Specialists in adding cubic footage and operational capacity without costly relocations or new construction.
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We convert or replace existing internal building support columns into 'telescopes' that extend upwards.
Raising an existing roof can be more cost-effective than new construction or demolishing and rebuilding, or even moving an entire operation to a different existing building.
Roof lifting may take as little as ⅓ of the time needed for new construction, meeting your business’s needs compared to completely upending business operations.
Get the most from your existing assets and unlock up to 3x more usable space. Spend less time and money versus relocation, rebuilding, or new construction.
Our system is adaptable and highly effective in nearly every situation. Our roof lifting procedure ensures minimal disruption to daily operations and maintains 100% safety for your team and ours. It’s our unique process that allows our experts to seamlessly operate in occupied buildings.
Our proprietary hydraulic system is
installed at each
lift point.
Our first step is to convert or replace existing internal building support columns into ‘telescopes.’ We either wrap the existing column with a 2-piece sleeve that is assembled on-site, or we remove the column and insert a structural steel tube that has a smaller tube inside of it, which will extend upwards towards the roof.
When there are columns at the perimeter of the building, we will place a new ‘telescoping column’ in front of them. If there are no perimeter columns, we will install new structural steel beams to support the wall-bearing steel with new telescoping columns underneath them – these are permanent structural steel beams that will remain after the roof lift.
Erection cabling and bracing is added in addition to the columns being tied back to the footings. This will help protect the building from any transient lateral movement during the short period of time between roof separation and final re-supporting.
Now that the building is prepped and ready, we install our lifting equipment. Our roof lifting equipment utilizes a double-pin, double-cylinder hydraulic system with our proprietary hardware at each lift point, capable of safely lifting the entire roof section up 1 foot at a time.
1. The edges of the roof are separated, and the insulation/membrane is pulled back about 1 foot around the perimeter of the roof. During this phase, all vertical supply lines for utilities will be separated or cut and temporarily attached with flexible lines with enough slack. All steel wall ties are cut and the building is meticulously inspected to ensure safe elevation. The lift day crew, typically consisting of one person for every 6-10 columns, will be on-site to operate the hydraulics and lift the entire roof one foot at a time. Typically, a roof can be lifted by 1 foot per hour, and lifting the roof to the predetermined height can take anywhere from 1-3 days per section.
Once the roof is finished being lifted to the desired clear height, our team immediately begins the structural re-support – on the same day in most cases! We will permanently secure the inner part of the telescopes to the outer part (welding or bolting), while splicing-in column extensions at the perimeter and installing new wind and earthquake (seismic) bracing.
Our proprietary hydraulic system is
installed at each
lift point.
Call LIFTEX
now to learn
more about
vertical
building
expansion for
your property.