Jim Connelly is no longer surprised when he sees folks on the street at 2 a.m. in their pyjamas.
Monday (Aug 21) night in Oak Bay was no different, while Connelly was there to move a house on Monterey Avenue, the spectators were there for the spectacle of getting a 1948 bungalow down the road.
“It has way too many years left in it to see it go away in a dumpster,” said Connelly, who is in charge of local sales and estimates for Nickel Bros. – a company well known for its house-moving in Greater Victoria and beyond.
Calling it an elegant little building, Connelly said the property owner just “didn’t want to see it crunched” and even invested some time required to facilitate barging a building.
It’s getting to the point where Connelly recognizes folks, including one fellow he’s sure has been coming out for moves for more than 30 years. One woman said she woke her children to watch the midnight move, and as he worked on the beach the next morning, Connelly said a couple praised the work.
“People are really sick and tired of seeing things wasted,” he said.
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Once the first house was settled around 1 a.m. Tuesday, crews started working on a second in Victoria – a completely turn-of-the-century craftsman – getting it to the beach to await its midday loading.
“Barging is very expensive so it’s important to do a minimum of two,” Connelly explained.
Houses are often taken on spec based on structural elements and ability to move within its streets and jurisdiction then delivered to one of the company compounds – in Sidney, Nanaimo and Comox Valley on Vancouver Island.
While the two houses this week will head for the Sidney compound, they do have homes – one is bound for Lopez Island and the other tentatively to Texada Island.
“There’s a real shortage of contractors on those islands. Gabriola has a two-year wait to build,” Connelly said. “A lot of very expensive homes are being built and they’ll eat up every contractor on the island for two years.”