Does your home’s lot make the grade? You may plan to build a high-quality home, but your lot could have grading issues which can put your home in jeopardy.
What Grading is and how it Benefits your Home
Your lot’s grade is not an A, B, C, D, or F. Grading pertains to ensuring that your home has a level base or the correct slope. If your house’s lot has the proper grade, then water will flow away from the house and into proper storm drains.
If your lot isn’t properly graded, it can cause major problems to your home. Water streaming from irrigation or stormwater can flow toward your home, compromising your foundation wall.
If the water doesn’t make it to your foundation’s wall, then water can saturate the soil right next to your home’s foundation. This excess water can then cause hydrostatic pressure outside of the foundation wall to rise. When this happens, cracks in the foundation can form, leading to possible structural damage and soil erosion.
Unfortunately, if the water doesn’t affect your home’s lot, it can still cause problems for your neighbors. Improperly diverted water can cause soil erosion or flooding issues for their homes and both you and your builder could be held liable for the resulting damages.
In order to prevent water damage to your home and lot, you need a grading plan created by a civil engineer. Methods that can be used in your site’s grading plan can include the following:
- Swales (low tracts of land) which divert ground water
- Graded slopes that keep water away from your home’s foundation
- Accurate amounts of soil that need to be added or removed from the site
Normally, a grading plan shows a lot’s slope in increments of five feet. This is important because it can present the site supervisor with valuable information that can be collaborated with the grading trade contractor. When the builder follows the grading plan, time and money will be saved through the proper assessment of how much soil needs to be removed or brought from the site. It also decreases the chance of callbacks to the site. thus saving money.
Grading plays a major role in keeping your home’s foundation in good condition. For Bay Area grading, contact Lassiter Excavating
If you need a grading company, Lassiter Excavating can help. We know the challenges of the Bay Area’s unique terrain and can provide expert grading services that are well-planned and supervised.
To learn more about Lassiter Excavating’s professional Bay Area grading services, call us today for a free quote at 925-449-3112.