We Bought Our $23,000 'Dream House' For $50!

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

After weeks of searching, we finally found a spacious lot that we could afford in an older (but well-kept) neighborhood. The mandatory water and sewer hookups weren't too expensive (which was a definite plus, given the state of our finances), and—wonder of wonders—the piece of property came with beautiful old gnarled apple trees and raspberry bushes everywhere! (We knew when we saw the apple trees that that was our future homesite.)

Next, we steeled ourselves for the confrontation with City Hall. (A "confrontation", unfortunately, is just what you can expect, too. Most building inspectors consider do-it-yourselfers the bane of their existence. Be prepared for a hassle.) Permits are required for every step in moving a house and locating it on a new site. Happily, we were successful in securing a special "homeowner's permit", which allowed us to complete plumbing and electrical work (and hook up the sewer line) ourselves . . . thus saving us the expense of having to "contract out" those chores.

Meanwhile, back at the "estate" (the vacant lot we'd decided to buy), we staked out the perimeters of our home's new foundation. Then we called in an excavator and notified the mover that we were ready to begin.

A HOUSE ON WHEELS

The idea of transporting an entire house from one location to another fascinated me, and I was anxious to see exactly how it was done. Here—briefly—is what happened:

On the appointed morning, half a dozen workmen arrived at the home's old address and—before starting—knocked about four concrete blocks out of the foundation walls at either end of the rectangular house. Through the holes thus created, the workmen passed two 50'-long I-beams the length of the building. Next, the men placed four jacks (one at each corner of the house) under the ends of the beams. Then they raised the whole affair high enough off the ground to slide two short I-beams underneath and at right angles to the first set of girders. (At this point, the steel underpinnings resembled a giant tic-tac-toe board.)

Next, a winch was used to slowly pull the house off its foundation, after which the work crew attached wheels to each end of the long I-beams. Presto-chango! We were ready to roll!

SETTING THE DWELLING DOWN

Once the movers had trundled the building to its new location, they positioned the house over the excavated area that was to become its basement. Then they set the ends of the long I-beams down on four pillars we'd made by stacking pairs of 8" X 8" timbers crosswise. All that remained for us to do was construct the basement walls, remove the wooden pillars, and (with the aid of jacks) gently lower the home onto its new foundation Oust like lowering a car to the ground after you've changed a tire)!

During the course of the summer, we set about our task as a husband-wife team. Richard dug the footings for the foundation . . . I leveled the concrete with a two-by-four. He put in the sewer line . . . I painted the house's exterior. And we both learned to lay block as we erected the basement's walls (with the house hovering rather precariously overhead).

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print