There are a lot of moving parts with what we do at Nickel Bros. Below are many of the frequently asked questions we are asked by clients and potential clients. Should you have any further questions or are interested in speaking with us directly, please give us a call; we would love to hear from you!
This varies depending on the municipality. If you’re unsure, it is likely that one of our local offices will be able to tell you. If it’s a municipality whose bylaws we are not familiar with, then a call can be placed to the municipal office to check.
Nickel Bros is unable to guarantee that appliances will be included with the homes and / or if they will be functional upon arrival. For those reasons we do not include them.
Our listed prices includes the purchase of the house, the moving of it, the sales fee and the lowering of the house. There can be extra charges for delivery based on the location. Most houses are priced for a local delivery. Barging fees, wire fees, tree removal can be extra. These extra costs (if applicable) are listed in the Offer to Purchase Contract prior to signing any final contracts. Taxes are extra.
Yes. By filling out the form below and indicating the type of house you are looking for and general description of your destination property, we will ensure you receive immediate information on relevant new houses as they become available. Speaking with a Nickel Bros Sales Associate in your area to let them know what you are looking for can help as well, especially if you have a property site ready to go. Many of our homes are sold before they are posted on the website, as our Sales Associates are usually working on homes for 2-6 weeks prior to them being listed.
Your first step would be to contact the office closest to your location. From there, it is recommended you fill out an Offer to Purchase Contract.
Yes. After a purchase, we can move a house from Canada to US and move a house from US to Canada.
Any house can be moved, but not all houses are feasible to move. The height of the building is also an issue, the higher the building the greater the potential for wire expense.
The problem areas when moving a house is width (road) and height (utility wires). We have the most advanced structural moving equipment to minimize these problematic areas to keep customer costs down and our experience enables us to determine in advance whether there will be any issues and how to overcome them. This information will be passed on to the customer long beforehand.
Building codes no longer allow masonry fireplaces/chimneys to be moved with buildings.
Generally there is no limit to the distance unless the moving corridor or permitting jurisdiction inhibits the distance. Many buildings are moved by barge if origin and destination sites are in close proximity to the water.
Utility fees for overhead wire lifting/ removal, railroad crossing and tree trimming would be the most common of additional costs. Sometimes permissions may have to be obtained when crossing a park, loading or unloading a barge, or traversing across a neighbor’s property. These are typically costs that would be passed onto the client.
Moving permits are the responsibility of the mover (us!). Building and demolition permits are the responsibility of the homeowner.
Not always. It is prudent to have a representative of the moving company inspect your property very early on in this process to determine the viability of the moving route.
Simple, pick up the phone and call. One of our sales reps would be happy to visit your lot to discuss this with you. And here’s the really good news – its no-cost, no-obligation. Generally, it is better to find the house first. One house may be able to be delivered to your site, when another one won’t. It’s better if we can match the house to the property.
The foundation costs will vary by contractor per square foot depending on whether it is a crawl space or basement. Please call the office nearest you for a current market estimate.
In most cases it does not but if the destination site is quite remote, there may be a cost savings to do so.
Preparing the house for moving is an important part of the process and in most cases is performed by the home owner or the home owner’s contractor. A Nickel Bros representative will be happy to furnish you with a preparation list in a written quote provided to you at no charge after a site visit is performed.
A qualified contractor.
Speak to your financial institution about your project and their ability to finance it based on a construction type mortgage. If required, Nickel Bros may be able to assist in locating a financial institution that will work with you to facilitate the project. We have successfully educated many financial institutions who otherwise may not be familiar with a moved home.
Overhead lines and other utilities can be taken down or lifted to allow the house to pass through. These costs are relative to the distance of the move, the height of the house and the number of obstructions to be negotiated. Obtaining a utility estimate is an important part of the budgeting process and we will guide you through this when the time is right.
Sometimes cracking will occur in plaster/drywall but Nickel Bros guarantees against any structural damage during the move.
Houses moved over water are transported by barge. Nickel Bros has been barging buildings throughout the Pacific Northwest for over 50 years and are considered the leader in North America in this field. Barging costs are typically built in to Nickel Bros quotations due to the complexity of the process.
Nickel Bros carries the most comprehensive insurance package in the industry. Once Nickel Bros arrives on site our insurance is placed on the building, fully covering the value of the building. Our insurer also offers additional specialized insurance for our clients only. One of our sales agents would happy to further discuss our insurance coverage with you.
We used to raise the fireplaces & chimneys with the buildings but recent changes to various municipal regulations have made it prohibitive. We now recommend that the fireplaces and chimneys are removed prior to the lift.
The interior façade can sometimes be saved if tremendous care is taken in the demolition of the chimney.
Nickel Bros does not do any construction for raised houses but would be happy to recommend some qualified builders to you. We suggest that you only choose contractors with experience in working under raised buildings.
If excavation beneath the building is required, the method of raising the building is somewhat different. NB would need to know this up front for quoting purposes. In these scenarios there is usually an additional site visit required with our equipment to re-locate support cribs. In choosing an excavating company, they would need to have small enough equipment for digging under the building and have experience in this field. It is important that the excavation company chosen for the job has proper insurance coverage.
We do not recommend it, although many of our customers do.
There are no physical restrictions to height, but there will most likely be economic and aesthetic restrictions. The higher you go the more costly it becomes.
The blocking and design of the support cribs are engineered and may support various levels of weight depending on the layout of the blocking.
If there is no excavation involved, it does not become a factor. If there is excavation to be done, and/or a new foundation to be installed, with careful planning it can also be done year round in any weather.
The hydraulic jacking systems that we use, are the most advanced in the industry. This allows us to raise any wing or addition of a building symmetrically with the main building.
Yes.
We require that all building preparation such as these are done by the customer or their contractor. At the customers request we can provide the names of people experienced in these type of preparations.
For the majority of buildings that are raised, we do no damage to perimeter landscaping.
The amount of cracking in the house is directly proportionate to the degree of settling that has already occurred to the existing foundation. Many houses we work on are raised without any cracking. Minor cracking is not covered by our insurance. There should be no other forms of damage to the building structurally, or aesthetically caused by our work. If there is, it would be covered by our insurance.
Nickel Bros carries one of the the most comprehensive insurance policy available for raising and moving buildings. It would be truly negligent to have your building raised without adequate insurance, this applies not only to the building mover, but to all of the contractors involved in the lift. Our policy in general terms covers up to $5,000,000 worth of cargo coverage with $250,000 before excess liability charges.
The building is fully insured.
If the incident is relative to Nickel Bros being on site, our liability covers up to $2,000,000.
Although it is not a NB requirement, we would not recommend that you hire a contractor who cannot provide references for other structural lifting projects.
This happens on occasion, but the safest method insurance wise is for the customer to contract directly with Nickel Bros.
We maintain that the only restrictions to raising any building are economic. If humans can build it, we can move it.
Some holes are required to be made in the new walls for the removal of our equipment.
An average 1200 square foot house can generally be raised in one day.
Having a set of plans is helpful in determining a firm price for raising any building. It is normally required of the local building authority to provide them with a set of plans for the project and a copy of these plans are all that we need.
A building permit is required for all new construction to take place beneath the building, although it is not required to have a building permit prior to raising the building, we do not recommend doing this without your building permit approval.
It is important at the outset to determine whether the foundation will need to be replaced, we recommend that you contact your local building inspector to view the foundation prior to setting your budget. Research your local building and zoning by-laws to make sure there are no surprises. Ensure the contractor you have chosen is competent and qualified. If any excavation is required, we recommend you acquire a firm price, this can be the biggest grey area for budgeting. NB price to the customer is firm and final, provided the customer meets the requirements of the contract.
The price varies greatly by size of the structure and complexity. Please contact us for a no-cost, no-obligation quote.
Feel free to contact us if you have more questions!
