Lifting homes from danger

By Mary Lou Pickel

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

People on Cochise Drive in Vinings go to great lengths — and great heights — to live in their riverfront neighborhood.

Emily Gray watched two decades ago as water entered her crawl space during a flood. She didn’t want the water to reach her home, so she decided to lift her house 8 feet to coexist with the beautiful but unpredictable Chattahoochee River in her backyard.

“We looked around town but there was no place else we’d rather live, so we decided to just pick it up,” Gray said of her brick home.

Using hydraulic lifts — a costly undertaking — a contractor placed steel beams under Gray’s house and lifted it higher than the nearby Paces Ferry Road bridge. The house has a tall set of steps to the front door and a very deep basement area where water can flow.

Raising a home higher than floodwaters is a step that Cobb County’s ordinances require before homes severely damaged in a flood can be rebuilt. But the expensive work makes sense mostly for high-priced homes with good resale value.

The price of lifting a house ranges anywhere from $20,000 to $100,000 depending on house size. That’s in addition to other flood repairs that may be needed inside the home.

Gray was something of a trendsetter in her neighborhood, where several homes have either been “picked up” or torn down and rebuilt with the first floor of living space higher than the expected flood line. Homes along Cochise Drive are worth between about $600,000 and $1.4 million.

Although hundreds of Cobb homes were damaged in September’s 500-year flood, only about 85 homes in unincorporated Cobb County and several in Austell were so severely damaged that they must be raised to comply with local flood ordinances if the owner decides to rebuild.

Under the county’s ordinance, if a home’s damage adds up to more than 50 percent of its value, the owner must raise the house at least 3 feet above the 100-year flood line — if the home is not at that elevation already. That applies to homes both inside and outside the floodplain, Cobb says.

Austell has the same rule but requires it only in the floodplain.

Lifting a home is an option that makes less sense for lower-priced homes because the cost can be too great a proportion of the home’s value, said John Landers Jr., part-owner of Hercules House Movers. Landers is a third-generation house mover. He moved Gray’s house 15 years ago.

“It’s like being in an abusive relationship,” Landers said. “It’s better for them if they just get out.”

June Pierce-Hampton, who lives near Clarkdale Elementary School, has a home that must be raised to be rebuilt, but she doesn’t plan to do it. “I don’t have money to pay to pick it up,” she said.

In some cases, the homeowner could get financial help lifting a house above the flood level, but it takes some work.  

The maximum federal disaster grant offered by FEMA is $30,300, but that’s only to clean the house of debris and make minimal repairs so the house is safe to occupy until repairs are made. The same goes for most flood insurance payments. But, insurance may pay up to $30,000 more if a home is in a high risk flood area and the local government requires that the home be lifted in order to be rebuilt.

Also, a homeowner could apply for a low-interest loan through the Small Business Administration to cover the cost of raising a home, said Jack Camp, an SBA spokesman.

Techniques for lifting a house vary. Contractors could raise the house on concrete or steel piers or build a new foundation, making a deeper crawl space or a walk-through basement with archways.

“It has to be very open to allow the passage of floodwater,” said Bill Higgins, head of Cobb County’s stormwater division. “The idea is to prevent water force from building up on the walls.”

About seven homes on Cochise Drive will be required to elevate as a result of September’s flood, according to Cobb County. Others on Cochise aren’t required, but are considering it.

Cardiologist Thorne Winter has lived in his home for 45 years and doesn’t want to move.

“We’ve had an interesting adventure,” said Winter of the recent flood. The first floor of his house is now torn out and smells moldy. He and his wife, Connie, live upstairs for the time being.

Landers talked with Winter last week about the possibility of lifting the house.

“It’s not a simple fix,” Winter said. He’s not required to lift the house under the county ordinance, but wonders how he’ll weather another flood.

“How do you want to roll the dice?” Winter asked.

But neighbors on Cochise Drive and homeowners near Howell Mill Road and Peachtree Creek in Atlanta have raised their homes and love the results.

Charlie and Christine Bradley decided to tear down their ranch home on Cochise Drive after it flooded in Hurricane Ivan five years ago.

They now have a five bedroom Craftsman-style home that seems three stories tall because of the faux first level.

Bradley pointed to open archways that make up a garage. “See all these openings — it’s all for water flow. Under my house it’s the same way,” she said.

The floodwaters reached the top of the high staircase leading to the front door. But there they stopped. The floodwaters did not enter the living quarters.

“The house worked,” Bradley said.

For Margaret Hathaway, a 25-year resident of Cochise Drive, the decision was quick.

“The day after the flood is when we decided,” Hathaway said. She would need to lift her four bedroom, four-bath, brick ranch about 6 feet, at least.

It could cost $70,000 to $100,000, she said, in addition to the cost of replacing the drywall, floors, cabinets and appliances.

“We like living on the river,” Hathaway said. “You know no one’s going to develop in your backyard, and you have a great view all the time.”