Removing The Granny Flat - Up And Away!

Anyone that has followed my blog for the last year will know that we are at the stage now when we're ready to subdivide our block and as part of our subdivision plans we cleared out and emptied our Granny Flat that we've been using for storage for 6 years so that it is now finally ready to be removed from the backyard.

Since then we've been waiting for the crane truck and truck removalist to be free on a day that we could be home to supervise the removal ..... we thought an hour would be enough to get it in and out but turns out it was a lot more involved than that and took the entire day - over 7 hours from start to finish!

Wait until you see the photos it really was surreal to see the granny flat being lifted off the supports and into the sky, over the house, and down the side to be placed on the removalist truck and taken away. 

The first obstacle was to get the crane truck down the side of the house into the backyard, across the sandy driveway - we had a bobcat come in a few weeks ago to flatten the sand and get it ready for the truck - but the sand was still too soft and boggy and the truck kept getting bogged and we had to keep getting it out!

If we had of known the sand was too soft we could've laid down some road base and we wouldn't have had all the problems we did ..... hindsight is a wonderful thing!

The crane truck can get itself out of being bogged by extending the outriggers, putting planks of wood underneath them and moving the truck over. The front and back wheels can be lifted off the ground at different times too. 

It was really awesome to see something this big get itself out of a tricky situation!

Once the crane truck was moved over enough to get it balanced the crane came into action - the crane was massive, it carried a bar across to the top of the granny flat, the guys secured straps around it, and then lifted if off the supports.

It took a few goes before it was ready to be lifted - they had to keep adjusting the straps and securing wood chucks so it didn't cut into the walls and frame of the granny flat, as you can see there was some damage to the side but it wasn't too bad.

The granny flat weighed 5.5 tonne and the crane was 50 tonnes.

They lifted the granny flat up and over our house and down the side of the house where the transporter truck was waiting.

It was swinging near our new roof, eaves and gutters ..... and on the other side the neighbors house ..... with just centimetres to spare on either side it was a very tense time!

To add to all the excitement the granny flat got stuck on the neighbors fence, luckily they weren't home at the time because Mr P had to get out the hammer and hack away at the fence to free the truck and granny flat to get it out!

The fence has to be replaced anyway but you should've seen the look on their face when they came home to it! Mr P has fixed it up for them temporarily until the new fence is installed.

It was pretty touch and go there for a while until they could secure the granny flat to the back of the truck.

Then as the transporter truck was driving out it got bogged - with the granny flat on the back! 

So then we had to wait for a big truck to come and pull it out.

We had 2 pilot vehicles with their oversized signs and lights flashing at the ends of our street directing the traffic. Once the transporter truck and granny flat was pulled out they moved really quickly with 2 pilot vehicles to get it on the road and off to the truck depot.

It was so bittersweet seeing the granny flat loaded up and going past the house .... I actually waved goodbye to it!

But it wasn't over yet ... now we had to get the crane truck out of the backyard! Luckily it can get itself out of tricky situations with it's outriggers but it still took another hour or so to get out.

All the guys left just in time as over sized trucks can't be on the road late afternoon ..... they had just enough time get back to the truck depot!

This was such a huge milestone for our subdivision plans and a momentous occasion in the Jarrah Jungle renovations to see our plans come to life after 6 years of talking about it! 

Now for a final goodbye granny flat - you were awesome to us for storage and saved us while we renovated our bathroom, toilet and laundry. 

You will be missed but I'm sure you'll make another family happy now! 

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[All images my own]