Grading requirements for remodeling

last year

We are remodeling home (kept the orginial foundation of 1300sqft and added 1000 sqft and rebuild everything new). Our site is a flat ground (i.e. no slope etc). Our construction permit didn't needed any specific grading permit. We have passed all the inspections and in the final phase of finishing (cabinets, flooring etc).

Our contractor recently mentioned that as a part of final inspection, there will be a grading inspection to make sure the water flows away from house. According to him the stucco needs to be atleast 6-8" above grade and we meet that requirement. However in some parts of the backyard the level is such that the water can flow towards house i.e. grading is not proper.

He is suggesting two solutions (according to him both are needed)

a) Create a drainage system where all the downspouts will connect to a pipe and the pipe will go to a pit in the backyard filled with gravel and covered with dirt and grass. The pipe would be unground and not visible.

b) Do hardscaping (pavers or concrete) starting right from the house walls. He is saying with pavers or concrete, the gap requirement between stucco and hardscape reduces to 2". So this way he doesn't need to dig out lot of dirt from the areas where grade is negative.

My questions :

a) For a remodeling project which didn't needed any grading permit, does the final inspection include such grading inspection ?

b) Is it true that the gap requirement between stucco and grade drops from 8" to 2" if grade is hardscape compared to dirt.

c) How much grade is generally needed for backyard ? is it 5% for the first 5 feet from house or 5% for the first 10 feet ?

Featured Answer

3onthetree

last year

Your questions:

a) You have added 1000sf, of which I'm sure required excavation and grading, and will be checked. Whether an inspector reviews around the existing house is unknown, but it is all connected and should be reviewed by you and your contractor regardless of inspection.

b) Yes, min 6" exposed concrete foundation wall between stucco and grade; if you have impervious hardscape, then 2" gap to allow the use of untreated wood siding/sheathing/framing.

c) Grade slope at foundation is 6" in the first 10' (5%) away from house, impervious surfaces 2% slope away from house.

Contractor suggestions:

a) Piping downspouts is always a good practice. However, proposing to end those in a drywell may not be the best solution. If your soil does not drain well (and will be saturated during a storm event), then the drywell cannot disperse it's water into the surrounding soil. If you have freezing the drywell is useless for 3-6months of the year. If you have leaves, debris, and asphalt shingles a stone drywell will clog up over time.

b) Adding hardscape just to try and address a negative grade issue is useless and makes it harder to fix in the future. Water can still flow towards the house on top of a hardscape. Water can still flow towards the house under a hardscape.

When you have a flat lot, or even lot that slopes downhill toward your house, you provide surface swales at minimum 10' away from your house to direct water around it.

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Comments (7)

PRO
User
last year
The lot needs regrading away from the house for a minimum of 10’. A French drain is not a permanent solution for a lot sloped towards the house. A proper sloped grade and swale to direct runoff is the solution.
Kb1001 thanked User
dan1888
last year
Grading away from the back of your house should be quite a bit less expensive then the options your contractor has mentioned. Get a separate bid from an independant landscaper. Check with your city building department about inspection requirements. You need to have proper drainage regardless of any inspection.
Kb1001 thanked dan1888
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PRO
Casa Bella Designs
last year
The answer to your first question is that, yes, the grading/drainage issue will be part of the final inspection even if it was not part of the initial construction that got approved.

We had the same issue in our backyard when we added on to the house. What seemed flat and got easily got approved by the city, actually had about an 8" slope towards the house which we ended up grading down. It varies by city, but for us we had a raised foundation. If we would have had slab on grade, it wouldn't have been an issue.
Kb1001 thanked Casa Bella Designs
ShadyWillowFarm
last year
Landscapers don’t do grading - they install plants, trees, shrubs, pavers, sometimes retaining walls, but don’t change the contour of the ground. Ask your contractor for references of who to call. Keeping the water away from the foundation is key to keeping water out of the house. A flat lot may mean you get standing water when you have a big downpour.
Kb1001 thanked ShadyWillowFarm
PRO
Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
last year
Permits incorporate code regardless if its spelled out. If something was done not to code when the home was built (grading) it will have to be corrected with this addition. some jurisdictions require downspouts piped.

Why wouldn't you trust this contractor? You could check in with the inspector. A licensed landscape contractor may be able to do the work BUT you may want to make the GC whole while you take responsibility for this part of job.

Slope away from the home may only have to be the first 5' or less if you have a narrow side yard.
PRO
Kb1001
Original Author
last year
Thanks everyone for your feedbacks. We were initially planning to get the grading,drainage and hardscaping after we move in as we want to take a break from the stressful process for sometime. Also we are Santa Clara valley area, so I am not sure if doing grading etc during wet months of December & Jan is a good idea. Hence I was wondering if we can get final inspection done without these.