House & detached garage below street level...?

[aunsafe2015]

House & detached garage below street level...?

See attached pic. [Picture deleted--pm me if you want to see it] House and detached garage are several (~3-4) feet below street level, and the front of the lot slopes down towards the house and the garage. The cul-de-sac itself generally is a high point (top of a small hill) and the street behind the picture actually slopes away from the house in the other direction. So most of the rain water that falls into the street would actually run away from the house, back down the street.

There's a bit of a bump up to the garage slab, presumably designed to keep water from running down the driveway and straight into the garage.

The backyard continues the gradual slope, so once the water gets past the house and garage, it would keep on going downhill far away.

Is this sort of grading/sloping towards house something that would concern you? I don't know what kind of drainage systems, if any, are currently in place.

My initial thought was that this sort of sloping is not a big concern, but I did a few Google searches and it seems like there are a fair number of people out there who claim they they would never buy such a house.

Would appreciate the board's collective input!

 

[pattenp]

I have a house that the front yard slopes toward the house but there is a 10-15ft wide slope out from house and there is a perimeter drain system installed at the footing to carry any water around and away from the house. As long as the grading and drainage is done correctly there should be no problems. Is the house on a crawlspace? If so, check for excessive dampness under house. Mildew on floor joist is a good sign of excessive moisture.

 

[aunsafe2015]

I have a house that the front yard slopes toward the house but there is a 10-15ft wide slope out from house and there is a perimeter drain system installed at the footing to carry any water around and away from the house. As long as the grading and drainage is done correctly there should be no problems. Is the house on a crawlspace? If so, check for excessive dampness under house. Mildew on floor joist is a good sign of excessive moisture.

Thanks for the response. Yep, crawl space, and I believe it's sealed, actually. I'll be sure to take a close look at that the next time I'm there.

 

[slackdaddy1]

Depends on how the house is set? was it perched up out of the ground, then a swell sloping away from the house directing water away, to the side.
for 24 years I have repair poorly planned houses,, grading is the biggest problem. 90% builders are clueless idiots, or just don't care.
Unless you have a STRONG slope away from the house meeting the slope from the street, I would pass on it. Why buy a poorly planed out problem ??

 

[aunsafe2015]

Re: House & detached garage below street level...?

Depends on how the house is set? was it perched up out of the ground, then a swell sloping away from the house directing water away, to the side.
for 24 years I have repair poorly planned houses,, grading is the biggest problem. 90% builders are clueless idiots, or just don't care.
Unless you have a STRONG slope away from the house meeting the slope from the street, I would pass on it. Why buy a poorly planed out problem ??

Thanks. The slope away from the house that meets the slope towards the house is certainly not what I would classify as "strong," but it looks like there's at least something.

Sounds like, in general, a lot of people would view this sort of sloping as a potential problem that needs to be considered.

 

[stonesfan68]

I wouldn’t even step inside the house. There are other options on the market that won’t have the potential problems that that lot has. Water is going to get in the garage and in the crawl space even if you stay on top of the grading and lawn maintenance. Just my opinion.

 

[ard]

Dont just look 'at the slope'...you need to look at how much area is actually being drained, potentially towards the house.

If it is only the width of the house, and 40-50ft of front lawn, that's one thing. If it is 3 neighbors homes plus a 2 acres woods across the street, that's another.

Generally in a yard, planting beds, you can put in drainage, cut swales, etc. A driveways (to the garage) is less amendable to cheap fixes. More caution if you are in a snow and ice area, just a bump in the driveway might not work with snow and ice overlaid....

I would say it is disqualifying, just something to look into carefully.

 

[Jhoff310]

Is said house up for sale? If it is, ask yourself WHY?

 

[gtsgarage]

People don’t think a lot about drainage on flat lots but if you live in the hills it’s all you think about.

I believe anything can be made to work but I would pass if I had other options.

 

[spfrazierjr]

Coming from someone that bought a house last year with the driveway sloping towards the garage, I would be careful if I were you.

Attached is a picture of my house showing the driveway slope. It isn't too bad, maybe a 2 foot drop over 40 feet. My driveway has a strip drain running across it about 6 feet in front of the garage. Those next 6 feet are roughly flat.

During heavy rains/flash floods over the summer, we had water issues at the front corner of the house near the garage. Turned out that the strip drain just went to a pipe about 4 feet long in the ground with zero dry well or anything else besides soil. I had to run a drain 40 feet across the front yard (yard slopes left in the picture) to a new dry well. That has fixed the problem for now, but I am still concerned about it in the long run.

 

[steve308]

We have house situated like that one neighborhood over. Doesn't have a water problem but has had a few drunks park their vehicles in the living room!

 

[aunsafe2015]

Re: House & detached garage below street level...?

Thanks to everybody for the comments. Certainly validates the concerns that I saw from random Google searches. I deleted the picture from the original post for now, but if anybody wants to see it, send me a private message.

 

[nolimits76]

Ugh, I'd pass. There are too many other properties w/o the POTENTIAL headache.

I say this based on a bad past experience. Earlier this year I found a property that was ideal in every way except it was setup like your description. I took my own advise and passed on the deal because I didn't want the risk. Life is too short.

 

[firebirdparts]

My house is like that. Been there almost 30 years with no water problems. The key in any house is drainage. Any "professional " contractor can help you screw it up any time you feel like ruining your life. The key is to limit the people working on the house to people who also have to live in it.

 

[kbs2244]

What is the RE market in N VA now?
If there are other choices, would skip this one.
As has been said, anything can be fixed.
The question is cost.