Lifting The Maples, 14 Inches At A Time

This time last year, Clay Winters and his wife Karen Hanson were still cleaning up from severe flooding in their home on Indian Well Road in Shelton. 

Wednesday, their home hovered far above the highest flood line, as crews from Nicholas Bros. Inc. slowly hoisted the one-story building up in the air. 

Winters and Hanson are the latest residents on the private, riverfront road to raise their home above the flood lines. 

The neighborhood, called The Maples, is a regular victim of flooding along the Housatonic River.

In 2011 alone, three major floods caused damage along the small neighborhood, as well as others in Oxford and Derby. 

To prevent future damage, about a dozen homeowners on the road have raised their homes so the living quarters are more than 10 feet in the air. 

Several have paid for the improvements on their own. But seven other families — including Winters and Hanson — were recently awarded FEMA grants to pay for the elevations. 

The Grants

Under the FEMA grant program, the homeowner pays 25 percent of the costs of raising the homes, and FEMA pays 75 percent. The goal is to eliminate re-occurring flood insurance payouts to the property owners. Click here for more information on the grant program. 

Winters and Hanson received a $97,000 FEMA grant to lift their home. Of that, they must pay 25 percent and FEMA pays 75 percent.

Across the street from Winters, Nick DeBenedet recently raised his two-story home using one of the FEMA grants.

DeBenedet is waiting for the FEMA reimbursement before he can continue repairing the home to complete the project. He said the total project costs came to about $130,000.

Article continues after photo of DeBenedet’s home lifted in the air.

DeBenedet's Home

The Lift

Nicholas Bros. Inc. was hired to raise both DeBenedet’s and Winters’ homes. 

The company specializes in lifting and moving buildings, according to Joe DeNicholas, who is the son of the owner. They have moved buildings all across New England, including a couple of buildings for Yale University. 

The buildings are raised 14 inches at a time, in a careful and slow procedure. Click play on the video at top to see a portion of the process.

You’ve got to stay slow and pay attention,” DeNicholas said. 

The process starts with workers digging out holes around the perimeter of the house. 

At Winters’ house, the crews pushed four long steel I‑beams under the house.

Then they placed eight hydraulic jacks underneath those beams (one on each side of each beam), and a hydraulic unified system” pushed the four jacks — and the beams — up in the air at the same time.

Each push moves the house about 14 inches into the air.

The workers build a crib” around the jacks — essentially a pile of wooden blocks, stacked like Lincoln Logs. 

Contributed PhotoAfter each push, the crews add more blocks to the crib, building it higher and higher. The jack uses the blocks on the crib for resistance as it propels the building upwards.

The first couple are tough because there’s no room” under the house, DeNicholas said. The next couple are easy.”

After the building is a couple feet off the ground, workers add more beams and relocate the jacks to the center of the building for support. 

When the house reached 2‑and-a-half feet off the ground Tuesday afternoon, Winters joked to DeNicholas.

That’s about as high as the water ever comes,” Winters said. You can leave it right there.”

Click here to see how the home fared in flooding last March.

The Result

Once the process is complete, the home will sit above the 100-year flood plain. Winters and Hanson will then have crews build a foundation underneath the house, and their living space will be out of harm’s way. 

For the homeowners, the change means fewer headaches and personal losses each time the river floods.

When the next flood comes, DeBenedet said he can simply clean up the first level of the home and go on about his day. 

I’ll walk in there with a little squeegee and bleach and it will be like new,” DeBenedet said. 

For FEMA, the changes mean no more flood claims after storms. FEMA insures homes in flood zones.

We’re trying to get the homes out of the way of the hazards,” said Bob Nadeau, Mitigation Team Leader for FEMA Region 1. 

When we undertake mitigation projects, we’re reducing the number of payouts,” Nadeau said. The payouts can accumulate to more than $10,000 each time, Nadeau said. 

Hanson and Winters have had bad flooding more than three times in the last 10 years alone. They had to file insurance claims after floods in 2005 and 2007. And three separate floods damaged their home in 2011. 

Once we’re up in the air, that’s it,” Hanson said Wednesday. The cost of our flood insurance will drop because we’re no longer at risk … We’re absolutely thrilled that we’re not going to have to make a claim ever again.”

Click play to see a video of flood damage at the house in March 2011.

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