Expert: Mollie Ackner, AIA - 9/30/2011

Question
Hello. My name is Jon and I'm a researcher for the CBS television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It's my job to make sure our show is as accurate as possible. To achieve this goal we often rely on professionals such as yourself. And that's exactly why I'm contacting you today as we're doing an episode where someone "steals a house."

I know this isn't your typical set of questions and I apologize if we're asking stuff you're not familiar with. But...

We have a story involving a family feud, after the death of a family member, the culmination of which is the theft of the family home. We’d like to get some info on how some industrious bad guys would “steal” a house. Obviously, the house can’t be too big. We were thinking a single story ranch. No basement. Whatever would be the easiest to steal outside of an already moveable home such as a mobile double-wide etc.

Our questions are as follows:

1. What is the minimum process required to be able to move it?? Jacking it up, reinforcing, towing, etc.?

2. What is the shortest time frame, start-to-finish for a job like this?? We’d like to move it overnight.

3. Is it possible to jack a small ranch home off its foundation, put some cross supports under it and back a flatbed under it and away we go??

4. We are assuming that the crooks didn’t bother to turn off the water and power etc, they just turned it off and cut the connections. As you can see, this isn’t going to be professional house mover quality, just some guys with a little ambition.

Hopefully you see what we're looking for and can help us make this as accurate as possible.

We truly appreciate any help you can provide here.

Best


Jon Wellner | Researcher
_________________________
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
p. 323. 461.1870
e.  

Answer
Now This is interesting.  house moving is not my specialty, but I do know a little about it.  What has to happen is pretty much what you THINK has to happen.  Most of the houses I've seen moved have had crawl spaces.  The basic methodology is to knock holes in the foundation wall, and insert NEEDLE BEAMS through these holes.  Then you can lift the house, supported by these needle beams.  I think it could be done in a night.  Your biggest obstacle would be height -- can the house fit under any power lines over the roads, and width.  Don't forget drain lines also have to be cut, and cutting the power lines to the house could be hazardous.  This would be a lot easier if the house didn't have a chimney -- ya, try to avoid having a chimney if you can, that would make it harder.  This would not be a quiet process -- you'd need a crane to lift the house.  I've read about houses being moved long ago by rolling them on logs -- maybe a winch on the flatbed.  Or I wonder if you could stabilize the needle beams, attach them to each other, and put wheels on them, and TOW the house away.  Although this is fun for me to brainstorm about, you should contact an actual house moving company, yes they exist, and ask them as well.  Thank you for asking!
Best,
Mollie