What you Need to Know Before Building a Home on Sloping Land
The idea of building a property from scratch is a dream for many people, but the quality of the property will often be dependent on the quality of the land. For this reason, you might think that building on sloping land is out of the question, but this is not necessarily the case. You do, however, need to arm yourself with some important information so that the build goes to plan. Here's everything you need to know.
Managing soil erosion. When building a house on a slope, there is a far greater chance of soil erosion. This is because the force of gravity will send soil sliding down a hill, picking up more soil as it goes. This is particularly problematic in parts of Australia where there is a lot of rainfall, and given the country's recent storms, this could be problematic for huge swathes of the population.
Of course, the reason why soil erosion is problematic for any property build is because you don't want the land beneath your foundations to give way and lead to structural problems or even total collapse. If you have concerns about soil erosion on your land, your best course of action is to contact a landscaping company.
They can use planting methods that help rainwater to approach the land more gently, and to bind the soil with plant roots so that less erosion occurs. Hydroseeding is a popular planting method that entails sowing seeds across a large area to reduce sediment run-off. Creeping shrubs provide a carpet of foliage so that less rainwater hits the earth. And ground cover plants such as ivy will bind tightly close to the ground to slow the rain's penetration of the earth as well.
Building on stilts is an underutilised solution. One of the greatest challenges with building on sloping land is building a strong foundation. For many people, this means cutting into the land to be able to create a foundation that is totally level. But instead of messing with land that is already precarious, a construction solution that is underutilised is building a foundation on stilts. This means that your house wouldn't actually sit directly on top of the land, but perch above it.
As well as being simpler than cutting into the existing landscape, a benefit of using stilts is that your landscaping company can cover more of the land with plants to help prevent soil erosion.
Evaluate the soil. Finally, it's important to remember that two areas of sloping land with exactly the same sloping angle could be very different in terms of their suitability for building projects simply because of the type of soil that is present. Something else that a landscaping company can help you out with, before you get the builders in, is a comprehensive soil evaluation.
A clay based soil has its advantages because this kind of soil holds together very well. This means that it will be less susceptible to erosion. On the other hand, because clay soil is dense, it can be harder to plant any greenery in it, so if you want to add extra planting to prevent soil erosion, this might not be such a great soil to work with.
Sandy soil, on the other hand, is much looser. It is gritty in texture and doesn't hold together well. This also means that it is more prone to soil erosion, so if your land is sandy, you'll be very reliant on planting to hold the soil together in the event of a storm.
By taking this information on board and really evaluating the specific properties of your sloping land, you should be able to make more informed decisions about a building strategy for your dream home. For more information, contact a company like National Trade & Services.
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