Lifting a Building and Changing the Number of Stories

Your cylinders would lift 848 lbs each. Less than a ton for the roof you describe seems very light.

I was thinking you'd use a crane, lift off the roof (with short sidewalls), set it aside, build the side walls, and then (a week later) put the roof back on, using a crew of maybe 8 or so.

The idea of lifting it hydraulically is very creative (albeit potentially lethal). To allow 6 foot travel, the cylinders would need to be quite long. You'd need four cylinders -- one at each corner. Perhaps they could be bolted at two or three locations each to the lower structure and at one or two to the upper structure, to prevent the thing from lozenging (parallelogramming). You'd need solid support at the base of each cylinder, which could be difficult, but not impossible. The four corners would not lift equally (because of the dormers, etc), so you'd want to put marks on the hydraulic posts to be able to monitor out-of-kilter lift, and adjust by individual valves at each cylinder. For adequate stiffness, you'd probably need 10" PVC pipe, with 6" steel pipe as the cylinder rod, maybe running through a huge gland you could machine from nylon. The piston could be as simple as a few layers of 3/4 ply laminated together, and then machined to fit, with a groove for a large o-ring. Epoxy saturated, it would work OK. If you allotted a few thousand dollars per cylinder, you might be able to come up with something fairly safe, if you are a pretty good mechanical engineer.

To allow for at least 6' engagement between cylinder rod and housing when extended, they would be 13' (or so) collapsed: you'd need to dig down below grade, unless your building has a tall foundation.

There are loads of issues to address, and to avoid killing yourself or friends, you'd want to thoroughly engineer the system. For instance, the potential side load, given a 15 mph gust, could buckle the cylinders, causing a disaster. A hose fails... a corner drops, pulling the opposite corner up... then you call the crane people, and they can't get there for a week, etc. You'd need to evaluate whether or not the roof could be lifted with only its short sidewalls for bending/buckling support. It's possible that it would sag in the middle too much -- it was built with the intention of full perimeter support.

I'd think that if you did the engineering, and carefully built all the pieces required, and came up with a system to allow for through bolting these cylinders to your building (and allowed for repairs to the walls thereafter) etc., etc., that you could do this yourself for not too much more than 5 or 6 times the cost of hiring a crane.

But with the crane, and experienced crew, you might not have the opportunity to make the evening news.

Thank you for the vote of confidence when I'm on the evening news I'll mention you (:

I had intended to shore up the center roof section to prevent collapse.

I think I think that AG cylinders with clevis both ends could provide the necessary energy as part of four huge scissor type jacks set along the center line of bldg lengthwise, 4"x12" beams to stabilize the lifting process and spread the force. I'm trying to use items that will in turn be part of the up grade project.

If I couldn't manage to synchronize the four actuators with a manifold set up I may resort to motor driven screws instead.

Stabilizing the roof against the effects of wind is a tangible issue when using cranes or alternative methods.

A quote from General William C. Westmoreland "only accurate rifles are interesting"

Why don't you hire a house mover company? When I did some (major) remodelling the house mover came in and slid two long steel beams under the house ( 20' X 45' ) and inserted 6 hydraulic jacks. corners and mid way. He plugged the power pack pump into a normal AC house outlet and started it up. Because the rams did not lift the full amount in one stroke they repositiond the rams a few times to insert timber cribbing under the jacks before lifting the next stage. They lifted the house about six feet enouhg to allow a Bobcat front loader to drive underneath and dig out the dirt before pouring a new concrete slab. Once that was completed they lowered the house back onto the new foundation. Except for the couple of hours it took to reconnect the sewers, we did not even get inconvenienced. They built temporary stairs so we could get into and out of the house while they built the new foundation; a period of about two weeks. Had to let the cement cure seveal days before placing bricks on to it.

A friend in that same town did what you propose. Lifed the roof and built a second story above the main floor and under his existing roof. In the long run its cheaper than DIY. some people tried that and lost their house. Insurance won't cover such work unless done by a competent house mover.

This is a tough call!

If it's a true 2-1/2, your roof rafters are setting on your exterior bearing walls or floor joists and you have little "knee-walls".

To go w/38' I-beams would be an expensive endeavour, so let's look elsewhere.

Do you have bearing walls beneath that would allow such a feat to be accomplished from within?

Is this area accessible from first floor? Is second floor a finished space?

Can we poke some holes and make something work?

The safest way to accomplish this is to disassemble the metal roof. metal roofing can easily be reassembled.2x4 rafters will suffer great damage in the detaching process. this would render them useless .for reattaching. I would not take Chance on lifting the roof. it is to dangerous for a three man crew and could result on the loss of roof and first floor structure.as well as injury to personnel. I would remove roof use existing 2x4 rafters to build new walls at the desired 8ft, cuttings can be used for truss members you could use 2x4 truss units this would enable you to save the existing 5 1/2 foot wall sections and use them on trusses. A new truss system will give you much greater roof strength and your walls would be a solid 8 ft. The pipe and hose idea can help lift and set your ready made truss. Hope you have great project and a safe one.

Starting with safety in mind has a good ring to it.

Removal of steel roof could be accomplished in several increments reducing the scope and liability. May require more time but increased structural integrity as a result would include safety and cost effectiveness overall.

A three man crew could indeed remove the sheeting and siding, disassemble the rafter system and trim off short walls. Recycle the rafters as you said, erect solid 8' walls then construct a new rafter system.

Not mentioned previous this approach could allow reducing roof pitch; adding 2"x6" rafters or truss system, 8/12 existing pitch. May have enough sheeting leftover to cover new porch.

A city councilman should act responsibly (:

Hello bwire,

Forget about hydraulic methods of supporting the roof structure. Use screw jacks founded on a firm base. Prevent lateral movement by guy wires tied firmly to the ground at a 45 degree angle.

Do not add 5.5' wall to existing 2.5'. Instead, use 8' studs for the extension and remove the old 2.5' studs.

Perhaps you should find a contractor experienced in this type of work. I do not believe this is a job for amateurs.

Why does everyone want to do things the hard way? If your 2x4 stud side walls are securely diagonaly braced you can anchor one end of (or side) of the roof and with a backstop in place raise one end at a time. This can be accomplished by attaching 2 or 3 4x4s (8ft length) to the roof with single 1/2in x 6in bolts so as to form a hinge. These are attached to the unsecured end or side of the building. You may then attach ratcheting come-alongs or block and tackle from the lower edge of the wall below the unsecured end of roof and the other (loose) end of 4x4s. Once you have raised that end you may add to or reconstruct the pony wall. Securely diagonally brace the new wall, set the roof down, (you may need to add some more bracing in the roof structure to be sure it acts as a cohesive unit), secure roof to new wall and move to the other end. One good man should be able to accomplish this in a weekend.

Before starting this project you should 1) get a permit. 2) to get a permit you will have to get the project engineered by a architect. 3) Get professional personnel to complete the work.

It would be better to remove the roof, knee walls, etc. and build the addition then re-roof the new second story.

I don't believe that the house inspector will permit using a jury rigged lifting system.

Don't take shortcuts and don't try to complete this project on the cheap!

Whatever you do, please make sure you film it all and put it on youtube cos it'll be fun to watch.

Safety an feasibility are the qualifiers and cost effectiveness, you hit all prompts.

Thanks

Everyone here seems to be making some unwarented asumptions. 1. you have plenty of competent manpower at your disposal. 2. you have plenty of money to throw around. 3. you are inclined to waste. 4. you have stringent codes in your area.

I don't know about you but I live in a very rural area where neither competant manpower or resources are readily available. That said, we are still left with those pesky beaurocrats who would save us from our own ideas at our expense and their gain. Check with your local officials to see what you can reasonably get by with.

Howdy,

Been a spell since was post, thinking again and lowering the floors just seems like an awful lot of work in the wrong direction.

Thanks for the steer and since I want to put solar collection panels I should be able to decrease the gradient slope to a more manageable 12/5. This would be a dormer extension of sorts of the originals from each to the edge of each side front to back. Effectively changing the roof line, raising the inside height appropriately and increasing structural integrity with steel trusses.

No need to purchase any roofing material, only modify existing. The wooden materials will be recycled into a battery shed with stick frame.

Have you considered lowering the floors by 5 1/2'?

That's a good answer, outside the box and I'd not given a thought to it. It has merit for certain, I'm thinking that may be the cure.

Yeper you hit the nail on the head...