McHugh Builders has raised 7+ homes across Brigantine and the surrounding areas. We manage the entire process — structural engineering, permitting, foundation construction, and full finish restoration — so you’re not juggling five different contractors and hoping they communicate with each other.
Every property in Brigantine sits inside a FEMA-designated flood hazard area. That’s not a scare tactic — it’s a fact of living on a barrier island where the highest point of land is roughly 10 feet above sea level and bayside streets sit at just 5 to 6 feet. After Superstorm Sandy caused over $88 million in insured flood losses across Brigantine alone, home raising went from a “nice to have” to a necessity for hundreds of island homeowners.
If you live in Brigantine, chances are home raising is something you haven’t just thought about but have actually seen being done in your neighborhood. The reason locals are raising their homes are all connected and centered around three things:
If the cost of repairing, renovating, or improving your home equals or exceeds 50% of the structure's market value, Brigantine's construction code requires you to bring the entire structure into compliance with current FEMA standards. That means elevating to or above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) for your specific lot. We've seen homeowners come to us planning a kitchen remodel and discover they've triggered the substantial improvement threshold — at which point, raising the house becomes mandatory, not optional. This is something the City of Brigantine Construction Office (609-266-7600 ext. 260) can help you determine before you commit to any project.
Brigantine properties built before 1975 — the city's pre-FIRM cutoff — have historically received subsidized flood insurance rates. Those subsidies are being phased out. Homeowners with structures sitting below BFE are watching premiums climb by thousands per year. FEMA data shows that raising your home even one foot above BFE can reduce flood insurance premiums by roughly 30%. For many homeowners, the long-term insurance savings alone justify the cost of the raise.
Brigantine is exposed to flooding from both the Atlantic Ocean and the back bays. Nor'easters, hurricanes, and even heavy king tides push water onto bayside streets that sit 5–6 feet above sea level. A properly elevated home keeps your living space, mechanicals, and belongings above surge levels that would otherwise cause catastrophic damage.
