Yard sloping toward house - how much does it actually matter?

[Anonymous]

We're on the side of a hill and have never had water issues in our basement.

[Anonymous]

As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

What do you mean "basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside"? Most of the basements in my neighborhood are entirely underground except for the top few feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

What do you mean "basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside"? Most of the basements in my neighborhood are entirely underground except for the top few feet.

Isn't that pretty much the definition of a basement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

What do you mean "basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside"? Most of the basements in my neighborhood are entirely underground except for the top few feet.

Isn't that pretty much the definition of a basement?

11:14 PP here - right? Lol. I wondered if I was going crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

What do you mean "basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside"? Most of the basements in my neighborhood are entirely underground except for the top few feet.

Did you read the very next paragraph? This person recommends a walk-out basement. Whether that is or is not available in your neighborhood doesn't have much to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

What do you mean "basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside"? Most of the basements in my neighborhood are entirely underground except for the top few feet.

Did you read the very next paragraph? This person recommends a walk-out basement. Whether that is or is not available in your neighborhood doesn't have much to do with it.

Walk-out basements are typically only above ground on 1-2 sides. A basement that is fully above ground is not a basement.

[Anonymous]

To have a walk out basement, don’t you need a slope?? I don’t get how the other side wouldn’t be sloping towards the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as your house isn’t the lowest part of the lot, it should be ok. And when I mean lowest- I mean your basement floor should not be lower than the ground outside.

If your basement floor is at the same height as ground, you will have less hydrostatic pressure. The moment it is below the ground, there is more pressure. Walk out basements work best if you have a slope in the back down and away from the house.

Water issues happen with flat lots too. Just make sure your basement isn’t the lowest part of that lot. We have a house with a very flat lot in the front but the back of the house slopes down. We had a huge water crack in the front but nothing near the back. So it’s not a foolproof solution to find a flat lot.

You don't know what you're talking about. Walk-out basements don't have water issues at grade level, that's true. Where the backfill is high at the front of the house, they have just as many issues as any other house with water intrusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're on the side of a hill and have never had water issues in our basement.

We are half way down a hill and have had major damage from stormwater flooding. It depends on the neighborhood and how the water runs, and if there is an HOA keeping people from doing things that cause flooding to their neighbors. We have no HOA, so someone can pave over their whole back yard, aim their downspouts right at your house, and there is no one to tell them they can't. Older neighborhoods are worse than new ones because people have made so many changes that any planned drainage is long gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Geotech engineer. I would never purchase any property where
Any part of the yard slopes towards the home (no matter how many swales, water management systems, etc in place. Nature has a strange way of flooding your home (hydrostatic pressure). I see this every day. There are plenty of homes not graded in this manner.

You recommend only living on the top of a hill? Wow, a bit limiting.

As a person who probably hired that geotech engineer to come and rebuild my house after flooding literally collapsed part of it, I will follow this advice. You all are welcome to the houses further down.

[Anonymous]

Lowest part of the lot makes sense.

If you have a house where the lowest part of the lot is your basement floor, the water will go there.

If the lowest part of the lot is away from your house, say towards the road, or towards a swale, you’re also ok.

It’s when your house is the lowest part of the topography that it’s bad.