House by house, Brigantine is getting higher
By Amy S. Rosenberg, The Philadelphia Inquirer | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
When your trusty rancher is about to become a second-floor rancher -- wrenched off its foundation and cranked up 51/2 feet like a boat resting on the shoulders of a lifeguard -- measures have to be taken.
"I have two artificial hips," said
"Left hip," says
So their new wheelchair lift sits next to their new back staircase. Their block, hit with four-foot waves during
This month, the state
"Lifting the
At busy
Raising the houses to adhere to new base flood elevation requirements set by the
"Life in the air is fine," said
While Hughes juggles all the clients,
On any given week, houses in
Like the houses, not everything is set in stone. "Up in the air is when a lot of decisions get made," Hughes says.
On Thursday at
Quieter than you might imagine, the initial lift was a few popping of bolts and the whine of hydraulics. In a matter of minutes, the house was suspended a few inches off its base, revealing rotting wood and dangling pipes. Two hours later, the house was up nearly five feet. [See video at www.philly.com/downashore.]
The workers went from crawling underneath a house suspended just above a little trench, to crouching, to standing slumped-shouldered, to, finally, standing straight.
Hall and son Ryan man the hydraulics with hands and feet, measure with a surveyor, add an inch to a corner, four to another, argue over whether the surveyor used data from 1929 or 1988. They wedge in wood ties -- as Papa Hall directs with off-color metaphors.
"These are going up like crazy all over town," said neighbor
As
From his deck, Popick can look down on the bigger, mostly undamaged, houses across the street and get a view of the bay.
"Hello to my minions!" he called out wryly. "I can see clearly now."
There is hope that
"I've got a cellar again," says
City Engineer
Hazard-mitigation grants cannot be awarded to anyone receiving state-administered RREM grants, so some on that waiting list are holding off. House lifting starts at about
The DEP's
The grants call for the same environmental reviews that jammed up RREM funds, but Brubaker says
"The woman said, 'I don't have your prescription yet from your doctor,' " she said. "I said, 'I don't have a prescription.' I asked the installer, could it be faster? He said, it's a wheelchair lift, not entertainment."
It's a long minute -- a button continually pressed -- up to a front door that once sat on the ground. "They're pretty unattractive," she said. She hopes the lift aids older visitors and eases bringing in groceries and luggage.
Strategies vary to mask the disproportions of their houses. Some enclose part of the staircase; others extend siding as though the house had two stories. Some try lattice; others go for garages.
Capelli-Brehm covered her expanded facade with brick, but it looks slightly off: one part siding to about six parts brick. She hopes trees will help.
The new height makes McCarthy feel safer -- and not just from flooding. "I used to worry about people coming through my house, driving drunk," she said. "I used to feel like I'm sleeping on the lawn. Now I'm up on the roof."
Raising the Roofs
Hazard-mitigation grants for house-elevation applications by municipality.
Brick . . . 610
Little
Stafford Twp. . . . 293
Highlands . . . 186
Ventnor . . . 184
SOURCE:
INSIDE
609-823-0453
@amysrosenberg
See a video of a house being raised at www.inquirer.com/downashore
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