House lifter uses computerised technology to raise commercial buildings

It may seem surprising six years after the Canterbury earthquakes that House Lifter NZ owner Rod Moore is busier than ever.

But he said work is ramping up for straightening commercial buildings, while his residential work was also the busiest ever, and he was looking at contracts in Wellington too.

With the increase in contracts Moore decided to invest in a synchronous computer-controlled hydraulic jacking system from Netherlands company Holmatro.

The cost to excavate and lift the concrete floor of the 340-tonnne building at Ferrymead, Christchurch will be about $500,000, and the cosmetic repair might take the final cost to about $2 million – compared with demolition and rebuilding for about $5m to $6m.

“There are other similar jacking systems but they’re big and require trucks to bring in all the gear whereas this is small and I only need a few guys.”

“I went to the Netherlands to meet engineers at Holmatro and visited the factory.

“Two engineers came out to New Zealand to help me get things going. They were also going to talk with KiwiRail about lifting derailed trains.

“It’s our second job with the gear and after three days we’ve lifted it 200 millimetres to re-level. All the gutters run correctly now.

“We take pre-level surveys and mark out the jacking points. Digging the pits for the jacks is hard work and then we tunnel under the edges of the building so we can pour jacking pads with reinforcement under them.

“After placing 25 jacks, we connect the hydraulic pumps and the wires to measure the heights and then it’s all connected to the computer.

“With other systems you need several guys to go around all the jacking points and try to raise them simultaneously.

“This monitors all the points at once as the building is slowly lifted and if there’s a problem like a jacking support being squashed it alerts you and stops so nothing breaks.”

Once the building is raised to level, sacrificial props are placed underneath with the assistance of sledgehammers and the voids underneath are filled. The final job is to run a radar test to detect any gaps.

The centre of the floors are also monitored for sagging and a beam and screw system can lift areas that need it.

Imperfections in the original concrete floor often show up.

“We try to get it back to the original pour of the slab. We’re within 0.1mm now.

Holmatro had used the system for unusual projects such as re-leveling the Netherlands parliament buildings and a castle, Moore said.

Original article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/90727275/House-lifter-uses-computerised-technology-to-raise-commercial-buildings

Customer Feedback

On all occasions House Lifters went about their work with enthusiasm, and a high degree of success. Rod and Wei had a knack of finding very suitable properties at extremely competitive prices. They are a pleasure to deal with and I would have no hesitation recommending House Lifters to anyone that requires such services.

Sir Rt Honourable

John Key GNZM AC

House Lifters has provided Inovo Projects with service above and beyond the norm. Their health and safety is impeccable, quality of work is superb, and they’re always endeavouring to come up with ways to complete tasks in a more efficient, safer, and cost-savvy manner.

Matt Cain

Building Estimator/Project Manager, Inovo

When Rod and Wei saw the house and looked at the plans, he knew what needed to be done and was enthusiastic about the challenge. But the other contractors I got quotes from – the lift was so complex they didn’t want to do it or their methodology of how they were going to do it didn’t give me confidence.

Matt Russell

House Lifters run their jobs in a professional manner using high-performing equipment with good quality systems. From our experience, we have not seen any other contractor consistently achieve the finished floor levels that House Lifters do.

Sam Richards,

Managing Director Richards Consulting Engineers

The team at House Lifters carried out our small but technically complex heritage building move off, repile, and move back without even cracking a window, which in a 135 year old building was quite an impressive feat ! We initially wanted to use a local building contractor to help, but very glad to have had Jerico and crew do the whole subfloor and associated work - it needed to land back within millimetres of the original siting, and I’m dubious a collection of contractors could have achieved this without a re-work or at least some issues. I absolutely recommend them, House Lifters saved us a world of potential compliance and safety issues, but most importantly kept a fragile building in one piece.

Mt Eden / Awhitu,

Guy Quarterman

Google Reviews

We approached House Lifters Ltd for help to lower our house onto its new piles after another Christchurch-based house removal company had dealt with us in bad faith and refused to remedy their breach of contract. Stuart, the Managing Director, was only too happy to help and, incredibly, his team had our house down within the week. They did exactly what they represented they were going to do, and they did it efficiently, professionally, and with great care for our house.Thank you Stuart for giving us control of our lives back - we are now able to finally move forward as a family and start enjoying our home. You took a stressful situation off our plates and reassured us that everything was in your very capable hands. We will be encouraging anyone who seeks house removal services to get in touch with House Lifters Ltd for a job done with care. A total credit to the house removal industry.

Shanelle Lovegrove

10:17 10 Aug 23

Houselifters showed absolute commitment to the whare and the correct and required repair to the new insurance repair standard of when new. Houselifters were also clean and tidy in their work.

Dean Lester

02:18 24 May 23

Parthenon Construction has had extensive experience in engaging with Stuart and the team at House Lifters.We have successfully completed over 250 projects with House Lifters since the Canterbury Earthquake and can not recommend them highly enough. They are specialist is there profession, provide accurate quotes, deliver to program and stand by there work.Relationships in the construction industry are extremally important and we are proud to say we have one with House Lifters that is formed on integrity and trust.

Daniel Fridd

09:02 20 Apr 23

Stu and the team at House Lifters are great to deal with. I've had several projects with them in my role as a structural engineer and Stu has always helped to bridge the gap between design and construction in order to provide practical & cost effective repairs.On site, the team get on with the job and in my experience do what they say they will, when they say they will which is a great help to myself and clients.

Matt Pfahlert

23:22 28 Mar 23

A very seccessful relevel carried out by Stuart and his team!Prompt to schedule us in and great communication throughout the job.After getting the run around for 2 months from smartlift and then being told they couldnt do the job House lifters stepped up and made it all happen!Relevel of an 8 units, 3 storey, tilt panel apartments across 2 foundations..Going above the scope without complaint and the price was very fair.If your thinking about relevelling this is that company you want to use!!

Jericho Forest

10:26 26 Mar 23

We at FeutzandGoldsmith Builders have worked intimately with Stuart Moore and the House Lifters team since the inception of the Canterbury Earthquake recovery. House Lifters are considered an expert in the field of re-levelling, referred to us by Southern Response, House Lifters have undertaken a range of small- and large-scale re-levels and foundation/slab replacements, from modern homes to homes built in the early 19th Century, all with optimum success. The success of this organisation begins at the top, Stuart Moore is a master of the trade, evident from dealings with all sectors of this organization, House Lifters excel in design, communication, and delivery. When thinking re-levelling, there’s only one name, House Lifters.

Blair Langton

04:40 22 Mar 23

They respond promptly and in detail. The team is easy to deal with.

edsel

01:55 17 Mar 23

As a structural engineer, I have worked with house lifters on a number of successful relevelling jobs and I recommend them to anyone wanted relevelling of there house carried out.

mark patterson

01:12 17 Mar 23

The team at Houselifters have completed a number of project for our building company as a sub contractor. Their team have been on time and professional in all dealings i have had with them. They have worked on numerous difficult projects also and have been very helpful in troubleshooting with us if changes have been required. They have strong construction knowledge and experience and I have no problem recommending the Houselifters team for any work you may require.

Thomas Johnston

22:51 15 Mar 23

Fil Engineers have been working with House Lifter for about 10 years now. Great company, practical solutions and top-notch workmanship. Highly recommended.

Andre Boiser

00:46 13 Mar 23

Great fella,, help full on time and fair pricesAnd chch original

Jason Hodgson

08:39 08 Dec 21

These guys are very professional.

Paul Carter

01:08 09 Oct 21

Recently house lifter relocated my house. The team worked very efficiently and always provided good communication for progress. The project finished within agreed timeframe and budget. Highly recommend!

Angela Jia

22:10 28 Oct 20

Great work by the team. Very helpful, made sure everything was done right. Re-aligned doors, replaced piles, etc, when the front of the house was lifted,. Easy to contact, very responsive. Friendly, hard-working team. Really happy with their work. Will definitely use them again.

Allen Rodrigo

20:10 24 Sep 20

Rod and his team were absolutely fantastic on our tricky house-lift which required trying to level the house while minimising remedial work on renovated areas. The scoping stage was very very thorough and the team were the only lifters who actually came and did a full house level measure as part of the quoting process. During the work Rod and the team were very open to feedback and really took the time to listen to our feedback and leave no stone unturned to address all items. The team were pretty patient with our needs and especially towards the end when there was some easing of doors etc. needed to complete the job and meet our high expectation bar :) I would HIGHLY recommend the team based on my experience - you will not be disappointed!

Kunal Bhargava

09:48 01 Sep 20

Rod, Mayo and their team not only held our old bungalow up while we excavated underneath, but they also solved some tricky problems to allow our builders work to more effectively as the job progressed. As a result we managed to complete the whole of the basement floor slab in a single pour….. something that we did not expect to be possible. They willingly made changes at short notice and nothing seemed to be too much of a problem. They were really pleasant to deal with, always responded quickly to our requests, and had a great “can do” attitude. We have no reservations in recommending the Houselifters team for this kind of work.

John Hunt

06:54 14 May 20

House Lifters relocated my 2 Tonne pizza oven without much problem. solved a big issue!highly recommended!

Pavan Vyas

03:48 14 Oct 19

Great staff. Brent was really helpful and knowledgeable

Amy Burton

04:36 01 Sep 19

Professional, cost effective and fast from quoting to actual work

mohammad ayat

01:56 13 Sep 17

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