Waterfront lots are prized for their value, recreational
access and setting. Because the
foundation of any home is critically important, a home near water requires
special consideration from you as the homeowner, your builder, local building department
and the foundation contractor.
As the homeowner or builder, you should visit your local
building department and gather any information about the sub-surface soils you
are about to build on. Your local
building inspector, in most cases will have information about the soils
and earth layer make-up of your water front lot. Keep in mind this will be an educated guess
based on historical data from other completed home sites.
You may want to choose a foundation contractor who has
experience on your particular lake or river.
They’ll also have the knowledge of soil conditions, remedies for high water
tables and be able to offer additional solutions to keep your foundation performing
for generations. As the homeowner, you
may want to contact your new neighbors and ask them about the performance of
their basement/crawl space. Do they have
water problems, poor indoor air quality, foundation stability issues, etc. Review their foundation depths and compared their
responses. Does your builder of choice
have experience building on water front sites?
If not, do you really want to be his first?
The important thing to remember is to set your foundation
floor at an elevation above any normal and high water tables in order to
maintain a dry and healthy home environment.
By The Leelanau Log Home Company LLC
