Can you lift existing buildings from the ground to a foundation

[Unorthodox]

I got my tier 1 base building milestone a bit late and now I already have factories built on top of the ground, I want to build a foundation underneath it. Is there an easy way to achieve this? or is it not worth it?

[Suzaku]

Nope. Dismantle what you have and rebuild it on the foundations.

[Die Hand Gottes]

Originally posted by Unorthodox:

I got my tier 1 base building milestone a bit late and now I already have factories built on top of the ground, I want to build a foundation underneath it. Is there an easy way to achieve this? or is it not worth it?

Yes with the mod Micro Manage there you can move everything and much more of one of my favorite mods.

Or with the page
https://satisfactory-calculator.com/
but I have never tried that.
with the mod I have better control what I move.

[Obz3hL33t]

None of your foundationless buildings are aligned on your foundation grid, and having stuff aligned allows a lot of logistics options, like floor holes, that don't work with skewed buildings. (Miners, even on foundations, are almost always skewed, and you'll notice you have to "shim" your elevators with belts to get them to align. Ceiling hole-to-miner almost never latches without a short segment of belt to fix the alignment.)

Something no one else has mentioned is that you want to hold down "CTRL" when you place an initial, unconnected foundation. This aligns your foundation with the "World Grid", the global default foundation alignment. In theory you can join two separate, independently built factory complexes together seamlessly if you align on the World Grid, although I've found the heights almost never match. Nonetheless most of us build on the World Grid, so I thought I'd mention it.

[Aven]

Don't dismantle, just move forward. Use your existing production for materials to expand. Once transportation is up and you no longer need that old production as is, ship it somewhere to be used as a component for a more advanced product or just sink it. The time spent tearing down is largely wasted, and no matter how much material you have stockpiled, you will run out of that product as soon as you turn off production.

[Die Hand Gottes]

Micro Manager can also rotate built objects I also use this very often to align miners on the foundations so that you can connect conveyors straight or with 90° does not like it when something is crooked.
I also use the mod to move whole productions to correct building sins.

[Unorthodox]

Thanks for all the answer and tips, I'll probably build more factories later on, I'll remember to put those on a foundation next time.

[umop-apisdn]

Building on Aven's answer, you'll later get the blueprint designer, which will allow you to replace that early-game factory really quickly... and upgrade the snot out of it with all the tech you've unlocked since then, to boot.

Once you unlock it, use the blueprint designer to make new factories, and mass-delete that old pile of junk. You want overclocked Mk.2 (or even Mk.3) miners, and that "My First Smelter" factory wouldn't keep up, anyway.

[Huren Ogeko]

Originally posted by Aven:

Don't dismantle, just move forward. Use your existing production for materials to expand. Once transportation is up and you no longer need that old production as is, ship it somewhere to be used as a component for a more advanced product or just sink it. The time spent tearing down is largely wasted, and no matter how much material you have stockpiled, you will run out of that product as soon as you turn off production.

in the early game when dealing with moving from ground constructors to building on platforms I say tear it down when done. once I am on platforms I build with the assumption that the node nearby will be eventually mk2 with 250% overclock and mk3 or mk4 belts when it comes to how much space I reserve for processing that nodes materials. this way I am ready for upgrading without tearing anything down...just replace belts and extend the line.
usually mk3 miners comes so late in the game I dont always use them when upgrading older builds. I just use them on an as needed basis and most games I am restarting due to new update by the time I even unlock this sort of thing.

so in short...tear down those early game things from prefoundation time of the game. everything else try to future proof yourself through at least the mid game tech.