If your home is located in a flood prone area, you may be considering a home elevation to protect your home from future flooding.  If your home has suffered previous flood damage, you may be required to take steps to protect the home from future flood damage before being allowed to rebuild or to continue to be able to get flood insurance coverage.

Home elevations are a great way to protect your home from future flood damage.  In a home elevation, your home is lifted from its foundation, raised high enough to clear the highest anticipated flood level, then placed on a newly constructed foundation.  In some cases, the home is placed on pilings and in others a poured cement or block foundation is constructed to support the home.

The height of a home elevation can be as little as two or three feet and as much as eight to ten feet.  With these higher elevations, in many cases the homeowner gains new storage or parking under the home.  Almost all types of houses can be raised including homes built on slabs, poured or block foundations, or on pilings.

One important thing to look for when choosing a home elevation and shoring contractor to handle your home elevation is the type of jacking system used.  The best contractors use a unified jacking system to lift the home.  Houses are raised using hydraulic jacks similar to those used to lift cars.  A single jack can lift a car, but for a home 20 to 30 jacks may be required.

It is important to lift the home evenly and smoothly to avoid damage to the home including damaged walls, floors, and ceilings.  A unified jacking system coordinates all of the jacks so that they rise at the same speed no matter what the load is on them.  That way, the house rises evenly and unnecessary damage is avoided.