Modular housing is fast becoming a popular choice to fulfill an American dream. Whether it's your first home or a retirement home, modular housing is a logical choice. Once just a residential solution to housing, it's also reaching into the commercial markets. Condo's, lodges, restaurant's, office buildings among other commercial buildings are now built with modular technologies in the manufactured housing industry.

Family, friends and people passing by often gather in great numbers, watching in amazement, when a house is set. It takes on average an hour and a half to set a house once the crane is set up and the rigging is on the hook. Both Dawes and North Country Homes, as well as the manufacture know that a home is of great value and expense to the owner(s). It requires great care and expertise on all fronts to see it to completion. The photo's below describe the "how did they do that?" That is -- get the house from the street to the foundation.

The first half (furthest from the crane) is ready to lift off the shipping frame. Steel plates are fastened to the floor joist to spread the load across a greater area which prevents a ripping effect from the weight carried by the cables. Also note the carpet wrapped wood which is fastened to the roof. This protects the fascia and drip cap from damage. Frame to house bolts are removed. The black shipping plastic beneath is cut free prior to lifting, while the white seal is left in place for now. On each end is a rope which is used to guide the house. OK, LET'S GO!

Here the 120 ton Grove crane centers the house over the foundation at a close radius before booming down to set it in place. This is for safety as the excavation around the foundation may be unstable for the weight of the house and crane. Should an outrigger sink, the house is set down close and the crane re-leveled. Note the four cables supporting the house. Two cables on each end roll thru rolling blocks to equalize the load between them. Since four cables support the load, wall-board cracking and bowing of the floor is minimal to non-existent.

With half the total load off the crane, the post jacks are set in place to support the house. The cables are removed, then the weather seals.

The first half is hung by the load cables so that the center of the house touches down first which makes aligning the house on the foundation a snap.

Depending on the size of the home and the interior items ordered, each half can weigh-in between 24,000 and 48,000 pounds.

On most homes the hinged roof is lifted on the first half after setting it, and raised first on the mating half before moving it off the shipping frame. The rigging is replayed on the second half after removing its weather seal, then it's lowered gently into place so the outside touches down first. When the house is square to the first half, cables and a come-along are tied together on each end in the basement to pull the two halves together. Once tight, the house is lowered into place. The cables are removed from the spreader beams which are lowered to the ground. With the rigging removed from the hook, it's then returned to pull the pinched cables out from between the halves. The steeper the roof pitch, the more this section of roof weighs. On low pitched roofs, jacks are use rather than the crane to raise them. Figure 2 shows how the peak of the roof lays flat to maintain legal height requirements for road travel.

Prior to breaking down the crane, the trailer frames used to transport the house sections are stacked so one truck can return them to the manufacture.

Photos taken by Scott LaMay, crane operator for Dawes Rigging & Crane Rental

Special Thanks

Permission was given by Dawes and North Country Homes to publish photos. On behalf of people wondering how a house is set on the foundation, I thank these companies for their permission to explain the process of getting the house off the shipping frame and onto the foundation. It is a privilege to provide this knowledge and to work for Dawes, as well as North Country Homes and the many other manufactured home retailers in the midwest that Dawes sets homes for. Thanks for your confidence!