Awards & Record-Setting Moves
The same family, the same know-how and the same equipment approach that moved a lighthouse now lifts and levels homes on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Get a Free EstimateWhy Awards Matter When It's Your House
Nobody hires a house mover for their trophies. But when you are trusting a company to put your home on steel and jacks, it helps to know they have been tested on the hardest jobs in the country - and passed.
The awards below were earned by Expert House Movers and the Matyiko family over decades of structural moving. Many of them are for moves most people would have said were impossible: a 4,830-ton brick lighthouse rolled 2,900 feet, a theater moved down a city street, an entire airport terminal relocated.
Joe Matyiko Jr. grew up in that work. Today he brings it to homeowners in Galveston, Houston and along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Owner · Fourth-generation house mover · (409) 750-3448
The Certificates & The Moves Behind Them
ASCE Opal Award
The American Society of Civil Engineers' Opal Award for Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement, for moving the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (2000).
Guinness World Records
Records include moving a lighthouse the farthest distance ever (Cape Hatteras) and the heaviest building relocated on wheels (the Shubert Theater, Minneapolis).
The Move of the Millennium
The International Association of Structural Movers' Millennium Award, for what the industry calls the "Move of the Millennium."
Honors Earned by Expert House Movers
- 2001 New York Construction News "Best of 2001" and Award of Merit - Newark Airport original terminal project.
- 2001 Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia Preservation Achievement Award - King of Prussia Inn.
- 2000 International Association of Structural Movers Millennium Award - the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the "Move of the Millennium."
- 2000 American Society of Civil Engineers Opal Award for Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement - Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
- 2000 SC&RA Rigging Job of the Year - Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
- 2000 IASM recognition for the heaviest structure moved not on rubber-tired dollies.
- 2000 Guinness World Record - moving a lighthouse the farthest distance ever (Cape Hatteras).
- 1999 Guinness World Record - heaviest building relocated on wheels (Shubert Theater, Minneapolis).
- 1999 Heritage Preservation Award - Shubert Theater, Minneapolis.
- 1998 International Association of Structural Movers award - the Gem Theater move in Detroit.
- 1996 IASM award for heaviest building moved - Metcalf Gymnasium, Providence Country Day School.
- 1994 National Trust for Historic Preservation National Preservation Honor Award - Southeast Lighthouse, Block Island, RI.
- 1994 National Trust for Historic Preservation National Preservation Honor Award - Third Haven Quarter Meeting House, Easton, MD.
- 1993 IASM "Most Innovative Move" - Southeast Lighthouse, Block Island, RI.
A Few of the Big Ones
Southeast Lighthouse, Block Island
Moved back from an eroding bluff in 1993 - honored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Shubert Theater, Minneapolis
A Guinness World Record for the heaviest building ever relocated on wheels.
Newark Airport Terminal
The airport's original terminal building, moved to make way for expansion - named among the best construction projects of 2001.
What This Means for Your Home
The techniques that move a lighthouse are the same ones we use under a house in Galveston or League City: a grid of steel to carry the weight evenly, a unified hydraulic jacking system so every point rises at the same rate, and crews who have done it thousands of times.
Your house doesn't need a world record. It needs a company that knows how houses behave when they leave the ground - and that's exactly what decades of jobs like these teach you.
House lifting in Galveston · House moving · Our family history
Put Our Experience to Work on Your House
Call or send a few details and photos. We will call you back to talk it through and set up a free on-site estimate.
📞 (409) 750-3448