1950s lakefront chalet... Tear down or save?

[meteotrade]

Hi folks,

Hopefully someone can point us in the right direction- we've been doing some research but can't seem to find a good, consistent answer. We'd like to build an addition on our lakefront A-frame style house in Moultonboro. The problem is, the house has a post and pier foundation. I'm not sure what kind of logistical problems this would create in building the addition, since in the new portion of the house we would like to have a basement. Is there any way to retrofit a foundation onto the existing house, inexpensively? Are we better off tearing down and starting over?

Thanks for your advice!

[Steveo]

It is relatively easy to pick up the home and dig out for a foundation. As long as you can get access to underneath to bring in a bobcat. I don't know what contractors to contact but there was a house on Rt 28A in Alton that just had this done last fall. I wanted to do it to my camp but I ran into a problem with location. This could be Alton rules but you can't put a foundation any closer than 75 FT (I think) of your septic.

[islandAl]

How close are you to the lake? If you tear down, you will have to adhere to the current rules on location, probably. What is it now, 50 or 100 feet away from the water.
If you add and are moving away from the lake, you may be able to have an exception. What is the ground like, is major rock or ledge a problem or easy digging, both factors in what you can do with out disturbing existing foundation.
Two sure facts, it will cost more than you estimate and t will take longer than you planned. Been there, done that.

[ACutAbove]

Check with Getty Construction in Meredith. I know they just did that to a house over on weirs blvd over the winter.

[Just Sold]

You can add on to any building and what it involves depends on how you want to attach it and blend it into the original structure.

Tearing down a cottage and putting up a new one may be cheaper sometimes but remember your property taxes will take a bigger jump for a new building than for a remodeled one. New construction vs old with additions is valued higher.

There are many factors to consider when raising a property to put in a full foundation or even a 1/2 depth one:
First you will be warmer because the foundation will reduce cold and moisture penetration.
The cost of tearing down and a new design doesn't come cheap with disposal and permitting costs. Re-desiging isn't cheap either but should be less.
Putting in a foundation under a cottage costs too. The last one I was involved with on a friends waterfront cottage was about 32K for a 30' x 30' cottage. That was 4 years ago.
Another person I know altered the land in front to put a foundation under his cottage. He is still awaiting the fines and what the state wants him to do to restore things. The cottage basement sits unfinished as he waits. Altering the land for the 1st 50' from the water is a big no no.

If it were me I would put a foundation under the original cottage and add to the rear or side. Remember it always costs more than you or your builder/designer estimates.

[Gavia immer]

A neighbor put in a foundation but it was really a first floor to an existing, and raised, 1100 square foot cottage. He's got lotsa bucks, but chose raising instead.

He stayed close to the lake, gained a wider view from the old cottage, and added another 1100 square feet of living space below. Radiant heating was added to the "foundation". The cost was about $50K two years ago.

[dmjr]

In all honesty, I would do some research to see what it would cost to raise the house and place a foundation under it versus tearing down the home and having to start over. I may be young, but I feel that I am old school. If it were mine, I would leave the home the way it is and restore it to the original condition. To many old homes are being taken down and being replaced by modern homes. It would be nice to see some of the old homes be restored to keep the character of the lake intact.

[Russtic]

I agree with dmjr. History is such a key part of the lake, and its classic old camps and cottages are very important to that past. Despite the McMansions, I think the lake has retained its flavor pretty well, but wonder what will happen if too many vintage places disappear.

[meteotrade]

Thanks for the great responses all.

DMJR I agree, nothing we hate to see more than an old cottage getting wiped out and replaced by a vinyl sided mansion, but that's not the intent in our case. I didn't realize the tax consequences of a tear down vs renovation either, thanks JS.

Al, the house is well back from the 50' buffer, but it is a very steep lot... not ledge but rocky. The house is elevated off the ground in the front by a good 6' or so, but level w/ the ground in the back. The original footprint is 24'x32' and the addition proposal is to come off the side, 1 and a half stories at 20'x20'.

For those of you that have seen this done, how do they "raise" the house temporarily? Is this aspect the major cost, or is the digging/pouring the bigger part of it? If we left the original section as a post/beam, is it still possible to winterize? We don't need a year round home but would like to use on occasion in the winter.

[dmjr]

I know on HGTV I have seen homes picked up and placed on new foundations. I dont know if there are any companies in NH or the New England area that specializes in that.

[jeffk]

Our neighbor in Moultonboro had it done. I think it was about 5 years ago. Unfortunately I don't know who did it or how much it cost. They had a crawl space and instead of digging for a foundation chose to elevate the house a few more feet and create a walk out finished basement. The house was supported on several beams and jacked up using the existing crawlspace walls for a base. Then new walls were poured and the house lowered. Overall the house probably ended up about 4 feet higher. At the same time they added some interior insulation by, I believe, adding the insulation and rebuilding interior walls. They lost a bit of interior space but not too much. Overall it turned out nice and the house can be used on cooler nights without a problem.

[Gavia immer]

I wasn't watching close enough to see how the house was raised, but the builder (Pineo) put something like stacks of railroad ties underneath as the house gradually got higher. It isn't rocket science. They just do it.

Digging and pouring have got to be much more expensive than just the raising. Wood finishing inside took a long time.

If radiant heating is added to the foundation, heating the upper part of the house should be much more efficient. Plastic tubing is imbedded in the concrete floor for radiant heating, and all the lengths are gathered into a control unit. If the old structure isn't insulated, heating will be more costly.

The end result is spectacular. Larger triple-paned windows were added and the porch extends towards the lake more and wraps around both sides of the house. It's the old place, but it's "huge".

[tis]

Give Barry Caswell a call. He is in Wolfeboro. I believe he has done quite a few of these.

[Just Sold]

To raise a house off its existing support system they install steel beams that extend beyond the exterior and use neumatic jacks with a central control panel that can be used to control each jack. Once everything is in place, which is time for setting up, the house goes up pretty quickly. They build wood platforms to support the house from the underside and stop periodically to add wood members to it. Pretty interesting to watch. The process is done in reverse once the excavation and foundation has been completed.

A bob cat or similar equipment is used to remove the earth under the cottage and dig the footings.

If your cottage already has a 6' height in front I would guess that you would go for a 2'-3' raise on the front which equates to only a small raise off the ground in the rear. It all sounds quite simple but you need experienced people to do it. There are quite a few in NH that are qualified to do so. The ones I know of do this type of work on the small lakes further south in NH.

[SIKSUKR]

Just Sold,are you sure they use pneumatic jacks?I always thought they used hydraulics.Air would be pretty spongy.

[BlackCatIslander]

I would recommend getting an estimate from a reliable contractor who has done this before. Based upon my experience several years ago, I would expect that it could cost $60-75,000 to raise the house and install a concrete foundation and walls. Site issues could impact that number. Good luck.

[Weirs guy]

Originally Posted by SIKSUKR

Just Sold,are you sure they use pneumatic jacks?I always thought they used hydraulics.Air would be pretty spongy.

A buddy of mine does it with a couple dozen large size "bottle" jacks like the one you use to jack your car up with. All manually done with rr ties and a few helpers.

Its been quite popular here at the Weirs to have it done (a few places in the last year or so) and I believe the cost was in the $50-75K range depending on size, ect.

If you are planning to add radiant heat to the basement you should also look into doing it for the rest of the house at the same time. You will not be disappointed with the heat you get or money you save in fuel costs.

[Just Sold]

SIKSUKR, OOPS, it is a hydraulic jack. It is interesting though to watch how fast a home can go up using the control box with those hoses attached to it. Just a few hours and it's up in the air and ready to work under.

[Water Camper]

I would like to 2nd the use of Getty Construction. Kevin just did my neighbors place on Weirs Boulevard along with a lot of the other modifications. Came out quite nice.

Bill