Take a look at these pics and let me know what you think. Since the
flood photos were taken in 2003, they have extended a flood pond up
above the land by 2 feet. Before they built the house, they put 500
dump trucks of fill dirt where they were going to built the 9 houses.
They let it set for 8 or 9 months, then built the houses in 3 months.
Do you think there is a chance of these houses flooding? And it is not
in a flood zone, and people that have already bought the houses say
their mortgage companies did not say anything about it being flood
prone or needing flood insurance.

Flood Pics from 2003:
Last house on the lot:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...87.jpg&.src=ph

Middle of the "field" where the houses were built. They were build up
near were the pics was taken, so with this being a bad flood, it still
doesn't look like it got near the house area:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...57.jpg&.src=ph

This is about the area my house was built:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6f.jpg&.src=ph

The first lot on the field - probably the worst. I'm 4 lots down from
him.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...4b.jpg&.src=ph

This is the area that the water goes to drain. It's no where near the
houses, but it's the reason the water builds up.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...dd.jpg&.src=ph

Now, here are the pictures of my house. The last pictures are the
newer ones, and the ones I took to show how they raised the ground.
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay/album?.dir=1602

I have seen a couple of those pictures from your last link before. did they
ever move that pipe? I think you were considering a future basement finish.
That's where the water will kill you. The BEST way to avoid water problems
is to keep the water away from the foundation to begin with. Does the ground
slope away? Is there a culvert or a swale to drain off surface water? Think
about it, water will naturally go to the lowest point available, Is your
basement that point or is it ultimately the ocean? Get my drift? I hope you
also used an exterior foundation waterproofing system.

From the looks of this picture
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...f6.jpg&.src=ph
it seems you are sort of on a slope. That slope MUST not end at your
foundation wall. The ground must slope away from you house for 6 to 10 foot
at least. The more the better, but in your case, It looks like the more you
slope away, the more you will have to cut into the hill behind.

Building a house, or watching yours being built, is exciting and stressful.
Mine was finished last August. I am pretty satisfied overall. I had a good
builder. It looks like a pretty lot. Does your property go to or past the
tree line?

Anyway - I'm not sure, and cant tell for sure, about actual flood issues. Is
there a creak, stream, river nearby or was this just a low area that
collected water in heavy rains?


wrote in message
oups.com...
Take a look at these pics and let me know what you think. Since the
flood photos were taken in 2003, they have extended a flood pond up
above the land by 2 feet. Before they built the house, they put 500
dump trucks of fill dirt where they were going to built the 9 houses.
They let it set for 8 or 9 months, then built the houses in 3 months.
Do you think there is a chance of these houses flooding? And it is not
in a flood zone, and people that have already bought the houses say
their mortgage companies did not say anything about it being flood
prone or needing flood insurance.

Flood Pics from 2003:
Last house on the lot:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...87.jpg&.src=ph

Middle of the "field" where the houses were built. They were build up
near were the pics was taken, so with this being a bad flood, it still
doesn't look like it got near the house area:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...57.jpg&.src=ph

This is about the area my house was built:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6f.jpg&.src=ph

The first lot on the field - probably the worst. I'm 4 lots down from
him.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...4b.jpg&.src=ph

This is the area that the water goes to drain. It's no where near the
houses, but it's the reason the water builds up.
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...dd.jpg&.src=ph

Now, here are the pictures of my house. The last pictures are the
newer ones, and the ones I took to show how they raised the ground.
Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay/album?.dir=1602

Thanks for the great post! The back slopes down some, so the garage
isn't the lowest point. It's not a steep slope, but gradual. I just
hope the water doesn't drain into the basement from the driveway. I
haven't looked to see if it is sloped or not. As you can kind of see
from the below pic, the driveway does slope away near the left side, I
just hope thats enough. There will probably need to be a drain put
there because it seems to be holding water:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6c.jpg&.src=ph

My property stops at the tree line. It's a huge lot for the price we
paid, but I think we got a good deal because it is located in a natural
drain. There is a retaining pond in the subdivision above us, and when
that over flows it goes right through the six acre lot these 9 houses
were built on. The first pic below is how bad it use to get when the
pond would flood. Since then they have raised the pond 2 ft (doesn't
seem enough for me) and the houses were built on the raised land (which
doesn't seem to have been sitting long enough to fully perk to keep the
foundation from settling and cracking 5 or 6 years down the road).
The second picture is why this around floods. It all flows to the
proper below ours, but backs up. This only happens in extreme cases,
but I have been told by the neighbors this is about 2 or 3 times a
year. So the portion of the yard will not be able to be used for
anything permanent, as it will flood a few times a year:

Pic 1
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6f.jpg&.src=ph

Pic 2
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...dd.jpg&.src=ph

I've investigated this pretty heavily, and most people are telling me
not to buy it. The main reason is because I'll have a back yard thats
flood prone. I'm not sure if that's enough to have me pass up this
good deal. From thos pics, I feel like there is no way for that water
to get to my house. A few weeks out of the year I may not be able to
use that back back yard, but then again, is that worth buying a house
in a similar neighbor hood for 20 to 30K more? It's a tough decision,
but I have a week to decisde.

I would think you would want a swale, this should be done on a neighborhood
basis though. The overflow from the upper retaining basin should be directed
in such a swale behind al the houses and ultimate to a creek or river. If
the upper basin just goes into your yard then I think that's bad.
Unfortunately you cannot do this on your own. Everyone involved would need
to do it, cooperatively. I have such a swale behind my house, it runs behind
all houses on this side of street. It take surface water from all the
properties on my side of the street and directs it to a retaining basin
which in turn drains into a river when saturated.

My suspicion is this. You will most likely not be able to fully control the
water at this house. Therefore you will not likely be able to finish your
basement and from what you have said, the back yard will not be useable at
times of the year. It sounds like the house is already 'discounted' for
these issues, and possibly others.

Did you pick the design or did the builder? Are you looking at the house the
builder is building on 'spec'?


wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the great post! The back slopes down some, so the garage
isn't the lowest point. It's not a steep slope, but gradual. I just
hope the water doesn't drain into the basement from the driveway. I
haven't looked to see if it is sloped or not. As you can kind of see
from the below pic, the driveway does slope away near the left side, I
just hope thats enough. There will probably need to be a drain put
there because it seems to be holding water:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6c.jpg&.src=ph

My property stops at the tree line. It's a huge lot for the price we
paid, but I think we got a good deal because it is located in a natural
drain. There is a retaining pond in the subdivision above us, and when
that over flows it goes right through the six acre lot these 9 houses
were built on. The first pic below is how bad it use to get when the
pond would flood. Since then they have raised the pond 2 ft (doesn't
seem enough for me) and the houses were built on the raised land (which
doesn't seem to have been sitting long enough to fully perk to keep the
foundation from settling and cracking 5 or 6 years down the road).
The second picture is why this around floods. It all flows to the
proper below ours, but backs up. This only happens in extreme cases,
but I have been told by the neighbors this is about 2 or 3 times a
year. So the portion of the yard will not be able to be used for
anything permanent, as it will flood a few times a year:

Pic 1
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...6f.jpg&.src=ph

Pic 2
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/utseay...dd.jpg&.src=ph

I've investigated this pretty heavily, and most people are telling me
not to buy it. The main reason is because I'll have a back yard thats
flood prone. I'm not sure if that's enough to have me pass up this
good deal. From thos pics, I feel like there is no way for that water
to get to my house. A few weeks out of the year I may not be able to
use that back back yard, but then again, is that worth buying a house
in a similar neighbor hood for 20 to 30K more? It's a tough decision,
but I have a week to decisde.

The bank just informed me they went and did a land survey of the land
and deemed it was not a flood zone or flood prone. The good news,
flood insruance will only be about 7 bucks a month.

I don't think I'm going to worry about flooding - maybe I was just over
cautious. Now my only concern is the fact that the foundation was
built on land fill dirt that had only been in place for less than a
year. What's the worse case senerio for a situation like this? Cracks
in the foundation? Can that be fixed?

"I don't think I'm going to worry about flooding - maybe I was just
over
cautious. Now my only concern is the fact that the foundation was
built on land fill dirt that had only been in place for less than a
year. What's the worse case senerio for a situation like this? Cracks

in the foundation? Can that be fixed? "


You can ask Lowes Home Improvement what the worst case scenario is.
They built a new store on a site here in NJ that had lots of fill under
it that had been there for years. A few months after it opened, the
floor cracked and sunk. It was declared unsafe and the store is now
closed, never to reopen. Over a year later, it's still just sitting
there. I'm not saying this is what usually happens, but clearly if you
don't do things right, it's what can happen.

wrote in message
snip
Now my only concern is the fact that the foundation was
built on land fill dirt that had only been in place for less than a
year. What's the worse case senerio for a situation like this? Cracks
in the foundation? Can that be fixed?

Building on fill is fine, and may, in some circumstances, be preferable. If
the fill is properly compacted then no problem.

Did they use anything to compact the fill?

Such as this

http://tinyurl.com/8ozms

I'm not sure if anything was used to pack it. That will definatlly be
my next question.

I was just told that a guy that help build the house said the dirt was
laid and they drop over it constantly with bulldozers. Are there ppl
that check the density of soil to see if you have a chance of having
the foundation crack?

On 15 Jun 2005 08:10:20 -0700, someone wrote:

I'm not sure if anything was used to pack it. That will definatlly be
my next question.

Did you already buy this house? Or did you already sign a contract to
do so? Cuz if you did, you do not have the authority to unilaterally
add extra requirements to the job. You can ask but if you don't like
the answer whaddya gonna do about it????

If you want a certain type of site prep, you'd need to call for it in
the contract. Otherwise, only the results count, and it is up to the
contractor how to get them. If they think the fill is compacted
enough then that is that, until the foundation cracks and proves them
wrong and then you might successfully sue them.

Of course some crack is normal, but we won't get into that now.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

If the foundation crack in 5 or 6 years, would I be able to sue?

On 16 Jun 2005 14:40:16 -0700, someone wrote:

If the foundation crack in 5 or 6 years, would I be able to sue?

Ask your lawyer.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.