BELLEAIR BEACH, Fla — As Tampa Bay residents continue to grapple with an unusually active hurricane season, one Belleair Beach family has found an innovative solution to stay in their dream home despite repeated flooding threats: they're lifting their entire house.
"It is a very sad feeling," Rahul Shukla recalled of evacuating his family's waterfront home on Oct. 8, as Hurricane Milton approached. The evacuation came just weeks after they had fled from Hurricane Helene, leaving them uncertain if they would ever return to what Shukla calls their "palace."
While the Shuklas were fortunate to find only minor damage, the emotional toll of repeated evacuations had them looking for a permanent solution.
"Moving was not an option. Demolish and rebuild was not an option because of my age," Shukla said. Instead, his research led him to Jeff Trosclair of JAS Construction, who offered an unusual solution: lifting their entire 6,400-square-foot home.
For Trosclair, house lifting isn't just a business – it's personal.
"I grew up in New Orleans and, growing up there, my house flooded as a child four times," he said. "House lifting for me, it's a passion, it's my life. I was born to do this."
Trosclair and his business partner, Albert Jasuwan, have seen demand for their services skyrocket this hurricane season.
"Our business has exploded with phone calls. We're getting several hundred a day coming through our website, to our cell phones, to our office phone," Jasuwan said.
The process of lifting a home is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, typically taking seven to eight months to complete. Workers begin by tunneling underneath the home and installing steel supports and hydraulic jacks.
"We can move the house at 12 inches per push," Jasuwan said. The end result is a home that's protected against even severe flooding.
"If you lost 5 feet of dirt under the house, the house would still be there," Trosclair noted. "The house is gonna be here forever."
The solution doesn't come cheap – starting costs for a modest 1,500-square-foot home range from $275,000 to $325,000, with larger homes commanding higher prices. For the Shuklas, however, the investment is worth it.
"I have no doubt that whatever money we spend, this house will become worth much more than that," Shukla said. "But that's not our reason. Our reason is that we want to live here."
While some say there’s a price to pay for living in paradise, families like the Shuklas are proving that with determination and ingenuity, it's possible to stay rooted in the communities they love while rising above the challenges that nature presents.
