Have You Been Considering a House Lift? Read This First
House lifts have become a very hot topic amongst homeowners in New Jersey, and it’s not hard to see why. Superstorm Sandy, which arrived in October of 2012, is certainly not the first tropic storm or hurricane to wreak havoc here – the list has been long. However, Sandy was a very destructive storm in which literally thousands of coastal homes were totally destroyed. And if you count the homes and businesses that were severely damaged by the storm, you’ll be in the millions.
Those homes that had been lifted professionally, prior to the arrival of Sandy, stood a much better chance of weathering the storm without any significant damage – and many of them did. That’s why so many people invested in house lifts during the following years – or built new homes that were lifted from the beginning.
According to government data from Ocean City, NJ, the average cost of a house lift in that area is somewhere between $12,000 and $30,000. That is quite a wide gap, but then again – some houses are much bigger than others. Where your home falls on this cost spectrum (or whether it may even be lower or higher) will depend on a number of key factors, including the size, foundation, and surrounding landscape of your home.
Another thing to keep in mind as you consider whether or not to lift your house, is the immediate financial recourse. Depending on your neighborhood, house lifting in New Jersey can significantly improve the market value of your home. At the same time, home owner’s insurance and flood insurance premiums will go down, leaving you in better financial shape month-to-month.
There is also a lot to be said for the peace of mind a successful house lift can bring. Will the next big one be a tropical storm like Sandy? Will it be a hurricane, or cyclone, or a Tsunami? We’ve seen what kind of destruction these storms leave in their wake in New Jersey, and each of the thousands of homes that were completely destroyed had its own story. Many of those homeowners have rebuilt new, lifted houses on the same property, and this is always a great thing to see. Nobody can say when the next big storm will roll through, but a house that’s prepared is a house that can rest easy!
Who to call for a house lift
When you think about the skill and technique it takes to successfully lift a house, without causing any significant structural damage, it becomes clear that you only want to hire an experienced and reputable professional with a proven track record. The great thing is that reputation can’t be faked. Sure, it’s possible to write false reviews in favor of your own business, but reputable contractors don’t engage in such tactics. They simply let their work speak for them – and if there are problems with current or past customers, they do absolutely everything possible to solve them. When it comes to having your house lifted, finding a contractor you can trust is everything!
