 Up, up and out of floodway: Lewisburg Pike home raised out of floodway so family can return
By Mindy Tate, Editor
mtate@williamsonherald.com
If you saw Tammy and Dave Crouch’s home at 903 Lewisburg Pike on May 2, you might have thought the only thing to do was move on after 20 inches reached the interior. Instead, the family of five is moving on up, in terms of up into the air, raising the house almost 7 feet out of the floodway of the Harpeth River.
After removing the brick from the home last week, crews from Expert House Movers came in Friday, placing jacks under the home and hoisting it into the air. Crews then removed the foundation and are replacing it with a new block foundation, with the living space being one foot above the floodway, Crouch said.
By the end of the week, the house will be lowered back to the new foundation and renovation of the interior will begin with the Crouches hoping to return to their home by Christmas.
Joe Matyiko travels across the country raising and moving houses and other structures, including a number of lighthouses from eroding shorelines, including the 208-foot-tall, 5,000-ton Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1999.
The Matyikos were working with Don Toothman of Springfield, Tenn., on the elevating of the house, using a unified jack system.
“Every jack travels the same distance although they are not bearing the same weight,” Matyiko said. “It allows you to unify and keep this structure where it is supposed to be. This is the safest way to structurally elevate your home. One man can control everything, although people are constantly checking the jacks.”
The Crouches have lived in the home for more than 14 years, enjoying the combination of the five bedroom, ranch-style house and the accompanying acreage which allowed for a mini farm inside the city.
“We like the house,” he said of why they sought the solution of raising the house. “Insurance will pay to put this one back and will pay for some of the raise.”
Dave Crouch finally left the house at 9:30 p.m. on May 1, a few hours after friends began helping the family evacuate belongings and moving his livestock to safety.
“When I emptied the second six inches of rain out of the rain gauge, I knew we were moving,” he said. Eventually, the main part of the house would take on 20 inches of water and a sunken den took on even more damage.
The family remains nearby in a rental house in Forrest Crossing.
FEMA regulations do not allow the family to enlarge the home’s footprint inside the floodway, but inside the home, they are planning major changes, to be completed by Jimmy Franks of Jimmy Franks Homes of Franklin.
“We are rearranging the living room/dining room combo,” Crouch said of plans, which also include enlarging the master bedroom with a larger closet by taking away one bedroom, as well as adding a bathroom.
“Tammy had been saying it was time to remodel,” he said.
City officials say only one other homeowners has sought permission to elevate their home out of the floodplain. That property is 222 Old Liberty Pike, according to Milissa Reierson, Franklin communications director.
Posted on: 7/1/2010
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