Can You Move an Entire House? Yes. Here's How Much It Costs
By Team HomeServe
May 25, 2023
You’re traveling down the highway when you see it: the “oversized load” truck. Next thing you know, you come upon an entire house attached to wheels. It’s so large and precarious you can’t help but think that moving such a large structure is a risky endeavor. You’d be right.
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Quite an image, but one that raises a few interesting questions. Understanding how to move a house may become important if you're looking to match your perfect location with a new-to-you home — or if you’re trying to move an older or historic building to a new resting place.
Can You Move a House From One Location to Another?
The short answer? Yes. It turns out that you can move an entire house from one place to another. Every year, quite a number of new and existing homeowners opt to do exactly that. If you really want to hold onto your house but need to move, you can now rest assured that house relocation is indeed possible.
What’s a Building or Structure Relocation?
How to prepare for a move?
According to The Constructor, structure relocation is the process of moving a structure from one location to another. There are primarily two ways this can be done. The first is disassembling and then reassembling it at the new location. The second is transporting it as a whole unit.
Why Move an Entire House?
There are many reasons people want to move a house and are prepared to invest time and money into making it happen. Established families have invested a lot of time and money in their homes and don’t want to part with them. Environmental conditions such as floods also play a role. You may need to move your house up a hill or further inland to avoid future destruction, for example.
Moving a house doesn’t always involve taking it clear across town. Your house might be built partially on someone else’s property line, in which case it only needs to be moved a few feet. Another motivation is to preserve a historic home and safeguard it against possible demolition. Whatever the reason for considering a move, you need to first consider some important factors before putting your plan into action.
How Do You Relocate a House?
Typically, the procedure is to first raise the building, which is then pushed onto temporary rails or dollies. An alternative is to use flatbed trucks.
There are a number of professional moving companies that are able to give you the best advice on this process. Most of them use unified hydraulic jacking systems to raise the house to limit the chance of damaging the structure.
After the move, the structure is lowered again by reversing the procedure used to elevate the house. Some homes have a number of accessories, such as chimneys, garages, decks and balconies. These additions could complicate the move and might have to be transported separately.
What Factors Should You Consider When Moving a House?
One of the most important factors to consider is the route you're planning to use to reach your new location. Overhead utility lines, trees and traffic are causes of obstruction along your journey. By hiring a team of industry experts that includes a general contractor, trained technicians and a reputable structural moving company, you can ensure your house reaches its destination safely and securely.
Moving a house is essentially a process that includes site preparation, building preparation, moving your house and setting your home in its new location. Other factors include:
Getting the right team in place
Reviewing zoning regulations
Obtaining a permit to move your house
Removing then reinstalling appliances and utilities
Removing and rebuilding accessories such as decks and porches
Hiring an inspector to ensure building compliance
Obtaining insurance
Moving house — and, in this case, moving your entire house — can be a stressful experience. Take the time and make an effort to reach out to experts who can give you moving tips and help you with the process.
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How to Prepare for Structure Relocation
DeVooght House Lifters recommends homeowners take these steps well before the house movers arrive to take the building away on a truck:
Have your home and its systems thoroughly inspected to check for potential vulnerabilities that could be exacerbated by the move.
Get permission from anyone who might be affected by the move: police, neighbors and utility companies. You might need to contact your town or city to request road shutdowns. Often, the team responsible for moving your house will obtain these permissions for you, or they will instruct you on how to obtain them.
If you're still paying off your home, your mortgage lender needs to know you plan to move the house. In some cases, you may actually need the lender's permission to move the house.
Lay a new foundation at the final destination and have it inspected.
Get adequate insurance coverage
in case the worst happens.
Much closer to moving day, you should take these steps to prepare your house for relocation:
Reinforce the structure of your home with braces, paying particular attention to areas that tend to be less sound, like doorways and windows.
Take everything out of the house, like furniture, fixtures, appliances and other items that could shift during the move.
Run utilities (water, electricity and gas) to the new location.
Make sure the ground is dry at the new location so work can begin as soon as you arrive.
How Much Does It Cost to Move an Entire House?
The cost of moving your house depends on the distance between the two locations. Wolfe House & Building Movers says other variables include the building moving process and the size of your home.
Labor
According to HomeGuide, costs for raising and moving a structure typically run between $12 and $16 (CAD 16 and CAD 22) per square foot — but that price doesn’t include costs such as building a new foundation for your house at the new location. The crew assisting you with the house relocation will be able to tell you whether a new foundation is needed at the move-to location.
Permits
Transporting a house also requires special permits for moving the structure on state roads and highways. These typically cost between $400 and $5,000 (CAD 543 to CAD 6,794), depending on where you're moving. For example, in Vermont, permit costs can range from$2,500 to more than $10,000 (CAD 3,397 to CAD 13,587), according to Realtor.com. However, most house movers take responsibility for acquiring these permits, so they're included in the overall cost.
Accommodations
During the house relocation process, you might have to move out of your house and seek alternative housing, which adds to your costs. The time it takes to move an entire house depends on how complex the move is, how big the house is and where you're going with it. It could take days, weeks or even months to complete the entire process.
Total Cost
Ultimately, the total cost of moving a house can range from $18,000 to $40,000 (CAD 24,457 to CAD 54,349). However, the move may involve additional costs, such as a new foundation, which can run from $5,100 to $19,400 (CAD 6,929 to CAD 26,359) and utility hookups, which usually cost between $9,000 and $34,500 (CAD 12,228 and CAD 46,876). It’s best to get a detailed breakdown of the scope of work required by each member of your team of experts.
All CAD conversions are based on the exchange rate on the date of publication.
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