What kind of Engineer?

[Firegirl]

We may have some issues with the land we want to build our house on. There's a pathway that water will naturally follow out there. It will have to be altered if we build and the water will still have to go somewhere. We've waited 3 months from when we filled out our loan application until closing (supposed to be Tuesday). I was really disheartened when a family member told us something about why another family member wants to sell the land. So, seems something wasn't disclosed to us. We're for sure not going to close on Tuesday now. What kind of engineer could tell us about the property? I know there are people that will tell you how the land would or wouldn't work with the plans we have.
Thanks for any input.
Sherrie

[venchka]

You need a Civil Engineer. Someone familiar with drainage, soils, roads, subdivisions, etc. It won't be cheap. However, it might be cheaper than finding out that you can't build what you want on the land. Good luck!

[JohnRushing]

If it's a natural drainage it has to be able to handle the same amoutnof runoff and not infringe on any of the property on either side of you. We ran into this at our last property. We rerouted the drainage, a small creek bed that is usually dry, so I could build a small shop. I just had to make sure I didn't change where the water entered the property next to me or backed the water up on the other side of me. Sometimes the forestry dept can help with this but it would be best to get an engineer to look at it and draw up plans if you live in an area that is picky. We lived in the country so they weren't very picky out there.

[Digital Prophet]

Ok so here is the first rule:

Anything is possible.

That is all there is to it. You will in fact need a Civil Engineer. But the cost of a matter like this can vary wildly. For instance. If you go to a Civil PE and have them do this job you will incur more costs. Also there are things you can and should research on your own. For example, contact your counties flood control district and find out if you need to submit engineered sealed documents. If not then you just dodged a large bullet. If you do then there are still a few ways to shave costs.

The very first thing you need to do is take your property survey and photocopy it. Then start sketching what you want to develop. Include ALL buildings, no matter how small. House. Garage. Barn. Sheds. Anything and everything that will have a roof and/or concrete.

Then contact a land surveyor. Depending on where you are I might be able to recommend some people my firm has worked with. The surveyor will come out and do what is called a topographic survey. This will inform you on the lay of your land. While it may or may not look flat to the eye this survey will tell you exactly where the low and high spots are. That will inform you on where water will collect and where it will and won't flow.

The topo survey is the first step to saving money. Look at it. Study the low areas. If you find that you want your house in a spot that turns out to be a foot lower than the rest of your land, move it. Or if you are heart set the prepare to pay to have lots of dirt brought in to raise the location. Also pay close attention to your ingress/egress route. It simply will not do to have a drive way that is so flooded you can't leave the property.

Ok. Now you have a survey and you have reviewed your layout. Next you are going to need to decide to contact an engineer or wait. If you do contact an engineer at this point you need to contact a PE that does general residential development. He is going to be like your "general contractor". He will be your contact person and he should hire and subout all the remaining work until you have either a package ready to be submitted to your flood control district or a permit. But this will cost more.

The second rule:

If it is convenient, it ain't cheap.

If you decide to wait your next step is a soils test. This is a process where a geotechnical engineer will send out a crew and they will drill bore holes (8 - 20 feet deep) to determine what the condition of the soil is in the location(s) you have decided to build. They will tell you the necessary preparation work that is needed to prepare a stable foundation for your home to sit on. Maybe you have nice firm land, but it is low. The geotech will tell you how high your dirt work will have to come up to have a home that won't flood. Or maybe you have land that is at a good elevation but the soil is loose. In which case you will have to bring in dirt and have it compacted to make it stable enough to build.

Ok. At this point you should know what you will have to do to make a spot suitable to build. The next step is to contact a hydrology engineer. This engineer will help you determine how the rainfall on your and neighboring properties will react to construction. This is also an important step in this part of the state for the flood control approval. If you have "bad" drainage and you make a considerable portion impermiable to rain then you may or may not require a detention pond to delay the runoff of water from your property into the flood control district discharge system.

From here you can contact a site contractor to review your documents and give you a quote on the required site work. He should give you a line item quote and explain it all to you. That quote should include any additional permitting fees and also a contingency line item.

Ok once you talk to and/or pick a contractor (and you didn't hire a PE yet) you should talk to your contractor or hydrology expert about having your permit package to the city and/or flood control district. These people should have staff available to submit the paperwork for you and have it reviewed.

If your i's are dotted and the t's crossed you should get your permit and also have a pretty good idea of what it will cost you to make your land ready for construction.

There are things you should consider for your land.

1. What do I want to build?
2. What will I use my land for?
3. Where will my driveway be?
4. Who will construct my driveway connection and obtain my TxDOT permit?
5. How will I get electricity and gas to my property?
6. Are there ultility easements I need to be aware of?
7. What are my counties setback requirements from property edges?
8. How will I connect to my local sanitary system and who do I get my permit from?
9. Will I need water connection or a well?
10. If I need a well will I have special fire code requirements such as a holding tank or a hydrant?

The list is almost endless but not impossible to tackle. Whatever professional you decide to include should be licensed and have references. And just as importantly they should be able to lead you to the next step and help you contact a contractor who will help you move on. That first contractor should really be the only contractor you have to grope for in the dark.

The list of professionals and agencies you will be dealing with could include any or all of the following:

1. County engineering department
2. Flood control district
3. Mud/City water department
4. Electrical supplier
5. Army Corps of Engineers
6. Sanitary authority
7. Civil Engineer
8. Electrical Engineer
9. Land Surveyor
10. Hydrology Engineer
11. Geotechnical Engineer
12. Aerobic contractor
13. Water well driller
14. TxDOT
15. Sitework contractor

Then you can start talking to a home builder to actually build the house. (In fact a good home builder will hold your hand through the preparation process (again I might have a name for you) should you decide to go at it from that angle.)

Wow that was alot, but that is how we do it. Really it just takes time. And it should be a fun/exciting process. Good luck to you.

Oh and as I recall you have horses. So make sure thier pastures have good drainage too!

Prophet out.

[Terrancelee]

^^ and here we thought Pika had all the brains^^

:)

[Firegirl]

Wow....great info here. But I don't have horses.
Here's another twist......the land belongs to my husbands son...who will also be our builder. He told another family member (B4 we even talked about moving) that he wanted to sell that property because it floods. Hmmmmm
I'm thinkin that this is one of those "Don't do business with family" things.

[Digital Prophet]

Hmm. Sorry for some reason I thought you did. Oh well.

As for the flooding I think what you need to do is postpone your closing and wait for the next big rain. Then drive out there and see for yourself.

"Flooding" can mean anything. From "boggy" to "a foot of standing water for a week" different people consider "flooding" to be different things. Also WHERE is it flooding? Is it the entire acreage? If so then you have issues with the surrounding properties draining to yours. Is it just the end in the back? Maybe some swales will clear that up. Is it by the access road? Maybe the county just needs to get called to have the culverts and ditches cleaned out.

There are more reasons for flooding that there are drops in a bucket. Some are easy to fix with swales, a little dirt or some cleaning. Some are harder to fix with neighbors runoff and overall low elevations. And some are just expensive and annoying but can be fixed with a little thought and a big detention pond.

I guess what I am saying is this: Take a breather and wait for the rain. Then determine if this is even worth the hassle. If it is take carefull note of WHERE the standing water is and then contact a site work contractor that specializes in drainage. Get a rough estimate on what can be done. Get several.

Then take that information and work down the price. If you have to put $30,000 worth of pond, swales, fill and other drainage improvements then you damn sure don't need to be paying top dollar. Or even mid dollar.

I want to say that in rural Harris County the average price per acre for acreage eligble for development is something like $30k/acre. Or so I have heard. But if you have these problems then you shouldn't be paying that.

Oh and be sure, absolutely sure, to check the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps. The FIRM will tell you if the land is sitting in a flood zone or not. If it is then that is a big tell right there and it will also make building and sewer permits harder to get. FYI.

Prophet out.

[Firegirl]

Ok, looks like we stirred up a hornets nest. Turns out that the developer had the engineer put a 24" pipe under the street and aimed our way without permission from anybody. He did it to appease the people across the street (a tad higher property level). So now the banker, engineer, developer and county commissioner have been out there. Don't know what's gonna happen now but atleast we know how much $$ we've beeen approved for. Worst case scenario is that we look for other property or just get an existing home.

[Digital Prophet]

Wow. Someone is in trouble. That is amazing that a developer would bore a 24" culvert under a county road without a permit. Talk about having a pair!

The good news is that the situation might, just might, be as simple as having the culvert bricked up. At the developer's expense of course. But be alert to the fact that if they do just brick it over they will most likey bore and jack ANOTHER culvert. But this one should be situated to feed to an adequately graded drainage swale in the county ROW and may not even be on/in front of your property.

Either way at least you got to the bottom of it. Kudos to you ma'am. And kudos again!

Prophet out.