ᐅ Paving the terrace for a newly built single-family home with a low foundation
Created on: 10 Jan 2023 23:22
J
Jackraptor
Hello Forum,
a brief introduction about myself:
I am currently having a single-family house built by a general contractor. This is my first house, and I am not a professional in the construction industry or anything similar.
Due to the city’s regulations, my single-family house with a pitched roof was only allowed a ridge height of 7.00 meters (23 feet) above street level. Therefore, the architect from the general contractor suggested partly “embedding” the house by 30 cm (12 inches), which was done accordingly.
Now, the rainwater pipes have been connected to the gutters. However, the pipes, which should actually be underground, seem to me to be installed quite “high.”
The excavation contractor, who performed this work, told me that he cannot bury the pipes any deeper because the public connection to the rainwater system would then be below the required level, meaning there would be no proper slope leading away from the house.
My questions are therefore: Is it still possible to pave a terrace over this? Has the house been set too low? Is this common practice? And if so, in case of necessity, can I pave around the pipes and cover them in another way? I am worried that due to all the sand, this might not be possible in principle...
(Yes, there is currently a lot of water around the house. A landscaping gardener will soon install drainage, and I also have a sewage pump.)
I would be very grateful for your suggestions!
a brief introduction about myself:
I am currently having a single-family house built by a general contractor. This is my first house, and I am not a professional in the construction industry or anything similar.
Due to the city’s regulations, my single-family house with a pitched roof was only allowed a ridge height of 7.00 meters (23 feet) above street level. Therefore, the architect from the general contractor suggested partly “embedding” the house by 30 cm (12 inches), which was done accordingly.
Now, the rainwater pipes have been connected to the gutters. However, the pipes, which should actually be underground, seem to me to be installed quite “high.”
The excavation contractor, who performed this work, told me that he cannot bury the pipes any deeper because the public connection to the rainwater system would then be below the required level, meaning there would be no proper slope leading away from the house.
My questions are therefore: Is it still possible to pave a terrace over this? Has the house been set too low? Is this common practice? And if so, in case of necessity, can I pave around the pipes and cover them in another way? I am worried that due to all the sand, this might not be possible in principle...
(Yes, there is currently a lot of water around the house. A landscaping gardener will soon install drainage, and I also have a sewage pump.)
I would be very grateful for your suggestions!
W
WilderSueden11 Jan 2023 22:56Jackraptor schrieb:
I guess I'm partly to blame since I signed the building application, but shouldn't the architect from our general contractor have noticed this? He was in contact with the city. In theory yes, but the problem is this: the actual client in this case is the general contractor, and they don’t really care how you arrange your garden or whether you install a pump. The plot is quite flat, and by digging in, you definitely created a water collection point. That’s absolutely not standard practice.
Not having a basement is quite reasonable here too, since according to the soil report, it would end up right in the groundwater. Not impossible, but rather complex and expensive.
Jackraptor schrieb:
Oh, sounds like you have to go up two steps to get onto a paved terrace… but gravel might be a good alternative 🙂 Given how deep you are, yes. But with heavy rain, water will push through your patio door. If you pave a terrace there, you have to be extremely careful to slope it away from the house and also excavate accordingly deep beforehand. If the pipes weren’t in the way, I would even suggest making the terrace permeable and placing it slightly lower. That way it can absorb and drain water from the surroundings.
OWLer schrieb:
If the office’s main issue is with the rainwater pipe from the shed, you can initially drain that across the property, so you can already dig it away enough so that there’s more than just a moat directly in front of the window. After all, the carport will also drain out over the driveway. From what I understand of the plan, it’s really just the shed. So I would either drain it in front through the carport or not into the sewer at all. Our plan for our patio roof is similar—we won’t be able to connect it properly to the cistern. The plan now is to lead it into a rain garden.