The homeowners decided to lift versus building a second story to save having to re-truss the house. They also did not have to leave for an extended period of time since their house was virtually the same. The biggest bonus was not having an addition that would use up precious lot space. This lot was only 8400 sf. If we had torn off the upstairs of the house, we would have had to install new headers over the existing windows and doors, which would have meant more invasive construction and requiring the homeowner to be out longer. The original house had only 2 x 4 construction. In Anchorage all construction is at least 2 x 6 construction. So unless they had decided to tear down the whole house and start over, this was the most practical and least expensive solution. 

One of the more important items to consider when doing a project like this, is will the house fit in the neighborhood after completion. In this case the house is actually much closer to the size of most of the houses on the street. It is actually a little smaller than several houses. The style of construction was also common to the area.

If you would like to consider a project like this, please keep the following in mind:

1. The house should not be on a concrete slab. We would have to cut holes in the walls to insert the beams for raising the house.

2. If the house is attached to the garage, then the garage should be disconnected from the house in order to lift the house. In the house above, the garage was unattached. We did connect the house with the garage as part of the remodel. 

3. Not all houses are worth lifting. Poor construction can not be fixed with just a lift alone. If your house is on poor soils and moving around, then lifting is not a good idea.

4. Lifting is still expensive, it is not cheaper than a complete addition.

5. You will need an engineer for the plans.

6. This particular house had a full height basement. That meant everything had to be removed from the basement. Then when we were finished raising the house, the basement had to be finished along with the new first story.

7. This method of building an addition has advantages for hooking up plumbing, heating, and electrical wiring than a standard addition.