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Moving a garage?


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Has anyone ever moved a garage? I have a three-car garage, about 30x30, pole construction. I'd like to move it about 50 feet closer to my house. I'm thinking about doing this myself. It sounds insane, but I know it can be done. Any thoughts?

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It was built in 1936. It has tongue and groove siding. I figured most of the weight is in the roof, so I would build a cribbing and lift it by the cap plate. I was thinking of building the cribbing on a trailer I would position inside the building. That would then allow me to easily move the whole thing onto a new slab.

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I am a DIY, 61 years worth..I did farm out a new drilled well once, and some dental work.. :) ... I can't see how this will work as stated: .."cribbing" "on a trailer" "30x30".

20x20, is doable with your plan, but that 30x30 is the problem.

How about some pics for the backyard engineers, showing the "shape" of the building, interior construction, roof materials, etc.

The trailer idea; you need to web calculate the weight of the building with online specs for materials. (weights by square foot or board foot, single layer asphalt per sq foot installed, etc) Then you can calculate the center of gravity, too. The trailer can't be sprung, it needs to be a stable platform even for a dead level pull. The trailer and tires need to be able to handle the weight.

The amount, and the design of cribbing, to be able to span such a big building, onto a narrow trailer, will be quite the task.

Center of gravity comes in with a narrow trailer, as if the wheels dip even an inch or so, that building will teeter very quickly, and quite a lot. Light duty car wheels could be used as outriggers, just to prevent the tipping, but adds work (and costs of fabbing).

Another big problem, is that it is a garage without a floor structure to maintain the shape of the walls, and worse yet, 3 huge bay door openings which won't help with that.<!-- google_ad_section_end --> If the roof structure is not strong enough by itself, it uses the strength of the supporting walls to maintain the general shape of the roof. In other words, the posts are what is helping that roof keep it's shape. That is why I mentioned massive cribbing "to span such a large building (roof)"

However..."to every task attempted, there is a solution"

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Steve, gather all your friends over, pick it up and walk it over

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/o83W0gj_CRE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

when I was a kid, my mom, brother, dad, uncle and a mule named Rosco moved a smoke house about 300 ft by jacking it up and putting some like 12 inch steel pipe under it and rolling it. I remember it still had the salt bin and some other stuff still in it. It can be done. Wish I was closer, I'd be over to help.

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Steve , my father inlaw did something similar about 40 years ago . I did not witness this but this what he told me . First this man was a welder and machinist from the 1950's . He bought a house with a barn attached to the house which he wanted moved 50 feet from the house . It was frame construction and was not tall -high enough to accommodate his large truck . He told me he did a take off on the lengths of steel he needed to be able to install beams to hold his chain falls and also steel to support a second floor in the structure to store his heavy parts , tools , etc . He proceeded to brace the walls and attached them to the large steel beams to tie the structure together . Then he welded eyelets - hooks to the large steel beams and laid a series of pipes on the ground and pulled the structure with a comelong - winch tied to a tree . When the barn was in position where he wanted it located on the property . The barn was jacked up in the air to the desired height to accommodate his large truck and he poured a concrete curb - retaining wall around 3 sides and lowered the barn into position. He reinforced the 18 - 24 inch high concrete curb and floor with the scrap pipe to slide the barn and bracing from the walls , and also all sorts of scrap steel he had on hand . The curbs on the 3 sides had eyelets - hooks cast in the concrete so he could hook on to them to straighten frames of cars , trucks with winches , etc . He installed a sliding barn door on the front with a man door in one of the sliding doors . He put in a floor drain and a little wood stove to keep warm . All this was done in St Stephen ,New Bruinswick , Canada

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  • 6 years later...

It's all in the bracing.  If you get it properly braced you could just about theoretically roll it into place end over end. (obviously that's theoretical). If nothing can move or twist it will be fine. I have watched a friend trying to move a small not even really one car garage for a couple of years now.  I didn't get involved because he is the sort of person that wants it done his way.  I just scratch my head when I drive by.  They have moved it forward and backward and it's almost back to where it was but they managed to pull it apart quite a bit and if we get a heavy snow will probably lose it.  

  First they were going to put some 3 inch casters under it and roll it down the road.  I told him won't work and being you are 1/2 a mile from the police station and on a very busy side road you will get arrested for moving it without a permit,  which involves an insane amount of money and a police escort.  Of course that failed when the casters broke a few feet down the drive. (I get play by play report from an old neighbor) Then they decided to use rollers and roll it,  not a bad idea but they were too small and it has no floor or beams underneath for them to roll on.  Sad to say,  but I figured it was best to stay out of it as i told him what needed to be done,  but no one agreed.  

My Father and I when I was 18 Moved a 2 stall garage with a slate roof but it had a full wood floor off it's foundation, on telephone poles for skids, down the road (a main road) a couple hundred feet using a huge loader right after the Sunday Morning Patrol went by.  We had a few Friends push the phone wire up out of the way with 16 foot 2x4's.  Worked great but once the loader hit the dirt it stopped.  Not a problem as Dad hooked on it with a dozer and dragged it the rest of the way into position then jacked it up and put piers under it and pulled the poles out.

 

I don't think this would be that hard a job.  Some of it depends on the ground and grade. 

 

If you could make a few beams so it has something to roll on and properly brace everything you could probably roll it with a few other polls or even on steel 2 inch pipes with boards under them so they don't sink in the ground where you need to move it to.  It would be nice to use a tractor or backhoe so you could do it slow and steady or worse case scenario a winch or come along. 

 

We have put several large docks back in the water just using pipes.

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Pole building? Likely easier/cheaper to dismantle it, set new poles or pull and reuse the old ones, and reassemble it.  Around here you could get an Amish crew to do it in little over a long weekend and you wouldn't even have to supply the beer..........Bob

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  • 4 months later...

Steve  Ive moved several  buildings . I you are staying on your own property get 2 gig power poles, Slid them inside , and bolt them to very pole.  X brace between the poles very well big out around each support poles and saw off . get yourself a 450- 550 crawler and slowly draw it to where you want it. In essence you are making a big stone boat like used with draft horses. I wish I lived closer , Id do it for you for a fee. Mike  PS- Olympic is being delivered in the morning.

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