Achi news desk-
Houses are being demolished throughout downtown Calgary to make way for new homes, but only a small number of houses are being saved, according to city statistics.
Figures provided by the City of Calgary show that only five per cent of homes being moved from sites are moving to another location.
“There’s so much rebuilding in the city of Calgary with all those great downtown lots,” said Jaylene LaRose, co-owner of Wade’s House Moving.
“There is a lot of demand for it and there is demand on our end too with people looking for very good quality recycled homes.”
| Number of Licenses Issued | Demolished Single Family Home | Single Family House Move | Total |
| 2022 | 568 | 27 | 595 |
| 2023 | 524 | 34 | 558 |
| Final total | 1,092 | 61 | 1,153 |
Crews from the LaRose company are coming in to remove the basement of the home. After that, beams are installed, and the house is put on a jack to lift it off the foundation.
LaRose said the average 1,200-square-foot bungalow weighs about 35 tons. With a blocking system that looks like a Jenga game, workers lift the house with a hydraulic jack system.
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“That raises the house in a unified way where everything is level so there’s no structural stress on the house,” LaRose said.
In the case of a house in Cambrian Heights in northwest Calgary that moved to a community near Taber, Alta., workers at the house turned around to save a city tree.
The house is slid out and then placed on the rafters, supporting it as it travels to its new destination in Burdett, Alta., where it will soon be home to another family.
Permits and preparation are required before moving, ensuring that the house fits under wires and that cars are not parked on the path.
LaRose said business has shifted over the years from moving buildings and barns to recycling houses.
“Fifteen years ago, we would do maybe 30 per cent of that and 70 per cent moving buildings, and now our recycled house sales are probably 80 per cent of our business ,” he said.
“Everything is so expensive, so being able to find a home and set it up for a fraction of the cost of building or buying new is huge.”
LaRose said he can often move the home in the best interest of the landowner.
But not all homes are wanted as they are, he said.
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“We’re looking at anywhere from four to six homes a week,” LaRose said.
“We have to reject a lot because of either the condition and the cost of removal outweighs the recycling value.”
A ton of waste is saved from going to landfills by moving home, LaRose said.
He said it would make sense for incentives to be offered to homeowners to encourage them to recycle.
“The prices of all services continue to rise every year, which makes us raise our cost,” said LaRose.
“You would think in an industry like this where we save so much and with the environment and recycling there might be some grants or incentives not just for our company, but for the landowners who could help finance the general process that could do. it happens even more.”
Many recycled houses have moved from urban centers like Calgary and Edmonton to smaller towns in Alberta, Saskatchewan and eastern BC.
LaRose said recycling homes can help address the housing crisis in those cities because they are often replaced by multi-family dwellings such as duplexes.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
