ᐅ House extends above ground level – how much soil can be backfilled (with shallow basement)?
Created on: 15 Oct 2022 19:11
M
Machu Picchu
Hello everyone,
we are now in the final phase of our house construction.
Because the sewage system on our property is not far below ground level and we did not install a sewage lift system, our basement was only excavated to a shallow depth.
The ceiling height of the basement rooms is 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches), as these areas are intended to be living spaces, unlike the neighboring houses, whose basement heights are lower.
As a result, our front door and the two patio doors are positioned much higher than those of the neighboring houses. In the next few days, soil will be filled up to the level of the terrace and front doors.
I do not want this to turn into a discussion about different construction methods; instead, I am looking for advice on how to best handle this somewhat unusual situation.
First, some photos:
Marked in red are the two patio doors. Soil will be filled up to just below these patio doors, except, of course, at light wells and shafts. The terrace will be paved around the corner, following the two indicated patio doors (because we wanted two sunny sides on the terrace for different times of the day). To the left of the single-leaf patio door (where the exterior plaster ends), a retaining wall will be built from the terrace level down to the ground.
This is a front view. On the left, the construction staircase leads up to the entrance door. The front door is at the same level as the two patio doors.
Here is the view from the back.
This is the view from the back toward the front door.
And here is another rear view including the neighboring houses.
As planned, as mentioned, soil will be filled up to the level of the house and terrace doors, and at this level the garden will be designed on the side of the large double patio door as well as behind the house, with steep slopes created just before the property boundary.
On the front door side, soil will also be filled up to front door level.
Toward the "front" (the side with the single patio door), the street level will be reached by terrace-like steps with 2-3 slope terraces supported by walls/granite.
Our concern now is: if we fill soil all around the house at door level on the side with the double patio door, at the back, and on the front door side, our garden height will be so high that, compared to the neighbors, our house will stand out significantly due to the very elevated ground level.
We are now considering ways to soften this.
One idea is to fill soil to door level only at the terrace wrapping the corner and directly at the front door, and to fill soil, for example, 50cm (20 inches) below door level everywhere else.
This way, the garden level would not be so dramatically higher than the neighbors’.
The problem with this is that we would partially expose the "basement" and areas without exterior plaster would become visible. We would likely need to hire a plasterer on our own to plaster additional areas and paint them with gray base paint. Time is tight because the soil will be delivered for filling within the next days/weeks. How long would such plastering take and what would it approximately cost?
Question to the forum: What do you think about this? Do you have other solutions? Or are our concerns unfounded?
Thank you very much in advance for any advice.
we are now in the final phase of our house construction.
Because the sewage system on our property is not far below ground level and we did not install a sewage lift system, our basement was only excavated to a shallow depth.
The ceiling height of the basement rooms is 2.50m (8 feet 2 inches), as these areas are intended to be living spaces, unlike the neighboring houses, whose basement heights are lower.
As a result, our front door and the two patio doors are positioned much higher than those of the neighboring houses. In the next few days, soil will be filled up to the level of the terrace and front doors.
I do not want this to turn into a discussion about different construction methods; instead, I am looking for advice on how to best handle this somewhat unusual situation.
First, some photos:
Marked in red are the two patio doors. Soil will be filled up to just below these patio doors, except, of course, at light wells and shafts. The terrace will be paved around the corner, following the two indicated patio doors (because we wanted two sunny sides on the terrace for different times of the day). To the left of the single-leaf patio door (where the exterior plaster ends), a retaining wall will be built from the terrace level down to the ground.
This is a front view. On the left, the construction staircase leads up to the entrance door. The front door is at the same level as the two patio doors.
Here is the view from the back.
This is the view from the back toward the front door.
And here is another rear view including the neighboring houses.
As planned, as mentioned, soil will be filled up to the level of the house and terrace doors, and at this level the garden will be designed on the side of the large double patio door as well as behind the house, with steep slopes created just before the property boundary.
On the front door side, soil will also be filled up to front door level.
Toward the "front" (the side with the single patio door), the street level will be reached by terrace-like steps with 2-3 slope terraces supported by walls/granite.
Our concern now is: if we fill soil all around the house at door level on the side with the double patio door, at the back, and on the front door side, our garden height will be so high that, compared to the neighbors, our house will stand out significantly due to the very elevated ground level.
We are now considering ways to soften this.
One idea is to fill soil to door level only at the terrace wrapping the corner and directly at the front door, and to fill soil, for example, 50cm (20 inches) below door level everywhere else.
This way, the garden level would not be so dramatically higher than the neighbors’.
The problem with this is that we would partially expose the "basement" and areas without exterior plaster would become visible. We would likely need to hire a plasterer on our own to plaster additional areas and paint them with gray base paint. Time is tight because the soil will be delivered for filling within the next days/weeks. How long would such plastering take and what would it approximately cost?
Question to the forum: What do you think about this? Do you have other solutions? Or are our concerns unfounded?
Thank you very much in advance for any advice.
11ant schrieb:
...from my point of view, he is not obliged to critically assess the client's concept at all (such as how the client plans to carry out their own work).If he created the design, then yes, he is. Who else would do that? The original poster is obviously an amateur and cannot properly assess or prevent the planning errors. In my opinion, the question is more whether this counts as a planning error. I would say yes. 11ant schrieb:
No matter how you look at it: the general contractor is not at fault for the original poster’s lack of practical common sense. I don’t agree, see above.
SumsumBiene16 Oct 2022 20:50I would probably go for a terrace (using the space underneath as a carport, bike shed, or something similar) and then look into how you can add a door to the "basement." You just need to think a bit "outside the box" now and make the best of it.
N
NatureSys16 Oct 2022 21:02If you have been satisfied with the architect and general contractor so far, you can try to speak with them openly and constructively to share your concerns. Maybe the person with on-site knowledge has good ideas on how to address this. For example, the solution could be to raise the ground by only 1.50m (5 feet) and place three steps directly in front of the patio doors. That way, you would be only 80cm (31 inches) above the general ground level, which is not too much.
W
WilderSueden16 Oct 2022 22:12Machu Picchu schrieb:
The problems are clear. How can you prevent these issues here? Is there a solution that the landscape gardener must implement to avoid any concerns?
A slope about 1 meter (3 feet) high is not unusual, so this problem must occur quite often, right?
The soil available for backfilling is clayey. Would clay be advantageous or rather disadvantageous in this case? You either slope very gently or use well-draining soil, such as gravel/crushed sand mixtures. These materials also compact well. Clay soil does not allow water to drain properly and tends to become muddy. If you also have clay as a subsoil, you need to be extra careful with the drainage of the fill material. You can use the free clay to build a small berm for a hedge. However, I would not build a terrace on it.
The problem is that any solution will be quite expensive for you. You will now need someone for advice who fully represents your interests. The architect or general contractor is definitely not that person; they should have a) recommended a sump pump system and b) advised preserving as much of the original soil as possible. I would look for an independent expert here. Ultimately, there are several options: you can solve it through landscaping (fillings, retaining walls), convert the basement to ground level, or use a combination of landscaping and stairs.
I haven’t finished reading yet, but distant relatives had a similar planning mistake. They wanted to have direct ground-level access from the ground floor to the garden and terrace on a slope and planned to build up the ground to compensate. The basement at that location was originally planned without windows. The garden and landscaping contractor came and advised against it. It’s too steep and unstable. I believe windows were eventually installed in the basement afterward.
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