Placement of house v road

[Deleted]

Is it weird for house to be set down from the road? Would that bother you? I would address drainage issues in building. I'm thinking about 6 foot step down, house about 86 foot back from the road, the 25 foot strip of highest land right by the road a row of trees, not every green screen, but some nice spring bloomers not too tall. 

Thoughts? 

[tractor]

Unless you live in an incredibly flat state, I don't know how you could avoid having a substantial number of houses below the road, it's quite common here in Michigan. I wouldn't worry about it, as long as any runoff has somewhere to go after it passes you house, you should be fine. Simple grading or landscaping can be placed to divert any water around your home, and not into it, then you should be all set. We have areas around here where all you see is the top of the roof when you drive past.

[happyhoix]

I think it depends on the area. Driving around different neighborhoods near your lot, do you see other houses set six feel lower than the road? If there are no other houses like yours it might be a negative point for buyers.

[Deleted]

Most of them are not. None beside/across from lot. But not unheard of in the immediate area. It is not nearly as common as road level though, it is the exception.

[Lizard Queen]

 you could even have extra parking. 

[Deleted]

Lol.

I'm actually contemplating it for more parking.. The lot drops pretty quickly and if most of parking is behind house people would need to walk up drive/stairs. Plus people are yelling at me that I have no garage attached or carport near house for resale. If there was a larger parking area in front if someone ever wanted to add something like that they could.

[bean29]

Six Feet Below the road? Is your lot sloped enough that they can raise the foundation on one side and give you a 1st level with a full exposure on the other side?

How is your architect recommending you deal with this?  Can you move the house further back on the road in order to minimize the drop?

There is a house in my neighborhood that should have a partial side exposure, they did not take advantage of it, and their lot dips down from the sidewalk to the side of the house.  They seem to have a real wet lot, and I know they had seepage in the basement.  They had a deck on the back of the house and the removed it and regarded the back to try to fix it.

If I remember correctly your lot is at least a half acre or an acre so you should have some room to play with the placement on the site.

I also agree that there are areas in WI that are in the Kettle Moraine area where the houses are way below the street level.  They can look real attractive, but in winter, you have to worry about how you will get up and down an icy driveway.  You can say our vehicles will be 4x4 etc, but you have to worry about guests and your own kids - if you want to give them a beater, it will cost more and be harder to find if you need a 4x4.  Make your driveway grade/slope as gradual as possible.

What does Mr. Oped recommend/want? 

Can you add the attached garage?  I would not worry about having some parking in front and some behind, just make sure if someone is going to use a walker/wheelchair you can accommodate getting them in the house.  Everyone else will deal.  We have some houses in the neighborhood that have a full exposure in the back and the front of the house is at grade, they built a deck ramp the size of a sidewalk on the side of the house that meets up with the rear deck, so that if someone came in a wheelchair you could easily bring them around to the back.  It also makes getting grills and stuff from the garage to the deck easier.  I realize Mr. Oped may want a detached garage for his business stuff, but you could have an attached garage for the family stuff and a second garage for the business stuff.  I see a few of those in my area. 

Oh, and I have a partial exposure and we  had a huge party last year.  No one seemed to object to hoofing it up a half flight of stairs to get into my house.  (you can go down 4 steps into my basement or up about 6 steps (4.5 feet) to the dinette, or you can walk around to the front).  Just make sure your steps are not too steep inside the house.  If you have to run up and down those steps and they are too steep you are the one that will suffer.  Don't nickel and dime yourself now on things that may make a difference to you being able to continue to live in the house as you age.  My basement steps inside my house are standard for my builder, but they are steep for me and I have watched my MIL go up and down with much trepidation more than a few times. 

If you are amortizing the cost over a 30 year time frame, some of these things may not really cost that much extra. 

[Deleted]

There is no sidewalk. Further back would increase the drop. There will be walk out basement in back, not sure if that's what you mean by full exposure. The lot is two acres, 175 along road by 518. The slope is only 4 in 74 for first section, then 4 in 58 for next, that is the section we planned on house, but I'd push it back a little if did terracing the front, the next section drop is 12 in 64... Then 8 in 66. I could put house closer to road, but I'm not sure I want to be closer.

Honestly I don't think anyone talked to the architect about it?

I do know we'd need to plan and put in draining protections.

I have the driveway figured so it's no more than 8-9% slope.

He will do what I want? But I'm not sure it's a good idea ot not.

[Deleted]

I live where there are lots of steep hills and narrow river valleys.  On my drive to work I pass lots of houses where the road is about even with their roof. I guess I never really thought of it as a bad thing as long as you're not getting water. 

[Deleted]

I can't find any picture close to what I am thinking. So, take this one. First I'd likely drop in 2 three foot walls instead, but between road and first wall 25 feet with trees, not as sloped as in pic. Then second wall small Terrance beds, to level like where that pergola is where my drive parking would be, although about 40 foot wide space then house...

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

house about 86 foot back from the road

That's about 30 yards of driveway that needs to be plowed or shoveled.

Our house is set down from the road and we don't have any draining issues.  However. we have a very steep driveway that is going to cause issues as we get older.  It also gets incredibly slick if we even get
frost.  This house also has a drainage creek that runs down the side of it and is surrounded by a lot of vegetation, not just grass.

Your picture looks like our front yard, other than the rock wall is about 2' and we have 2 of them about 12' apart.

[Tennesseer]

Oped-your picture above (and if you decide to do something like that in front of your home)-build in some drains next to the top section of the walls.

[Deleted]

Definitely Tenn, drains and pipes and sloping in place.

[bean29]

Yes, that looks real nice...and as long as Mr. Oped has figured the cost of the terracing in and is prepared to do the work, go for it.

We have another house in the neighborhood that needed terracing in the front. I saw the plans and it was really very attractive, but they ended up not doing it b/c they couldn't afford it. We have a retaining wall similar to that in height about 4 feet high and 115 long on one side, then it curves in and goes for maybe thirty feet in the other direction. Our block cost $4,000 if I remember correctly and DH and his family were the laborers. I know for terracing you will a series of walls.

Yes, walk out basement is what I was picturing with a 6 foot drop. If you have the slope on the driveway figured in, It sounds like it would be ok. 

DH is sorry he did not put a few retaining walls in the front of our house to make the slope of the front yard more gradual.  If your DH were not a mason, I would be more concerned that you consult with a few landscapers, but this is his bread and butter.  You still might want to get some bids just to get ideas though.

Is that a poured concrete wall or is it block?  We used block, the neighbors used field stone that is somehow glued together.  DH said it was a lot cheaper that what we did.  My only concern is that the landscaping could get very pricy. 

[Deleted]

Yes, if I was paying ful price for it I'm not sure that I would do it

[Tennesseer]

Apr 21, 2016 10:43:37 GMT -5 oped said:

Definitely Tenn, drains and pipes and sloping in place.

Oped-the picture with the wall and the pergola reminds me of a Civil War battlefield park.

[mroped]

I'll put the house next to the road and level the rest of the lot so I can turn it into a soccer field!
That would make me happy!

But then again I'm married and nobody cares about me! 

[haapai]

It's not particularly unusual to see houses below street grade where I live.  It might turn off buyers who have been told to never buy a house that is built into a hill or don't understand the ways that drainage issues have been made non-issues. 

I'd be a little more concerned about the garage bit, particularly if you get snow.  If you're going to have to plow that driveway, you'll probably want to leave a lot of space to turn around in and pile snow on.  You might not be leaving enough space to build a garage. 

ETA: Snow piles generally do nasty things to landscaping.  You might want to think a bit about where that pile is gonna go and where it will drain to when it melts. 

[Tennesseer]

Apr 21, 2016 12:27:31 GMT -5 mroped said:

I'll put the house next to the road and level the rest of the lot so I can turn it into a soccer field!
That would make me happy!

But then again I'm married and nobody cares about me! 

Wait until you are a grandfather. Even the family pet will have a higher ranking.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

One thing to consider is that bedroom windows then would be flush with the road, maybe making bedrooms subject to more road noise than you might want.  Trees and shrubs in front of the house would offer a sound buffer, but, otherwise, do you want your front elevation view to be tires rolling by?

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Apr 21, 2016 10:31:44 GMT -5 oped said:

I can't find any picture close to what I am thinking. So, take this one. First I'd likely drop in 2 three foot walls instead, but between road and first wall 25 feet with trees, not as sloped as in pic. Then second wall small Terrance beds, to level like where that pergola is where my drive parking would be, although about 40 foot wide space then house...

This is similar to my backyard except with ground cover and ornamental trees and shrubs.  There are houses up and beyond my hill, but trees block them for the most part.  Oh, and my wall is fieldstone.  

[bean29]

Apr 21, 2016 12:27:31 GMT -5 mroped said:

I'll put the house next to the road and level the rest of the lot so I can turn it into a soccer field!
That would make me happy!

But then again I'm married and nobody cares about me! 

Hmm,

When we built in 2004 - there were a few unique houses/with sports figured in a big way. 

In my neighborhood - a house with a full basketball court.  House had full exposure.  front of house at street level 4 car attached garage in front - directly behind the garage is a 2 story full size basketball court (indoors).  They also put in a full size in ground swimming pool.  and terraced the slope from the front to the back with landscaping blocks.  House went to foreclosure.  I am sure the bank lost $150,000 or more.

Another house had an outdoor basketball court or tennis court behind the house.  That house also went to foreclosure.  Lot was small for the size of house.  I think the people that lost it intentionally caused a mold problem - the basketball court was not what made the house upside down, but it couldn't have added 100% of its cost to the value of the property.

Anyways, if you wanted a soccer field, it would have been cheaper to just buy a flat lot.  Guess you will just have to go to the park instead.

Just b/c you are married doesn't mean no one cares about you.  You need to learn to speak up and negotiate the important stuff.  Maybe what you think would get more attention if you illustrated your thoughts - like OK honey, I calculated out the cost of what you want, and we are looking at $20,000 in block and XYZ man hours of labor and this is what it might look like.  My DH and I have been married now for 24 years, we have kind of learned when to back up and listen to each other.  We probably each have things we regret not standing firm on, or not giving in on in the past.

DH and I went on the fall Parade of homes tour when it came time to do our rear deck/patio.  We went to look at exterior home design not interior.  I had to "sell DH" on why we were going.  I think it really helped.  We took our cell phones out and took pictures of everything we thought we could use.  When DH was talking to his clients for pricing, I got my phone out and scrolled through the pictures.  I know I kept asking DH to make it about 1/2 the size he did make it.  Gulp.  I have never even seen how much he paid for the pavers but I know it was a lot.  Sometimes my DH gets things into his head that the whole project has to be tackled at once.  This was one he was not willing to do piecemeal. 

My regrets on my house - I should have more square footage in the dining room and dinette.  I originally wanted a 2400 square foot version of my house with a 4 car garage.  DH opted for 2100 square feet with brick on the front and a 3 car garage.  he told me if I wanted the 2400 square foot version to go ahead but the brick was non-negotiable.  So I took the smaller house with the brick.  I seriously considered making my garage deeper it is 21 x 22 for the "original garage, then there is a 3rd car which is something like 12x21 and then there is 12x10 on the back end of the 3rd car.  I still wish I would have added the extra 3 feet on the back end of the garage.  When you have shelves lining the outer walls, it would be nice to have a little more space for a longer car etc.  I am sorry I did not go for the extra square feet in the house too.  I wanted the fireplace on the outside wall, DH said putting it in corner was OK, I let him win.  I have regret on both, but it is mild, not the end of the world - we still have a very nice house and way more entertaining room than most of the people we know.  Even those we know with bigger and nicer houses really like our house layout - so we got more right than wrong.  I argued for hardwoods, DH said no, but now I think he regrets that somewhat.  We did have prices, so we checked it out, and cost was a big part of why we didn't go forward  but for DH he just didn't think the hardwood would be durable in certain living conditions.

I am also sorry it took us 10 years to put in the full deck and lower patio - it really makes the house more livable.  Leaving yourself so much to do as sweat equity can really be a hindrance.  Most of my subdivision was built from 2003-2006 and boy are the houses coming up for sale - I think the kids are going off to college and people are deciding they don't need so much house.  Just make sure you get to enjoy all those nice features you plan into your house.

Our Property Taxes are over $7,000/yr.  DH and I have talked about it, and it just seems nonsensical to pay those property taxes.  We figure we will stay a few more years and then we are considering selling.  There is a lot of development going on in our city, so we think we will make more if we wait a few years.  We may or may not sell though, we think we would go to the next city over but it is definitely a different county and much more rural.  We would rebuild very much the same house, not realy smaller.

[haapai]

Sewage or drain field?  If drain field, can it go downslope or will it have to go (uphill) into your front/roadside yard?  There are definitely pumps that can do this job for you, but it does create an area that cannot be landscaped much. 

[Deleted]

Drain field, but that is in the back, where the land goes up again

[haapai]

Good, that sounds like a place that nobody will ever be tempted to park. 

[alabamagal]

I live on top of a mountain (well an Alabama mountain) not very high but the terrain is definitely not flat.  I live on a cul-de-sac with 4 houses.  Mine is about 10 feet above the road, the 2 on either side are at road level and the 4th is about 15 feet below the road and only about 30 feet from the road.  The house that is below the road, all you can see from the road is their roof, so I guess it is somewhat private.

Sounds like your house may be set back pretty far so that you don't have a steep driveway.  We have parents that visit in their motorhome so it is nice having a flat driveway.  It also makes it easier to take the trash cans out on trash day.  I have an uncle who had to buy a motorized cart to bring his trash cans to the road.

[mroped]

Pennsylvania is about 95%slope so no mater what you are guaranteed to live up or down hill!

The drain field is 260-270' away from the road at about 29-30' below road level and draining away from the house/road.
After we dig, I'll have some summary lay out for my retaining walls but I'll build them as the backfill is brought in.
As of now, if all goes as planned, I should have the house and the walls done by next spring/early summer all complete.
Also my shop should be up in this time frame but possibly not completely finished.

We are gonna have retaining walls to the extent of making it look like a rice paddy

[Deleted]

Our current house has tons of stone walls if you've seen any pics I've posted previously.

And bean, it's always best to assume he's joking

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Apr 21, 2016 13:53:24 GMT -5 oped said:

Drain field, but that is in the back, where the land goes up again

But still easy to access, if necessary, right?

[Deleted]

Yep