House raising (house lifting, house jacking, barn jacking, building jacking) is the process of separating a building from its
foundation and temporarily raising it with hydraulic or screw
jacks. The process is the first step in
structure relocation in which the building is moved to a different location. House raising may also be a part of a
renovation to build a foundation under an existing house or make a house larger by building a new floor level creating a two story house. Once a house is raised and supported on
cribbing, a new foundation can be constructed beneath it. After
Hurricane Katrina and
Hurricane Sandy large numbers of houses in parts of Louisiana, New York and New Jersey were raised to avoid future flooding.