Fallen Oak Cottage Move Update No. 1

It’s been two months since we shared that we are moving a 90-year-old house from my hometown across the county. Its final home is on our Fallen Oak Cottage property, which does have an existing structure that we originally planned to renovate but have since decided to demolish to make way for the 90-year-old house.

Work has continued behind the scenes since then, so we thought it was time to share an update about where we are in the house-moving process.

Permitting

The permitting process for this endeavor is a little tricky because it requires two different sets of permits: one for the current location of the house we’re moving (within a city), and another for its destination property (within the county).

In June, we officially contracted with a moving company. The first step in the process is for their in-house engineer to assess the structure and determine how to build a foundation that meets code on its future property. This process can take some time since this is really the biggest piece of the puzzle.

Our Fallen Oak Cottage property is also a waterfront property on the lake, so as the engineer begins the foundation process, several things need to be taken into consideration, including FEMA flood zone boundaries. That property, much like our own property, lies half in and half out of a flood zone. So using those, coupled with surveys and data about where the existing structure on the property sits will all go into this engineering process.

The engineer actually visited the property a few weeks ago to take measurements. So we’re hopeful that this means things will really pick up this month. Once the engineer draws up the foundation plans, those will need to be approved by the county, which is the second part of the permitting process, since the home’s future location lies outside of a city municipality.

Demolition

Rob pulled the first set of permits in June for the 90-year-old house (within the city) so that we can begin removing the front and back porches. The moving company will only be moving the core structure of the house. And because the porches are important to me for maintaining the home’s aesthetic, I want those to come as well. That means we will be responsible for removing those and storing the pieces to reassemble when the time comes.

The back porch was previously split into two parts, and one part closed off to become a laundry room. We plan to reopen this area and carve out a laundry room space inside. Since the cottage will have a gorgeous lake view, we want to take full advantage of all of the porch space to make it a nice place for gathering.

For now, we’ve started the process of removing the porches. We’ll continue to remove them in pieces, bringing it all over to the Fallen Oak Cottage property to be stored until we’re ready to reattach them.

At some point in the next month or so, Rob will also pull a permit with the county for the current Fallen Oak Cottage property to demolish what remains of the original house structure on the property. We’re hoping the weather cools off just a bit before that part of the process.

Demolition permits allow for an inspector to enter the process at the end to determine if utilities have been properly detached and all debris appropriately disposed.

So that’s where we are! Of course, a project like this is a marathon and not a sprint, so while we continue to update when we can, things might remain a little slower moving for awhile until the engineering is complete. I’m sure at that point, this project will effectively become a daily update!