Ask the Architect

We’re raising our house, Part 2

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Q. I have so many questions since I met with the contractor who will raise my house. Is it safe, and do I have to empty everything out? My contractor says I can use “microllam” beams, not steel beams, on top of concrete posts to save money, and even save more with concrete walls all around to make an enclosed space. Why would my architect even plan a “stilt-like” house that is open underneath? It doesn’t make sense. I think it’ll look ugly, since it won’t even be high enough to stand in. I also want it higher to park my cars, but it will cost me for the extra four feet NY Rising won’t help with. This is very confusing and annoying.

A. Continuing from last week: This flood era has led to many bad decisions requiring a lot of expensive future repairs, and as you stated, you’ll have to pay for extra feet of lift so you can walk around underneath your home. The average lift allowance is only three feet, hardly enough to be useful. The answer from the government staff is that they’re allowing only “safe, sanitary and decent,” and not for home improvements.

As I wrote last week, taxpayers should be aware of what happens when building experts — people trained in the latest engineering and building science — are excluded from the decision process. It is safe to lift a house. I wouldn’t leave fragile belongings, as a precaution. Most lifters tell you that if it’s done correctly, a glass of wine on the dinner table wouldn’t spill a drop. It’s rare for a house to tilt or drop, but in soft soil or over an unknown sinkhole, it can and has happened.

I write this column because I believe in consumer protection. The public is vulnerable, and in need of protecting. My concerns about the bad design decisions being made with lifted homes motivate me to collect and read obscure publications warning of poor workmanship or inadequate construction. For example, we have codes regarding withstanding earthquakes as well as wind, fire, etc. In a 2014 issue of Transmission and Distribution World magazine, a publication meant for people who construct our energy grid and utility lines, I read about problems with steel rod reinforcement of utility poles used to reconstruct war-damaged Middle Eastern countries — the same square column configurations holding up many NY Rising homes.

Learning how the columns fail, and realizing that NY Rising-lifted homes are more vulnerable because of our government’s minimal perspective, and how we’re not protecting storm victims, also makes me question why the “stilt” method is recommended. While it’s true that the design professional is responsible to “make it right,” why even require a more expensive, bad idea in the first place? If you can, use the solid walls, steel reinforced, at your desired height. It was a poor decision for municipalities, which would not support the need for enclosure, to have done so.

© 2016 Monte Leeper. Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.