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Landscape Design Building a Home Design Dilemma

How to finish this? ground height, retaining wall?

3 years ago

Hi, please see below for a picture of the front of our house. Not sure what the best way to finish this is...? Obviously we need some fill as the ground settled over winter, and ideally I don't want more than 1 step up from the sidewalk to the front stoop. Going to pour a cement apron in front of the garage and then sidewalk to the front door. Will put decorative stone in between the house and sidewalk. Do I need a couple blocks for a retaining wall by the service door? Or can the sheathing be waterproofed somehow and the grade be slopped down just covering a corner of the sheathing and angle the stone veneer with the slope? Thanks!

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Comments (10)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
Picture missing.
Sarah M
Original Author
3 years ago
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regaldozer, The situation may not be all that bad. What you propose might well work. But the things that will determine the stability you have not related to us. The wall details linked to by Dave are some good general construction ideas. If you have marginal soils that may sometimes become saturated and you are doing a 3 to 5 ft wall you better get close to what those details show. Keep in mind that engineers that do generic plans count on a worst case scenerio. Then they throw in a 50% safety factor. For a 1 ft high wall the details are way overblown. There is a world of difference in the force behind a 2 ft wall compared to a 1 ft wall. Taken all by itself a 1ft wood wall can stand with rebar through the wood and 18 to 20 inches in hard undesturbed subsoil where the rebar is used on 16" centers. But in your case you are doing multiple beds up the slope. So you must take into consideration the overall stability of the slope itself. Since your plan calls for 1 ft high then 3 ft horizonal, I assume you have a basic 3 to 1 slope. A compacted 3 to 1 slope of most soils is stable. But it is close to the point where there can be an instability. As the length of the slope increases so does the chance of a slide. Saturation of the soil in a slope robs the ground of its strength. If the total weight of the saturated soil exceeds the soil friction, then the whole slope breaks loose and slides. The slip point will be at the depth of the soil saturation. And dead men or rebar anchors won't help unless they extend into the slope to a depth well past where the soil will become saturated. For this reason it is important to know the geology of the slope. Take a posthole digger out there and see what you have. Does the slope level off just above your top bed or does it continue on upward?
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thanks for the suggestions brutuses, yours looks great but there are only a couple of tiles on each side. I don't think I would like to do that over a longer stretch of the wall. Chair rail with a border under it would be great, the problem would be finding one that matches. Redroze, what you are describing sounds beautiful, but we are using ceramic tile and most of them don't come with that many options, very few have a matching chair rail. I never thought of wood as a possibility. Now that Bill mentioned wood, I can think that a nice detailed one painted to match the tile, may be a good alternative. Will definitely keep that in mind
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Usually, when you excavate the area you establish temporary stakes with needed pitch n height at the house where you need to be. As you start installing the base. etc you put stakes around and mark the stakes with the needed pitch as it declines. After the base is done, you tie a string from the building and run your pavers following the string height. Good practice to have a transit and take elevation shots along the perimeter as you go to make sure the string maintains the needed pitch. Good luck
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Unless the bed is made deeper, with a wall where it meets the slab not enough depth will be achieved to produce a useful area of different soil above the existing grade. If there is no need to provide a layer of different soil for growing particular kinds of plants not thought adapted to the existing soil, then the need for a raised bed in that spot is not apparent. And as it is it looks like the existing soil level may already be too deep where it abuts the side of the house, it may not be desirable to raise it further. Maybe what you need instead is a mowing strip. If the corner angle is removed and replaced with a curving lawn edge it will be easier to mow.
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Sarah M
Original Author
3 years ago
Sorry Mark...had issues getting the picture to load.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
Some people do not have a problem getting loaded.

What do the drawings show in that area?
Sarah M
Original Author
3 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
3 years ago
Hopefully finish grading is part of the construction contract. If not, you may need to hire it done (an experienced landscape contractor can do this). It is quite possible you will need to bring in additional soil, as scraped and compacted soil after construction activity is not well suited for good plant growth. But wait until after the finish grading is done so you know how much is required. And you are probably not going to want 'fill' but rather an enriched planting loam available at virtually any bulk soil supplier or landscape supply outlets.

From the attached drawings, it appears there are some topographical changes that may require the use of retaining walls. But I don't see anything directly associated with the entry that calls out for one. That just looks like it will need a grade adjustment and leveling.

Installation of any retaining walls can be a costly proposition. It might be best to hire a qualified landscape designer to assist you in their optimum placement so you can maximize effectiveness yet minimize cost.
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
Have the person that designed the house provide the solution to your satisfaction.
3onthetree
3 years ago
The garage slab appears to be the same elevation as the main floor. No requirement for a ~4" curb and no stem walls? There should be minimum 4" exposed foundation wall above grade, burying the veneer even with waterproof membrane is just incorporating a risk you don't need. Since the sidewalk should be farther out away from the garage anyway, the apron can have a monolithic turndown to act as a retaining wall. The wall can be at the inside corner.
Sarah M
Original Author
3 years ago
I'm just more concerned about falling off the concrete by the service door with a big drop there...

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) My father's company does trucking and excavating so he'll take care those materials (I guess I was using the term fill rather loosely, and I have so much topsoil from striping and reworking the about 3 acres of farmland we're on that I'll have some left to sell once were done.) I'll lay the decorative rock as I've done that before. @3onthetree It is a zero step entry from garage to house so yes it's all the same height.

@Mark Bischak, Architect We were pretty well done with the designer and his company after it took 5 mo to draw the plan, and we got the final plan the day before we dug the basement...
3onthetree
3 years ago
4" exposed foundation wall under the kitchen window and looks like about another 12" up to the garage door threshold, so a ~16" or so drop off. Landscaping along there, bushes will act as a visual railing. You're not worried about falling off the side dropoffs of the front stoop, so no need to worry here.

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