Anybody ever try moving a garage?

[Cord]

We have a two car garage on our property that is in poor condition. Needs a roof, siding, windows, etc. The structure and garage doors are in good condition. It's at the point where we need to sink a bunch of money into the building so we are finding ourselves at a cross roads. When they built it, the prior owners placed the building in a very poor location. I'd like to move the building to a different location and then build an attached garage. Otherwise we can just tear it down. It seems to make sense to try and move it because if we tear it down, then we have nothing but a pile of nail infested lumber. The location that I'd like to move the building to has a cross slope that would allow for a lower level. I was thinking I'd build the new foundation out of foundation grade treated so I can do it myself on the cheap. The problem is the cross slope that allows the lower level may cause the building to go turtle when we move it. I was thinking of using a hay wagon to move the building with. The problem that I see is that the wagon will be where I want to excavate after the move is done. So after moving it, we will need to support the building on some beams so we can excavate. The garage is 25' long, if I dig a 8' deep basement, then I'm going to assume the angle of repose is also 8'. Figure the cribbing is 4' square and a couple of extra feet to be safe and all of a sudden my needle beams are over 50' long. I don't know what size beam that will be, but they're going to be big! I've been watching craigslist and have seen no heavy beams or anything over 10'. I have a call into a building mover, but I have a hunch I won't be able to afford them. I was wondering if anybody has attempted a project like this and if they had any pointers?

I did a project like this once before and it turned out rather well. That building we were able to take apart into 8 pieces which we stood on a trailer and then hauled it several hundred miles before putting it back together. This building is pictured below.

 

[Hiltz]

It looks like from the pictures that is not the type of building that would be easy to move and stay in one piece. It also looks like by the time you cut the trees out of the way and jacked this shed up on whatever you were going to move it on, you could have built a new one instead in less time.
Could you take the building down in pieces? Remove the tin roof and rafters and have the 4 walls taken apart in one piece and stack them on your trailer. Haul to your new site and reconstruct. Looks like a project either way. Good luck.

 

[bigtiller]

I moved a 20x24 garage about 90 feet a few years ago. I wouldn't want to move one on a hay rack, we used a 14,000 equipment trailer and moved it with a single axle dump truck.

 

[mrutkaus]

This guy moved it himself by hand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCvx5gSnfW4

I have his DVD it shows him moving a 40' x 40' barn across a field by himself, using balance

Mike

 

[Roehm Farms]

Telephone pole sled?

 

[Cord]

It looks like from the pictures that is not the type of building that would be easy to move and stay in one piece. It also looks like by the time you cut the trees out of the way and jacked this shed up on whatever you were going to move it on, you could have built a new one instead in less time.
Could you take the building down in pieces? Remove the tin roof and rafters and have the 4 walls taken apart in one piece and stack them on your trailer. Haul to your new site and reconstruct. Looks like a project either way. Good luck.

That's the one I moved a few years ago.

 

[oosik]

Moved a 12 X 16 log cabin. Tried pulling it on a telephone pole sled with neighbors LARGE 450hp tractor - no go. Ended up disassembling and reassembling at new location. Numbering each log made reassembly simple.

 

[thorholt]

I have moved a couple of them over the years, I only got pictures of the last one we moved and it was only a single car garage but this is how we did it, we moved it 60 miles on the flatbed, the stringers are about 4' apart and we had no issues, also moved a 2 car on a car trailer this same way, used a skid steer with pallet forks to lift it onto the pallets.

 

[ETpilot]

I and a friend moved a 12x10 shed that had an 8 ft. Shed roof on one side. I used some lumber to tie the edge of roof overhang to shed side wall, triangle style. Removed the 4x4 roof supports. We then jacked it so we could place pipes underneath. We then used 2 tractors to slowly roll, move and turn shed on pipes. We moved it about 175 ft. But it was clear open pasture with no obstacles. Lots to consider, terrain, obstacles, terrain level, structure foundation. You may need to add some lumber triangle style to support walls, corners, etc. This was many years ago so it's best I can recall. Good luck with your project.

 

[Stimw]

A neighbor was going to give a friend a 16' X 30' garage and he needed to move it about 150'.
We planned to brace the he!! out of it, jack it up enough to put two fresh cut pine trees under it for skids and tow it with my old 8-N tractor.
His neighbor changed his mind so it didn't happen. The neighbor said he still wishes he could have seen us do it.

 

[puckgrinder85]

We've done the same as Thorholt. Brace each stud or every other depending on weight, jack up and block every other and move every other brace down, rinse and repeat until at needed height, transport and reverse the process. If going down roads may need escort and check your heights!!!!!!

 

[Roehm Farms]

How many friends and neighbors can you roundup? 40-50 people could pick it up and carry it. Search you tube quite a few videos.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I moved a 14' x 22' garage a few years ago, but I did not take it off-site. I braced it and put a couple of beams under it after I jacked it up. Then moved it off the foundation into the backyard with boards on the yard and 4" pipe for rolling it. I moved it with a come-along. After tearing out the foundation and concrete driveway I poured a new foundation deeper into the lot, and poured a new concrete drive way then rolled it back the same way. My neighbors thought I was crazy. (in the city at the time).

But I made believers out of them.

I saw a youtube video of about a 100 or so people who picked up a large barn and moved it a few hundred feet. Now that was amazing.

 

[RDrancher]

There's a guy over on HEF that moved a pole barn by removing the air from the tires of a rental van, backing it in, stacking some beams on top and then inflating the tires.

 

[jerrybob]

Bruno barn move.........


Bruno Barn Move - YouTube

 

[GPintheMitten]

Bruno barn move.........


Bruno Barn Move - YouTube

Yes! That's it, but it was over 300 people. Like an army of ants.

 

[ajmaxham]

I moved a 14' x 14' building by jacking it up and put 6'' x 6'' skids under the building. Pulled it over 500 ft. with my 4x4 truck (the ground was frozen) Moved it sideways with 2 more 6 x 6 skids, 2x12 on the ground with 2'' pipe rollers. Used 2 come-a-longs and it pulled very easy.

 

[deerseeker001]

I would borrow a hay Wagon back it in.jack the building up then brace with 2x4 from back to front.pull it to desire location and lower it down.

 

[BHD]

years ago, there was a small single garage about 12 miles away, I had a 24 foot flat bed, trailer, and I took that and a handy man jack and we got it started up and blocked it back the trailer under or in it, and bolted 2x6 across the walls and across the trailers bed, put one about every 4 foot, every thing was going great, about 15 to 20 mph and were two miles from home and came to a cross road and the crossing road was raised up some, when we went over the cross road the trailer went up and the building did not as fast, about 100 yards down the road I looked back at it and saw the back of it lower and then you could see each 2x6 break and then the building was skidding down the dirt road, and then made a quick left turn and flattened out across the road, I backed up got a chain out and pulled the pieces off on one side, of the road so people could get around it went home came back with the loader tractor, knocked some holes in one of the walls to chain up to, and layed the other wall and roof sections on the wall section I had chained to the tractor and drug it in the ditch the rest of the way home and straight in to the burn pit,
I will say I have had better days, but do wish I had a video of the unloading of the building,
If I would have use a 2x6 on every stud section would have been fine or doubled them up, probably 2x8's would have been better,

live and learn, but I have seen buildings skidded short distances, and
Part of the problem on this building was there were doors on both ends and a very unstable building in the first place, the way I remember it was about 12' wide maybe a little wider possibly 14 foot,

 

[KennyG]

I have moved a similar building by putting it on timbers, cross bracing it well and pulling it with a tractor. However it was in good condition and it was over flat ground. If it was mine (from what I can see)I would tear it down and salvage what I could. Then I would build exactly what I really want.