Garage moving project

[Cord]

Ok, so I need to move a garage on my property. It'll be moved roughly 200' within the property line. I've had a preliminary conversation with the building department and because it's not crossing a property line they'll only want a footing and foundation permit pulled. I've asked a house mover to take a look at the project but I don't think he ever showed up. I presume a garage project isn't big enough to interest him. I've also asked an Amish crew that I've had some work done by in the past and they can't get to the project until December. I can't wait that long so I might have to do it myself.

The building measures 20'x26' with the 26' side having the doors. There is a half story attic. The roof line is a simple hip which runs in the 26' direction. The garage has unequal roof pitches with the front at 12:12 and the back at 9:12. Because the ridge is off center the back wall is only 4' high. At the point where the attic floor meets the rafters there is a 12" header that runs the full 26' width of the garage. The header is roughly 5' in front of the back wall. The building has two garage doors with a center post. The doors and operators are a modern overhead type of the typical size for a single car. The header over the doors is continuous across the post. Siding is decayed T-111 and I don't see any interior bracing.

I have a 20' 10,000lb flat bed trailer that I was thinking of using to move the garage. I also have a 12x19 I beam that I was thinking of using to support the front wall. I was thinking of somehow supporting the 2x12 header and using that to pick up the rear of the garage. I'm pretty sure that if I lift on the beam the rafters will pick up the rear knee wall. My plan is to take out the center post between the garage doors and then back the trailer into the garage. Take the tires off and lower it down. Install all my bracing and then pick the trailer back up thus lifting the garage. Beyond that I'm really at a loss as to how to prepare and move the building.

I have a trailer mover that goes on my skid steer and I was thinking of using that to move the trailer. The skid steer weighs over 7,000lbs plus it has tracks that add another 1,000lbs. With the tracks, I'm comfortable that I can slowly horse it around. I'm not sure how concerned I should be with a downhill section. All the YouTube videos that I've watched have been across flat ground. The slope is fairly easy, but it does get steeper towards the landing spot. Maybe 7-8% slope? Of course this is all up hill from my neighbors house so I'd rather not lose control of the trailer. I was thinking of chaining the trailer to the skid steer arms bypassing the trailer mover and vulnerable attachment point. I was also thinking of having a redundant cable from the trailer to a fixed point such as a truck or something heavy like a 2,000lb concrete block. I have a couple of those large 2x2x5' concrete blocks we could somehow utilize. Of course the trailer could always try to nose up so maybe I should have a half block on the trailer tongue as well? At that point maybe I'm better off not using the flat bed trailer and then use a farm wagon instead. Not as easy to maneuver, but could it be more stable? Of course it's not directly connected to the skid steer, so maybe I'd have less control over a wagon than my trailer.

Really looking for some suggestions and advice on this one.

 

[dave1949]

I don't have any great ideas about moving it.

I would want to know how much it would cost to frame new. You are putting in a foundation either way, the T-111 needs replacing, the doors and openers would be reusable, you might salvage some framing lumber. The roof would be the most expensive thing to replace. Consider moving just the roof if you have a way to set it on new walls?

 

[deerseeker001]

Bracing from side to side is the key, top to bottom on one side then the other side top to bottom.then jack up and back trailer underneath.should have no problem.I would go every other stud.

 

[KennyG]

With enough cross bracing to make it rigid, it should be OK. Skid steer should control it with no problem. With bad siding and all the lumber you will need for cross bracing, consider using the bracing for girts and siding it with metal. Assuming the framing is good it will look like new.

 

[Cord]

I wouldn't trust the T-111 to provide the shear bracing to move the building, but I think it would make an excellent substrate for new siding. Steel siding is a bit too industrial for this application, but I was thinking of using cedar shingles. Moving the building will definitely be cheaper than building new.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Farm Show Mag. showed moving a barn by hand. They put a 2x4 across every stud to make a handle for two people, one inside and one out. They had a big cook out and gave everyone that helped a free tee shirt. Cheep way to move a barn, or garage.:2cents:

 

[keegs]

I saw that too.....what a hoot.

 

[Stimw]

You never know what you can do until you try! With patience and checking each step.
The building in the pic is my 40' X 50' shop.
When I bought my property it was a 24' X 24' garage with the roof pitched the wrong way.
I chained the front center post to a 6000 lb forklift, took the roof loose after bracing it with 45% 2X and raised it up 4' then added new post to the bottom and bolted it with metal plates.
I then went to the rear center post and raised it up 8' the same way. I built the rest of the building around it.
It is now 12' on the front and 15' at the center peak.
If you look at the two left door posts you can see the metal plates sectioning the posts.
I did all this by myself with no help!

 

[Cord]

Well, we crunched the numbers and the project looks to be a go. I've got a pretty good idea on how I want to brace and lift the building, but I need to come up with the jacks. I have a bunch of bottle jacks, but they've gone bad over the years and really should be tossed. Junk Chinese stuff. Here's what I'm coming up with and and would like your opinion...

1. Bottle jack. Great lifting capacity. Can go slow in controlled amounts. Can lower, but tricky to bring it down slow. Cheap and plentiful, will require multiple resets to get it up and back down. Foot is a bit small for my tastes.
2. Screw jack. Good lifting capacity. Old school and won't drift. Somewhat expensive and rare. Easy to find one used, hard to find two much less a set of four. This means I'd be shopping for new = expensive (around $600). Will require multiple resets, but with a tall one, fewer than with a bottle jack. I could use this jack later to replace some posts in my barn.
3. Hi-lift jack. Lifting capacity is a bit low, but I know one person who used them to lift a garage bigger than mine. I already own two, so I'd only need two more. Can't lift or lower in anything less than the hole spacing. Tall lift height means no resets and I really like this. Jack is not stable so building would need to be braced to keep the jack from kicking out. This jack can lift directly under the ledger so no additional buttresses will be needed. Right now, this is my preferred method.
4. Skid steer. My machine has a 2300lb lift so it might be able to lift a half of the building. Fast crude way to get it up, but because of the trailer, I don't think there will be enough room to lower it.
5. Ellis. Ellis has a ton of different jacking options. Almost too many. Steel Post Shore, House Jack, Screw Jack, Screw Jack, Scaffolding Screw Their 4x4 and 6x6 stuff is very cheap, but the lift height is limited. The shores have more lift, but then the price jumps up.

 

[Stimw]

I would plan to brace the snot out of it and use the skidsteer with cribbing.
You will want plenty of cribbing, with any lift you always want to hold what you got while getting more!
Those Highlift Jacks are scary-dangerous!! I have a couple and can't tell you how many times they slipped, didn't fully catch or some other almost fatal malfunction! I only use them as a last resort.

 

[ultrarunner]

I helped a neighbor a few years back move a 12 x 24 garage... another neighbor was adding on and gave away the garage.

It really was a simple low cost solution.

They rounded up a bunch of C-clamps... 6 were mine and used them to attach 2 x material from sidewall to side wall... they schedule a garage party for a Saturday and invited neighbors, family and friends to the BBQ.

I guessing somewhere between 30 and 40 men got inside the garage and on command lifted and walked the garage to it's new location...

I realize there is a big difference weight wise between this one car garage and the two car you are moving...

It's been years and people still talk about the big garage move and party...

 

[Cord]

Well we got the bracing installed today. I have a source for used sign posts. The posts mesure 4x6 and are 12-19' long. I ran a row of these around the bottom of the wall and screwed them to each stud using 1/4x6" spax screws. To make sure the sill plate stays on when sliding off the anchor bolts I ran a 2x4 around the bottom with a screw into each stud and another into the sill plate. Everything is triangulated in the X-Y and Z direction. Where 4x6's were lapped over each other I used a 3/8x10" spax bolt. Initial tests show the Hi-Lift jacks lifting the building, but it's pretty heavy. I'm hoping that this is from the anchor bolts dragging on the sill plate. We have a couple of bottle jacks that will help "kick" the building up.

Tomorrow we lift!

 

[dave1949]

Good luck!

If the anchor bolts are a problem you could relieve them with a hole saw, maybe 1/2" larger diameter than the bolts. Or pry up, or drive a wedge under the sill enough to get a sawzall blade under the sill and cut them.

 

[2458n]

I think I would look into bottle jacks at a rental place. My high-lift jacks get pretty tippy. Would move with 4x4 dually with the low range. Or big 4 wheel front drive tractor,again in low range.

 

[Cord]

Well we got the garage lifted and placed on the trailer. Out of daylight and tired we decided to wait until tonight to move it. Highlift jacks lifted the garage in one pass, but they were pretty much maxed out. I can see some of the safety shear bolts are bent. Biggest problem was getting the garage off the sill plate bolts. We used a bottle jack as a kicker to help the Hilift jack get started. Seems that several bolts were under studs or at the wall corner where they couldn't be seen. I think we counted 5 hidden bolts. Once they were released then things started going up faster. Jack braces worked great with no signs of lateral movement.

 

[Cord]

Well, we finished the move the other day. The garage had to wait on the trailer 5 months while we got some yard work done and then built the foundation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-62o6KIDPs

 

[deerseeker001]

Good Job,it went pretty smooth.

 

[mark02tj]

Very cool!

 

[KubotainNH]

Very cool, I like the video. Any close up pictures of the foundation? Looks like an interesting setup.

 

[Cord]

It's a slab on grade design, 8" thick at the edges, 5" in the center with a 3' grid of #4 bars and (3) #5 bars at the edge. We excavated the native soil down to gravel and then built a pad back up using compacted 3/4" traffic bond. The bank walls are 12" CMU with ladder reinforcement every 3rd course and vertical #5 bars 48" oc. The verts are doweled into the slab to prevent sliding. The top of the wall is reinforced with a #5 bar in a bond beam with the vertical bars penetrating the beam.

The floor system are 2x10's 12"oc with the center span top supported off a W12x19 beam. The one end of the beam rests on the pilaster and the low side bears on a short double 2x12 header with (4) jack studs. The sheathing is 3/4" plywood, treated within 4' of the doors. To restrain the wall the plywood is screwed 4" oc with blocking at 24" intervals for the first 4'.

We excavated, built the pad up and tied the rebar cage ourselves. Our mason poured the slab and built the walls. We then took the project over; framing the floor and backfilling the foundation.