Lean-to carport next to steep hill

[Stuart in MN]

Would adding a parking area on the lower part of the yard be a possibility? You would avoid having to do a lot of fill with a retaining wall, but on the minus side it would require adding a driveway down to it along with some steps up to the main level. I suppose a drive sloping down from the street could be a problem after a big snowstorm, so maybe this idea is a non-starter.

 

[The Bean]

Too bad you're gonna backfill rather than make a man cave under...

 

[Milton Shaw]

Fiberglass markers. You stick them in the ground so the plow guy knows where to plow and where NOT to plow...

I haven't lived in that heavy snow area in better than 50 years and they had no orange markets then. I saw 10 foot plus of snow appear overnight in the back yard in Flint Michigan in the mid to late 60's. On the interstate it was drifts for 50 feet in cuts through the hills.

 

[drboom]

Would adding a parking area on the lower part of the yard be a possibility? You would avoid having to do a lot of fill with a retaining wall, but on the minus side it would require adding a driveway down to it along with some steps up to the main level. I suppose a drive sloping down from the street could be a problem after a big snowstorm, so maybe this idea is a non-starter.

Unfortunately, that would be unrealistic.

 

[drboom]

Too bad you're gonna backfill rather than make a man cave under...

I was thinking a better indoor range but yes, I wish we could make better use of that space. I'd love to be educated otherwise but I have to think that building out a basement under a parking structure would be well over what we can afford. That was part of the initial thought for using shipping containers before I was educated on their lack of side wall strength.

 

[CN Spots]

If I were in your shoes I'd just have somebody drop off a load of 21A limestone and spread it out next to where that minivan is, extend the spot towards the road and just have them park on that. I did that in a spot where our kids friends kept parking and rutting up the front yard and it set almost like concrete after a few rains. Easy enough to remove it later if you want your lawn back. Looks like there might be a small tree in the way but it's easy enough to remove that too.

 

[drboom]

If I were in your shoes I'd just have somebody drop off a load of 21A limestone and spread it out next to where that minivan is, extend the spot towards the road and just have them park on that. I did that in a spot where our kids friends kept parking and rutting up the front yard and it set almost like concrete after a few rains. Easy enough to remove it later if you want your lawn back. Looks like there might be a small tree in the way but it's easy enough to remove that too.

There is enough of a hill there that we'll need a small retaining wall to hold anything there. We do have a couple of spots elsewhere we can turn into a parking pad that require more of a walk. Those are our fallback plans if we can't make something affordable that is covered and near the house.

 

[The Bean]

I don't like CMU as a retaining wall... would rather see reinforced poured concrete. And don't forget the horizontal extension back under the fill or it's not a retaining wall.

 

[drboom]

As winter fades away here in NH and spots of ground are appearing from the melting snow, it’s time to think about this project again as we’ll have an additional vehicle starting this spring. One idea I’d like some GJ feedback in is to put a garage on piers or putting in an appropriate foundation to put a garage extending into the hill where you see the car in the last picture of post 1. We’re thinking of a small (24x20?) two car garage from one of the pre-fab’d builders in the area (we’re may be too far from Amish country to get one of their builders out here). It’s a 12-15’ vertical drop on that hill so I’m not sure if or what would be a cost effective solution. At least 2/3 of the garage would be out over what is now the hill.

If we do a pre-fab garage on piers, the pre-fab company provides the structure but who/what do we use as a floor?

I’m really hoping to keep the project cost under $30k or we’ll rapidly exceed what the project is worth to us.

Thanks for the advice and reviving this thread.

 

[ipgenie]

Give the snow plow guy a spare key and a couple hundred bucks extra and have him move the cars when he plows. Kids starting to drive now will be gone in a few years so costs will be low and spread out and no stress on the wife about plowing.

 

[bbxlr8]

So I followed this when you first posted, as I have a lot of vertical slope here in PA. Going double wide there is going to be a cost challenge for sure. My situation wasn't as severe and I solved it with grading and terracing. Something to think about...

However, a neighbor had almost the exact situation with his goal & lot vertical, and he was able to get a prefab double in place about 2 years ago. They used concrete forms about 3'x3'x6' to do an interlocked "wall" and then built it up with about 4' from the building edge to the drop. Pretty sure they used heavy rip rap and rock reduced to crusher run, fully compacted as a base, then the soil. Back filling on the downside of the wall sloping away conceals the full extent and supports it as well.

 

[thdewey]

This will be a great project if it works out. That's a pretty steep dropoff on the side. But you don't want to risk your house on this project. ATC's approach is exactly how I did the foundation on my unattached garage. The block edge was pretty affordable compared to other options. If this is going to be attached to the house or anything like a car stored on the pad, I'd get it engineered.

 

[JuncleJohn]

Totally different idea. I’ve seen some very nicely done carports attached to the front of the house. In your case it would need to be around 40’ wide by 24-30’ deep. Additional parking would be achieved by parking one on the left and one on the right of your existing garage doors.

If feasible, that would let you take advantage of ground that’s already flat.

Just a thought

John

 

[drboom]

I appreciate the thought JuncleJohn, unfortunately the other side of the driveway cannot be widened nor or there space for a car.
It seems most likely that the idea ATC suggested is the most practical. As the snow melts, we’ll be reaching out to foundation and retaining wall companies for quotes. If anyone happens to have a suggestion for a relevant firm in the southern NH area, I’d welcome that.