Moving the House over the Basement

The rain slowed the progress a bit, but Bert was busy on Thursday and Friday. This post covers both days.
On Thursday, he squared the house up with the adjacent basement hole, then jacked the house up and removed the dollies. Then he moved the 60-foot I-beams from the 511 N Main site to the 501 N 3rd site. These are the beams the house will roll on.
On Friday, he got the beams aligned with the house and rolled it over the basement hole. That was a 2-stage process, as the house needed to roll more than the 60-foot length of the beams. So the house was moved  part way, then the beams were pulled south about 10 more feet, then the house was pulled the final distance to be squared up over the basement hole.

  Dollies removed and ready to load on the trailer.

 

Dollies loading up. Their job is done.

 One man, a skid steer, and a 60-foot beam.

Beam ready to be slid under the house. 

Dollies removed from under house, Both beams ready to go under the house.  

 The 1979 International tow truck's winch will pull the house across. The beams are in place. Notice that they don't reach the second pier. They will be pulled out to that pier later.

The first pull will take the house less than 20 feet, then stop just short of the edge of the hole. Then the beams get re-positioned. 

 After one pull, the house is near the hole and the beams can be pulled on over the second piers.

Homeowners watch and wait. Bert's baby grand-daughter came to visit with her parents.

 House at the edge. Ready for the big move.

 Re-positioning the jacks, then lifting the house beams off the slider beams so the slider beams can be pulled.

 Once slider beams are in place, the rollers are again placed between the two beams and ready to roll. 

The second stage pull was actually a couple of pulls with some stops to check alignment.  

Then some crazy blogger decided to just stand under the house and shoot video as it rolled over.... and then do a 360 degree view for the people who wonder what that looked like. Enjoy.

And, the homeowners get in on pushing the house. They ate extra spinach to be able to push the 60-ton house.

And, if you want one more view, this is from the sidewalk.

At the end of the day, the house is over the hole and resting on the 4 piers!

Next, the 60-foot beams that the house rolled on will be pulled out and the house will rest on the two east-west beams (ends visible under porch) until the foundation is finished. Then the house will be set down onto the foundation and those beams will be pulled out.