foundation height and grade
Jeff Cater
4 years ago
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Holly Stockley
4 years agoJeff Cater
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Grading around foundation - what to do with this river rock?
Comments (3)Yeah, what I am addressing here is rain water. I have gutters that function correctly, but there is still a lot of water hitting my 2 story house that drips down the side and towards the ground below. In addition to that, the area under the deck that wraps around that entire side of the house is lower than the surrounding areas. Any water hitting my deck has the potential to drip towads the house and absorb into the area against the foundation. My first goal was to fix the grading immediately next to the house, and thus the question. I'm ultimately going to have to pull up a lot of the deck and level off the topsoil in that entire area. I hate to do it, because a lot of the screws are recessed at this point and there will be some damage to the deck I just spent a few hundred hours sanding down and refinishing last summer. I also have no sprinkler system or any kind of water leaks around the house. Our lot gets a lot of subsuface drainage from the adjouning areas, which is nothing I can really fix. What I am trying to do is minimize the amount of water coming into the drain tiles when it rains. Just wanted to clear those things up. As suggested, I'm going to try to get as much rock out as possible (its only a surface layer of maybe 3") and fill it with soil to the appropriate grade. After that, I'm going to cover it with a landscaping tarp going out about 10' from the house and directing water to the natural drainage paths per the suggestion of a village engineer. Thanks!...See MoreWood Shed Foundation Level with Grade?
Comments (2)Hello ammonihah99! A wooden shed of that size definitely needs a proper foundation. Check with your local building codes to see if there is specific information about the requirements in your area (contact your county Building Manager or codes office). The ordinances may determine what you need to do. Best wishes....See MoreFoundation grading and efflorescence
Comments (5)Thank you for ur answers. Back filling I will research just thought cosmetically I can pour cement down to cover ugly parts of the yard where weeds grow and also slant it aways from the foundation. I can leave the dirt and add sod toake it nice. I just want to finish bsmt and not worry if there is a real serious problem with water. I have been in the home for a year now and had been through some real rain showers no leaks have came into the bsmt so am I worry to much about this problem an the efflorencce could have been on the walls for some time it was a short sale so it wasn't taken cared of for about two years bfore I moved in. Should I get a bsmt waterproofer to come in and see if it's gonna be a problem?...See MoreWhat is typical for builder to do w/ grade around foundation?
Comments (8)To me reading your comments sounds like you are jumping around a bit on different things. "How about something like: Final Grade: Grade shall slope away from the house . . ." In general final grade should be specified in general notes and on wall sections and elevations. It should expose the foundation wall a min 4" (6"-8" adopted many places) and slope away as Charles says. There should not be a need to dictate rough grade vs final grade. Your contract should state whether there is a topping thickness, sod/seed, or left rough grade and finished by owner. Any need for more grading like swales and retaining walls should be handled on a landscaping plan and figure out who's doing it. - "After the forms are removed, the construction is complete, ... what is typical or normal practice for a builder to do in pushing any fill back around the slab and leaving the project to the next phase - a landscaper?" Contractors just love to backfill foundations at the 2nd or 3rd day from the pour. Admittedly, this allows framing to start safely and keep their insurance premiums low. However, they usually never shore/brace the walls good enough, and you will get cracks. The slope will not be fine tuned. Skipping the foundation drainage lecture, the backfill will remain rough grade until the end, and then whoever the contract says does final. Backfill for slabs talked about below. - "Do they place enough fill to ensure say 6 feet of drainage away in all directions for example?" - Beyond backfill (height which will be detemined by the plan/elevation drawings which should address the site topography) if there are other areas to do either further filling or excavating, this should be accounted for originally by the excavator and the setting of the foundation height. They will either want some of the spoils or figure how much it will cost to truck spoils off. If you are talking about 6' from the edge of slabs, that requirement is from the foundation. Sidewalks, patios, and driveways will also have their own slope (and should be noted on drawings). - "you could see where some concrete had seeped under the form and then few small but ugly gaps under that to the ground from erosion" You must be talking about flatwork, and that is common for the forms to not go all the way down to the bottom of what is dug out for the slab (if you use 2x4 for a 4" slab you theoretically have 1/2" squeezing under - that's ok). Slabs go in long after the foundation is backfilled, so it will remain exposed as they will not redo rough grading, that moves to final grading and what/who is specified in the contract to do it and what to do....See MoreUser
4 years agoYardvaark
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4 years agoJeff Cater
4 years agoJeff Cater
4 years agoJeff Cater
4 years agoYardvaark
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4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoUser
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