SFR moved from one site to new site

[Brenda Tucker]

I'd like to know what type of foundation is prepared for a home that is moved by trucks to a new location. The formed concrete was several feet in height and the home was somehow attached or bolted with very little space between the slab and the house resulting in a somewhat raised appearance or combination of slab and raised.

If there is a particular name for this type of foundation that identifies its use, I'd like to hear what people are calling it.

Thanks.

 

[Nancy in Friday Harbor]

Brenda,

I'm confused.

Do you mean to say that the house originally had a slab foundation? Whew, not sure how you'd get underneath and move an entire slab! 8O
And I don't think a whole slab, even if you could move it, would sit on a perimeter foundation unsupported in the middle.

Or did the house originally have a perimeter foundation and it's being put on another perimeter foundation? That happens relatively frequently in my market.....they just go into the crawl space and place some beams and jacks and jack the whole thing up. Of course, almost any perimeter foundation will sit higher than a house built on a slab on grade. If this is in an area where most homes are slab on grade, a concrete perimeter foundation may look like it's sticking up in the air a little bit. It is!

Not sure I answered your question.........

 

[J. Parker Graham]

Unexcavated Crawl Space. This foundation method and construction is used in the mid-west - not just for houses that are to be moved. Limited use in new construction here.

 

[Brenda Tucker]

I searched on unexcavated crawl space and think that you may be right on the mark on this one. Here is what I found: "In unexcavated crawl space areas, install 4 mil or thicker plastic sheeting on the ground to reduce the amount of moisture entering the living space."

This would explain the hoses extending out of each vent around the house. However, I am still not clear on how the house is attached to foundation and whether or not the foundation is full concrete slab or formed concrete. Do they connect the house with bolts around the perimeter? I didn't see any. They couldn't possibly just set it down so perfectly with all the sides lining up so straight.

 

[Brenda Tucker]

Nancy,

What makes this house unusual is the height of the perimeter foundation. It is similar to the foundations built on slopes only this is flat ground. When you build a house on a slope, one side is ground tight and the other side is up about 2-3 feet due to the slope. Every entrance on this house is up stairs.

Very nice house from Brentwood area in Los Angeles, California. Much better than the original structure on this lot which is still standing, too.

 

[Ted Martin]

You maybe getting you tail in a knot for something that isn't your job.

If you have a doubt about the attachment of the subject to the foundation you may want to recommend an engineering inspection.

Is there a building department that has to sign off on the subject?

 

[Judy Whitehead (Florida)]

I guess that would be my main question - does it meet building codes in your state and county? If it does, it sounds like what we refer to as
stem wall construction. Sometimes a concrete stem wall has air space under it, but in Florida you still must have footers to anchor it down - all those hurricanes, you know. :lol:

 

[Jo Ann Meyer Stratton]

Just a quick side note. Homes are built on monolithic slabs here in Arizona. Then the freeway comes along, after the state buys the home, they sell the home for a couple of thousand. Buyer raises the 3000 square foot masonry home, puts steel beams through the house, puts it on a truck and moves it hundreds of miles. They take the house off the truck, put it back down on a monolithic slab and the only indication that has been done, is the squares a different color from where the steel beams went through the exterior wall, around the perimeter at the bottom of the wall and that the ceramic tile in the shower for about a foot at the botton is a different color or style than the rest of the wainscoting. After the exterior of the house is painted, only the shower tile remains to indicate the home was a "move on". I am still amazed at how those homes can be put down exactly to a very small fraction of an inch!!! I have even seen 4,000 square foot concrete block homes moved in 4 sections and it all goes back together like a jig saw puzzle without any visable signs except for the shower tile. And lenders worry about manufactured homes being moved!

 

[Frederick R. Ruffell]

Out here in CA., if they are not on slope, we call them a perimeter foundation. However it is not a clear span as I think you are describing, we often have a central beam supported on posts and piers. These have real "Crawl spaces". about 18'' to 24''.

 

[Mike Garrett RAA]

crawl space