 to lift, not including the foundation, roof and other parts of the job, Mike reports. But surprisingly, weather permitting, the main work – the lifting and placing down on the foundation – can be completed in a matter of days. But buyer beware, Mike warns. With more demand, there are more contractors. “Some of these guys coming from out-of-state work cheap, and they don’t have the right insurance,” he says. The professional companies that have stayed for years in the business, on the other hand, have adapted over time to modern tactics and engineering standards. “And it’s always a good feeling when you lift a house without any damage,” Mike adds.

STEP 6

Build and enclose any new living spaces and reconnect power and water.

STEP 7

Finish with new decking and exterior stairs for a more floodfriendly home.

27 YEARS

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