House & Building Moving
The expert house movers at Wolfe House & Building Movers use modern structural moving technology to ensure each building we move is protected while it's safely relocated to a new site.
We Move Any Size, Weight, and Type
of Structure
No building is too large for us to move. Structure types we pick up and move include frame, stone, block, log, and brick houses, and concrete and steel commercial buildings. In some cases, we can even move the concrete slab floor along with a building.
Request a Quote"We have use Wolfe several times to move, lift and shore houses in place. They are great to work with in every way! Solid guys that work very hard and treat you fairly."
Thor Magnus Google Review
How We Move Structures
Structural moving begins with a combination of supporting and lifting the structure before it goes anywhere.
Wolfe’s hydraulic Buckingham Power and Coaster Dollies are equipped with remote-controlled radio technology and bring the levels of stress on your building to a historic low.
We design and build our Dollies in-house and use them for all of our relocation projects. We also rent and sell them to other riggers and structural movers around the world.
Serving the Continental USA
We serve most states east of the Mississippi River, plus Iowa and Missouri. We also serve the west coast, including California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Our moving services for historic restoration/preservation and large masonry structure projects are available nationwide.
The Move Route: Four Items to Check First
Four important aspects of relocating a building are tree trimming or removal, traffic control, overhead utility line removal and, if your project goes off-road, excavation of the move route. Because of the volume of projects that we bid and the work that goes into clearing a move route, you or your contractor are responsible for providing us with a clear move route.
- Tree trimming
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Tree trimming is fairly self explanatory; any trees or limbs within the projected move route must be cut down or cut back ahead of time. Most of our customers hire a professional tree trimmer to clear the route beforehand and to be onsite the day of the move in case there are any tree limbs that have been missed.
- Traffic control
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Traffic control can be as minor as stopping traffic while we cross the road or as major as a full detour on a main road while we come through. Many times a local or state police escort will be required when going down the road. You or your contractor must talk with the local police or traffic planner to see what will be required for your specific move route. If a detour is proposed, usually a traffic plan will need to be submitted as well.
- Overhead utility lines
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Overhead utility lines can be very expensive and time consuming to move. For this reason, most of the moves that we do on the East Coast stay within several miles of the original site location. Overhead lines can be as low as 13′ 6″ above the road, although in most rural areas they are usually more around 15′ to 18′ above the road. Even a single-story house will usually be up into the lowest of these wires by the time we get it onto the steel and dollies that we use to move it. To check into the cost of moving these wires, you or your contractor should plan a route for the house, get a “loaded height” from Wolfe House Movers, and call each of the utility companies that own wires along that route. Usually this requires calls to electric, cable, and telephone companies. They will likely have to come out, drive the route themselves, and then they may give you a firm price or they might give you a per-hour charge for each of their crews that they will send out to lift the wires on the day of the move. This can be a deciding factor in some moves, so it is wise to check into these prices before making the decision to move ahead with your project.
- Excavation
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Excavation applies to getting out of the old property, into the new property, and to any off-road route that we might do in between. As expert house movers, we have the equipment to easily travel most fields, meadows, and rolling pastures. We can put down large steel plates to build a road if the ground is too soft, and we can even build bridges with steel beams to cross over ditches, streams, and creeks. Depending on the terrain, excavation may be required to bring the building through to where it is going. We can handle fairly steep grades, but too steep of hills or drop-offs can cause problems. This is something you can go over with our Wolfe estimator at your initial site visit. Another part of excavating the move route is digging a ramp from ground level down to the footers of the new foundation if it is required for your project.
How Much Does It Cost To Move A House?
5 Key Factors That Affect the Cost of a Building Moving Project
“How much will it cost?” is the most common question we are asked. In this cost estimate guide, we explain the 5 major factors that influence cost and the additional work, outside of our services, that you’ll need to consider when planning your project.