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Affordable and Efficient House Raising Solution for Jersey Shore Homeowners

By Bill Bonekemper

November 13, 2013

Ram Jack Foundation Solutions Owner Rick Sykes Teams with Ram Jack Corporate to Develop the “Sandy Bracket” for Raising Jersey Shore Houses to Meet FEMA Regulations


It was just over a year ago that Super Storm Sandy barreled through the New Jersey Shore devastating the lives and homes of many New Jersey residents.  Since that time, some homeowners have had to completely rebuild, while others have had to endure major repairs.  Along with repairs, homeowners are searching for affordable ways to significantly raise the elevation of their houses in order to be compliant with federal flood insurance guidelines and to prevent flood damage from another storm like Sandy.

Jersey Shore homeowner, Kim Scott Heinle, knew all too much about this process as he and his wife had been searching for an affordable solution for repairing and lifting their home.  Working with a local architectural firm, the Heinle’s were initially exploring traditional house lifting methods only to learn that the cost and the logistics of moving the house and installing new pilings was not a viable option.

Then the architect was introduced to Ram Jack’s new lifting application for houses built on timber piles, and he quickly realized this solution was the right one to raise the elevation of the Heinle’s house to be in compliance with FEMA guidelines http://www.fema.gov/ .  The key component of this lifting solution is Ram Jack’s state-of-the-art and patent pending “Sandy Bracket”.   The bracket was jointly designed and developed by Mr. Rick Sykes, owner of Ram Jack Foundation Solutions www.ramjackusa.com in North Carolina and by Ram Jack Manufacturing in Ada, Oklahoma www.ramjack.com  Unlike traditional lifting methods, Ram Jack’s unique system enables houses to be lifted off of the existing round timber piles that many Jersey Shore style houses are built upon.  

Ram Jack Foundation Solutions of North Carolina is teaming up with Mr. Scott MacKay, owner of Ram Jack Tri States, to make this important solution a reality for Jersey Shore homeowners.  MacKay is an expert in repairing foundations and has been repairing house foundations in the New Jersey area for over thirteen years.  He is excited to be able to provide this innovative house lifting solution to his customers and neighbors.

“We were fortunate to find an affordable solution that eliminated the need to move the house for a new foundation,” Mr. Heinle commented.  “Even more exciting, we were able to keep the house on its existing 33 wood pilings, and lift the floor of the house with the attached garage almost seven feet!”

Ram Jack was able to simultaneously lift the Heinle’s house from 7 feet 7 inches above sea level to 12 feet 2 inches above sea level by installing helical piles to an average depth of 20 feet parallel to the 33 existing timber piles.  By using the innovative “Sandy Bracket” pile attachment, Ram Jack was able to slowly lift the house by nudging the timber piles upward a few inches at a time.

“It was an absolutely amazing sight to behold.  Imagine seeing your house rising out of the ground right before your eyes – like magic,” Mr. Heinle exclaimed!

Similar applications were used by Ram Jack in Surfside, Texas to repair houses after Hurricane Ike hit in 2008.  

 “Some houses on piling foundations survived but were severely undermined.   Five to six feet of sand washed out from under some houses, but the Ram Jack system was used to raise the houses instead of demolishing and rebuilding them,” said Rick Sykes.

MacKay and Sykes are prepared to use this unique and efficient application to lift more houses on the Jersey Shore so homeowners can have a layer of protection against future storms and to enable the homes to be insurable based on the new Base Flood Elevations (BFE) set by FEMA.


For more information on the Sandy Bracket visit: www.ramjack.com/sandy

Rick Sykes can be reached by phone - 888-309-9727

By email - rick@ramjackusa.com

Visit the company’s website - www.ramjackusa.com