"buffalobill" wrote
"cshenk" wrote:

buffalo ny: this monster has to be set back onto your property as
required by your local law. how expensive will it be regarding its
foundation and drainage? adding this anywhere near your home's
foundation will create moisture issues. explore the the earth type,
water table, rainfall, and each pint of water it holds is a pound
added to the weight of the dry dirt. now my back hurts! maybe
substitute some sheer decorative quick drying curtains for the
screened porch? -b

Good points but the case is a bit different here and we checked on that.
Code spc here is if the structure can be moved and isnt within 4 feet of the
street, it's legal (no permit required either). Leaving it open to the
ground below means the dirt will settle a bit but the water will flow down
and out.

The moisture issue is the main concern and this is the recommended fix ;-)

By eyeball, my yard looks pretty flat but actually, on the backside its the
low point on all sides to the neighbors so I get all their runoff hitting to
the back of the house then flowing down the sides and to the front. (where
we are the high ground so it runs off very well to the storm drains).

One of the specs has a very interesting price to build the base for us then
we do the wood frame ontop and dirt fill. In that case, they even dig and
refoot that section (older code had less footing than new code). We are
highly considering have them re-foot that area then make the back side of
the mortared block needed, then we finish the rest off. They even agreed to
bag up the 'dirt' dug out into heavy weight plastic bags that we can then
use as some of the planter filler (mixed with garden soil bags and peat
moss).

Oh, OP mentions this is a lot of dirt to handle for something this size and
I agree, but the local box store delivers for 70$ per load (1 big flatbed
truck) and will stack the stuff in the back yard for no extra charge.