This question comes up more than you might think. People see pictures of a house sitting several feet in the air and wonder what happened to the roof. In many cases, the answer is nothing. The roof stays right where it is. With House Lifting in CT, we can often raise the house as one complete structure. The roof, walls, floors, and framing all travel upward together. It is pretty wild to watch the first time you see it happen.
All the action happens under the house. First, it is essential for us to know how the house is framed and supported. Steel beams are then strategically placed to give proper support to the structure. During any type of Structural Lifting, hydraulic jacks then raise the structure in small amounts. We are not trying to shoot the house eight feet into the air in one afternoon. The slow process allows us to observe the reaction of the house.
It also makes sense to keep the roof on the house since the roof is connected to the whole structure. The rafters and trusses are all connected to the walls, and the walls are connected to the whole structure. When everything is in good shape, the home can move together as one unit. Of course, every House lifting CT project is different. A compromised roof, inadequate framing, a chimney, an addition, or some other strange feature on the home needs some more preparation before we begin.
One concern homeowners have is that raising the house will put a twist on it and possibly damage the roof. This is precisely what makes our setup so important. We watch the lift closely and make small adjustments along the way. If one area needs attention, we deal with it instead of forcing the structure to move. Good House Lifting in CT is not about speed. It is about control. Seeing a whole home rise with the roof still on top is impressive, but all the careful work underneath is what makes that possible.
At High Caliber Contracting, The House Lifting Experts, we like showing homeowners how this process actually works because it usually makes a lot more sense once you see it. In many situations, there is no reason to tear a good roof off just because the house needs to go higher. With the right planning and the right Structural Lifting CT setup, the entire home can often be raised together. That means the same house and the same roof, just sitting where it needs to be when the job is finished.