Brisbane residents are no strangers to house raising. It’s an effective way to protect your house from floods, fix a damaged foundation and add a new basement level to your home.
The house raising process is just as straightforward as it sounds. First, we raise your house above the ground. Then, we place it on temporary supports while we carry out the rest of your project, whether you’re adding a home extension or restumping your foundation.
That being said, being straightforward in theory doesn’t mean that raising a house is easy in practice. When done incorrectly, raising your house can be dangerous and costly. So, before you get any ideas about raising your house three, four, five storeys, consider these safety tips from Meier House Removals.
Recommended Height to Raise Your House
How high you can raise your house first depends on your local City Council regulations. In Brisbane, raising your house less than 9.5 metres above the natural ground is considered a minor building project, and you only require a BA (Building Approval). Therefore, it’s generally best practice to raise your house within those guidelines.
However, after working with thousands of clients and with over 40 years of experience in house raising in Brisbane, Meier House Removals has created our own best practices. We’ve found the most success raising houses between 2.7 or 2.8 metres with an additional 0.5-metre space overhead to hide beams, ducts, plumbing and wires.
Safety Considerations for Raising Your House Too High
If you can raise your house 9.5 meters, why do we recommend a height so much lower? There are several considerations you must take into account before you try to raise your house too high. They include:
Soil Quality
Brisbane’s soil has a high water content that damages your house’s stumps and foundation. That’s why you need to have your house restumped in the first place. Meier House Removals will replace your timber stumps with concrete or steel posts to provide additional support for your foundation. However, that doesn’t change the fact that wet soil is more prone to movement than dry. The higher you raise your house, the more weight these stumps have to support which makes them weaker when standing up against floods.
Existing Infrastructure
House raising is a delicate and slow process. While it’s unlikely that your existing walls, frames and floors will be damaged, there’s always a risk of unforeseen circumstances arising. Raising your house higher than recommended drastically increases this risk.
Cost
Aside from the cost of raising your house, you have to consider the costs of a surveyor, builders, plumbing, soil testing, electrical work and more. Embarking on a big project like raising your house adds up, and going higher than the Brisbane City Council recommends is sure to make those costs rise.
When you’re thinking about raising your house in Brisbane, Meier House Removals can help. We’ll offer the best advice for how high you should go based on data from surveys and soil tests. To request a quote, call us on 07 3849 1122.
