Building a home on a hill

Building a home is no easy task. Especially when the earth you are building on is on a very round or hilly place. Making sure the foundation is level and sturdy is very important. Piering a house will prevent foundation problems in the future. A good technique is allowing your homes foundation to sit on steel piers rather than a slab foundation. Some slab foundations can sink and give way to unstable soils. Steel peris reach far into the ground to solid bedrock. Learn what methods there are for building a home on a hill and then contact MAGNUM® Piering to make sure that the home will be stable.

Cost

It’s not hard to imagine that building a home on a slope will increase the cost. Reinforced suspended concrete floors, difficult landscaping, extra drainage, including the possible need for a pump and work in stepping the foundations are all things that occur when building a home on a slope or hill.

Cut and Fill

 

This is a process that will allow for a level ground cut away from the slope. Soil is removed from the higher end of the slope. That soil is then used to fill in the lower section of the slope. A retaining wall is added to the lower part to keep the added soil from sliding down.

Silts

Another way to build on a slope is to use stilts. With this method, soil may still need to be cut away from the slope, but instead of adding it to the bottom of the slope and adding a retaining wall, stilts are used instead.

Basements and Retaining Walls

When building into a slope, walls against along the hill will have a lot of force on them from the surrounding banks of land. These walls become retaining walls. To ensure these structures are secure, refer to a structural engineer.

Drainage

If the sewer system is uphill from the site, you may need to have a pumping system installed. On the other hand, if the system is downhill, you may need to consider slowing the flow down to the sewer. You also need to consider water run off and make you have a sufficient system in order to handle surface water. If not dealt with correctly, this could cause flooding in the lower floor.

Whether you use stilts, or cut and fill the hill away to create a level ground, you want to be confident that your home’s foundation will remain solid for long into the future. Contact Magnum Piering Team Member for a consultation and see why you can trust in our foundation experts.