ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s something you may start seeing more of in your neighborhood, homes lifted from their foundation more than 10 feet in the air and put on stilts. It’s part of construction meant to protect homes in flood-weary neighborhoods from future damage.
The process, which starts with digging below, seems and looks a little surreal. An entire home, contents included lifted right off its concrete slab.
In St. Pete’s Shore Acres neighborhood Wednesday, crews from local construction company JAS Builders, were busy lifting a single-story home 12 feet higher, well out of the flood plain.
Company founder and president Albert Jasuwan says there’s spiking demand for this work across the state. His company went from getting a few inquiries a month to “getting multiple calls a day now. And we're literally booking a couple jobs a week,” he told 10 Tampa Bay.
Jasuwan says most calls are from neighbors tired of what comes with Florida’s rainy season and not being able to stop water from coming in.
“They’ve been flooded multiple times, two, three and four times,” Jasuwan said. “The value of these homes back here have dropped significantly because of the flooding issues. This is a lot cheaper to lift than to [tear down and] rebuild your house."
It is a lot of work and can cost anywhere from $200,000 - $700,000, depending on the job. But it’s a price more seem willing to pay, to have peace of mind and property intact.
Jasuwan says the next-door neighbor of the home he’s currently working on, just signed a contract to lift their home as well.
“They love this neighborhood, it’s close to the schools they like, it's close to their family, their friends, their jobs, they do not want to move. So this gives them an awesome option to stay where they're at, and to keep their house high and dry from hurricanes.”
The entire process, between designing, pulling permits and then finishing the construction, can take roughly six months.
FEMA has a federal grant program available for home-lifting in flood zones, but that too is a length one. 10 Investigates found homeowners who say the process has too much red tape.
According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, for every $1 of federal funding invested in mitigation, it saves $6 in future disaster costs.
If you’re interested in learning more about FEMA’s flood mitigation efforts, click here.