House Raising 101

Vinyl siding over insulation over double cedar shingles, over house wrap...

Once we go up 14 feet we will have more views of Mt. Si!!!

Start of chimney demo - the easy part.

Inside chimney/fireplace demo - dirty job!

House with siding removed - ready for raising...

On its way up, crib piles placed, only about 10 more feet to go.

Crib piles - like a log cabin.

When we bought our house in Downtown Snoqualmie the City let us know that if we were willing to pay a surveyor for an elevation certificate then our house would be placed on the list of grant-eligible homes to be raised.  At the time, this seemed like an odd future prospect but we paid for the elevation certificate and turned in our paperwork to the City.  In October 2009 we were told that the latest grant had been approved.  All that we needed to do was come up with 12.5% of the total project cost and we could start working on our plans.  So, approximately 11 months later, we have plans, a contractor, and here we go - up, up and away!  I thought that I would start this blog as we have been taking a lot of pictures and it has been such an interesting process.  Dan and I (with the help of one lovely friend Shelley) demolished the vinyl siding, cedar shingles, bricks, and interior chimney (!!).   The house is going to go up about 14 feet and we are going to double our square footage by adding a new first floor story (the existing first floor will be the new 2nd floor).