Building and Construction - ground slopes toward foundation

Author

ground slopes toward foundation

mrsgator88

2007-09-04, 3:25 am

Hi,

We constructed an addition on the side of our house. The construction is
wood framing with exterior siding. The foundation wasn't poured high
enough, and when the builder levelled the soil it was touching the bottom
row of siding, and the yard was basically flat. The ground soil next to the
addition was never tamped. The adjacent property slopes toward ours.

I was told by several people that you want several inches of exposed
foundation between the soil and the siding. I rented a machine and cleared
the soil away from the siding, and now I'm concerned about drawing more
water towards the foundation. I'm wondering what the best course of action
is. I've considered doing the following:

1) Build up the soil back to the point where the siding begins to have a
more level yard, even though the soil will meet the siding.

2) Put in an earthen berm near the house, about 12-18 from the wall, and
plant bushes. This would create a minor slope towards the house but also
(hopefully) create a barrier against the water coming down from my
neighbor's property. Maybe the bushes would soak up some extra water too.

3) Hire someone to remove a foot of siding, replace it with something strong
and waterproof, and maybe put in a retaining wall for aesthetics.

The builder abandoned the job towards the end, so I'm kinda on my own for
this. I'm in Illinois, north of Chicago. TIA for any help or opinions

Dave

2007-09-04, 9:25 am

"mrsgator88" <nomospam@nomospam.com> wrote in message
news:NR4Di.1862$3Y1.1599@newssvr17.news.prodigy.net...
> Hi,
>
> We constructed an addition on the side of our house. The construction is
> wood framing with exterior siding. The foundation wasn't poured high
> enough, and when the builder levelled the soil it was touching the bottom
> row of siding, and the yard was basically flat. The ground soil next to
> the addition was never tamped. The adjacent property slopes toward ours.
>
> I was told by several people that you want several inches of exposed
> foundation between the soil and the siding. I rented a machine and
> cleared the soil away from the siding, and now I'm concerned about drawing
> more water towards the foundation. I'm wondering what the best course of
> action is. I've considered doing the following:
>
> 1) Build up the soil back to the point where the siding begins to have a
> more level yard, even though the soil will meet the siding.
>
> 2) Put in an earthen berm near the house, about 12-18 from the wall, and
> plant bushes. This would create a minor slope towards the house but also
> (hopefully) create a barrier against the water coming down from my
> neighbor's property. Maybe the bushes would soak up some extra water too.
>
> 3) Hire someone to remove a foot of siding, replace it with something
> strong and waterproof, and maybe put in a retaining wall for aesthetics.
>
> The builder abandoned the job towards the end, so I'm kinda on my own for
> this. I'm in Illinois, north of Chicago. TIA for any help or opinions
>

If I understand the problem, you have adjacent neighboring property that has
an incline towards your property. And, that incline is adjacent to the side
of the house where the addition exists.

Many things have to happen. You need splash clearance from the soil so your
siding is not damaged. There needs to be an incline from the house outwards
to at least the dripline or 2 feet, whichever is greater. This is to keep
standing water away from the foundation. The soil in the yard needs to
route the water from the neighboring incline around the house. The depth
and width must accomodate any amount of water coming from this incline and
natural precipitation above it without standing water occurring.
Dave

Steve

2007-09-04, 9:25 am

"mrsgator88" <nomospam@nomospam.com> wrote on 03 Sep 2007 in group
alt.building.construction:

> We constructed an addition on the side of our house. The
> construction is wood framing with exterior siding. The foundation
> wasn't poured high enough, and when the builder levelled the soil it
> was touching the bottom row of siding, and the yard was basically
> flat. The ground soil next to the addition was never tamped. The
> adjacent property slopes toward ours.
>
> I was told by several people that you want several inches of exposed
> foundation between the soil and the siding. I rented a machine and
> cleared the soil away from the siding, and now I'm concerned about
> drawing more water towards the foundation. I'm wondering what the
> best course of action is. I've considered doing the following:
>
> 1) Build up the soil back to the point where the siding begins to
> have a more level yard, even though the soil will meet the siding.

Nope -- you need several inches of bare foundation to keep water from
running under the sill plate and to discourage termites. The soil should
never contact any portion of your house except the foundation.

> 2) Put in an earthen berm near the house, about 12-18 from the wall,
> and plant bushes. This would create a minor slope towards the house
> but also (hopefully) create a barrier against the water coming down
> from my neighbor's property. Maybe the bushes would soak up some
> extra water too.

Nope -- the ground needs to slope _away_ from the house.

> 3) Hire someone to remove a foot of siding, replace it with something
> strong and waterproof, and maybe put in a retaining wall for
> aesthetics.

Nope -- see 1).

> The builder abandoned the job towards the end, so I'm kinda on my own
> for this. I'm in Illinois, north of Chicago. TIA for any help or
> opinions

4) Build a swale (a wide, shallow ditch) at least four feet away from
the side of the house. The goal is to have the water flow away from the
foundation, into the swale, and around the corners of the house to the
street. You'll need to use a transit or a water level to ensure that the
slope of the swale runs the water in the right direction. If a swale
doesn't work, you'll need to install drains.

Water control is important for the health of your foundation and
basement (if you have one).

--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

mogator88

2007-09-04, 1:25 pm

On Sep 4, 6:35 am, Steve <resp...@online.newsgroup> wrote:
>
> 4) Build a swale (a wide, shallow ditch) at least four feet away from
> the side of the house. The goal is to have the water flow away from the
> foundation, into the swale, and around the corners of the house to the
> street. You'll need to use a transit or a water level to ensure that the
> slope of the swale runs the water in the right direction. If a swale
> doesn't work, you'll need to install drains.
>
> Water control is important for the health of your foundation and
> basement (if you have one).
>
> --
> Steve B.
> New Life Home Improvement

There is a problem with the swale. Our street has a raised curb and
sidewalk, and from the sidewalk the ground slopes down to our house.
In fact, where the driveway meets the garage the builder had to
install a grates and a drain. So a swale would have to run to the
rear of the property, and there's a shed in the way that's already
sinking.

Installing drains would not be complicated. My town requires all
downspouts to connect to the municipal storm sewer system. Yes,
that's right. We actually have two sewer systems, one for waste, one
for runoff. So, the pipes I'd need to connect to are already in place
and fairly easy to get to, since there's a downspout at the low corner
and a cleanout at the high corner.

My questions are now, what kind of drain do I want, and where should I
place it? Thanks

Steve

2007-09-05, 3:25 am

mogator88 <mogator88@netzero.net> wrote on 04 Sep 2007 in group
alt.building.construction:

> On Sep 4, 6:35 am, Steve <resp...@online.newsgroup> wrote:
>
> There is a problem with the swale. Our street has a raised curb and
> sidewalk, and from the sidewalk the ground slopes down to our house.
> In fact, where the driveway meets the garage the builder had to
> install a grates and a drain. So a swale would have to run to the
> rear of the property, and there's a shed in the way that's already
> sinking.
>
> Installing drains would not be complicated. My town requires all
> downspouts to connect to the municipal storm sewer system. Yes,
> that's right. We actually have two sewer systems, one for waste, one
> for runoff. So, the pipes I'd need to connect to are already in
> place and fairly easy to get to, since there's a downspout at the low
> corner and a cleanout at the high corner.
>
> My questions are now, what kind of drain do I want, and where should
> I place it? Thanks

I hate it when the house is lower than the street. Everything is more
complicated.

Since you have such an accommodating town, I'd put in a French drain
and attach it to the existing lines. In the strictest sense, a French
drain is just a ditch filled with gravel. FDs are usually improved by
putting a perforated pipe near the bottom to increase the flow. The
pipe can be connected to your existing drain system. I'd also put a
rain gutter on the roof and connect the downspouts to this system.

FDs are superior to simply connecting the downspouts to the
existing system because the FD can collect water along its entire
length, not just from the downspouts.

I'd put the FD several feet away from the foundation and make it low
enough that the soil slopes away from the house. I like a grade of
about 1/2" per foot, but your code or special conditions may be
different. Around here (Arlington, TX), code requires that 6" of
foundation be exposed.

--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

CWatters

2007-09-05, 5:25 pm

"Steve" <respond@online.newsgroup> wrote in message
news:Xns99A242EE1AEE184365720018436572@66.250.146.128...
> Since you have such an accommodating town, I'd put in a French drain

or perhaps linear dranage product...

http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain06.htm

We have a similar situation to the OP. The ground slopes towards the house
because we built on a hill. We excavated a patio area into the hill and
arranged for it to slope gently away from the house. We built a small
retaining wall just high enough to sit on comfortably. We installed a linear
drain at the foot of the wall. We also put a french drain on the uphill
side..

House - patio - linear drain - wall - french drain - hill/lawn

Dave

2007-09-06, 9:25 am

"Steve" <respond@online.newsgroup> wrote in message
news:Xns99A242EE1AEE184365720018436572@66.250.146.128...
> mogator88 <mogator88@netzero.net> wrote on 04 Sep 2007 in group
> alt.building.construction:
>
>
> I hate it when the house is lower than the street. Everything is more
> complicated.

>
> Since you have such an accommodating town, I'd put in a French drain
> and attach it to the existing lines. In the strictest sense, a French
> drain is just a ditch filled with gravel. FDs are usually improved by
> putting a perforated pipe near the bottom to increase the flow. The
> pipe can be connected to your existing drain system. I'd also put a
> rain gutter on the roof and connect the downspouts to this system.
>
> FDs are superior to simply connecting the downspouts to the
> existing system because the FD can collect water along its entire
> length, not just from the downspouts.
>
> I'd put the FD several feet away from the foundation and make it low
> enough that the soil slopes away from the house. I like a grade of
> about 1/2" per foot, but your code or special conditions may be
> different. Around here (Arlington, TX), code requires that 6" of
> foundation be exposed.
>
> --
> Steve B.
> New Life Home Improvement

Similar problem here was addressed by builder. They simply built the
leading (low side) of the piers higher to accommodate the soil grading
modifications later. The entire house (pier and beam) is a bit higher off
the the ground due to this. After adding topsoil, and forming a downgrade
from the house all around, the side of the house facing the hill (bottom of
siding) is about 8" from the soil line. The general layout of how most of
the rainwater is removed before hitting the edges of the soil downgrade
adjacent to the house is outlined in my other reply. Simple grading.

I have a 10X10X8 french drain used for purged water from my aerator system
for the well water. The area does get soggy when there's alot of rain
(mushy). Otherwise, is firm to stepping in the area. Slightly uphill and
canty-corner from the house, some 50 ft. away.

Am guessing the original contractor was building into the grade (hill) with
the addition and attempting to maintain the slab level to the current home
regarding to the original post. Just following the plans provided. Post
construction soil grading is lastly done as far as the builder "abandoning"
the job.
Dave

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