You’ve found your dream location for your forever home. It is in your desired part of town, has the amount of land you want, and offers your preferred distance from neighbors. The catch? The lot is sloped.
Even a gentle slope can initially feel like a dealbreaker for an otherwise perfect lot, but it doesn’t have to be. Experienced builders can work with and around the lot’s grade to construct a beautiful property with a stable foundation and reliable drainage.
Below, learn what to consider when building a home on a slope and why choosing the right builder is one of the most important parts of the process. Schar Construction builds custom homes in Eugene, OR, and would be happy to discuss this with you further.
The Beauty of Building on a Sloped Lot
Building a home on a slope undoubtedly presents challenges, but it isn’t all bad. A sloped lot also gives you the opportunity to construct a truly unique home that integrates seamlessly with the land.
The right builder can help you design a property that blends the land’s grading and elevation changes with your home’s architecture and outdoor living space features, creating a stunning, cohesive property that fits right into the slope.
Instead of focusing on the negatives of your sloped lot, you can start by exploring the potential advantages. Slopes offer exciting opportunities for:
- A hillside home design with multi-level layouts and unique construction
- A walkout lower level that replaces a dark, musty basement with a light, airy one that maximizes natural lighting
- Elevated balconies and cantilevered floors that expand your outdoor living space and offer stunning panoramic views or the feeling of being within the forest canopy, depending on the surrounding landscape
- Drive-under garages that maximize the home’s available footprint
- Infinity pools that seamlessly blend your outdoor living space with the natural landscape
- Elegant retaining walls with integrated planters or water features
The best way to build on a sloped lot is to design the home around the land rather than trying to fit an existing floor plan into this unique grading. Starting with any of the features above can help you feel excited about the opportunities this lot presents for your dream home.
Beginning Your Sloped Lot Construction by Assessing the Site Conditions
If you’re considering building on a sloped lot, it’s important to involve contractors early in the process. They can start by assessing the site conditions to help you understand what’s possible.
Your builder will evaluate all of the following:
- Elevation changes
- Drainage
- Accessibility
- Grading
- Soil conditions
Working with a geotechnical engineer is often an important part of this initial assessment. They can provide insights into the soil strength and design considerations to build a safe, stable property.
At first, it can be challenging to assess how much the slope will affect your design and construction. You may benefit from measuring the slope angle yourself to get a rough idea of how it will affect the design. You can do this with a length of string or rope, a string level, and a tape measure.
Stake both ends of the string at different points along the slope. Use the tape measure to measure the string length, then hold it taut and level. Measure the distance from the string to the ground. With a bit of basic geometry, you can determine the grade based on these measurements.
A professional soil report and topographic survey will provide more precise measurements to inform the engineering plans. But having a general idea of this percentage will help you start exploring possibilities.
A “gentle slope” is often considered a slope percentage of 10% or less. But a steeper slope doesn’t necessarily mean a more complicated foundation design. Many factors impact the construction process, and designing the home around the slope will lessen its impact.
Selecting the Right Foundation for Sloped Lot Homes
Your builders will help you choose the right foundation based on the slope’s steepness, the soil conditions, and your budget. A few common foundation designs include:
- Pier and beam foundations: Ideal for steep slopes or unstable soil conditions. They elevate part of the home on posts or pilings to minimize disruption to the land.
- Stepped foundations: Best for moderate slopes. These designs follow the land’s natural contours by creating a series of step-like bearing points, reducing the need for heavy excavation.
- Crawl space foundations: Ideal for gentle slopes. These foundations use perimeter stem walls of varying heights to keep the floor level.
- Walkout basements: In addition to being more functional, walkout basements are often easier to build on sloped lots than traditional basements. One side is built into the hillside, while the other is open to the yard.
Optimizing Drainage and Erosion Control on Sloped Lots
Sloped building sites often require drainage systems to prevent water pooling and soil erosion. Your custom home builders can help you explore drainage and erosion control options that offer both functional and aesthetic benefits.
For example, deep-rooted vegetation helps anchor the soil and prevent landslides. Adding deep-rooted native shrubs, groundcovers, and ornamental grasses to your landscape can provide a natural erosion-control solution that also boosts curb appeal. Plant this vegetation from the top of the slope downward to bind the topsoil and absorb rainfall.
Drainage may also require grading the land near structures to allow water to flow away from your home’s foundation rather than toward it. Installing French drains is another popular option; these underground trenches filled with gravel redirect surface water away from the foundation.
With the right drainage and erosion control techniques, you can feel confident that your property will minimize pooling and that your foundation will be protected against water intrusion.
How Does Building on a Slope Affect Costs?
Some elements of building a custom home on a slope will increase your costs compared to traditional terrain, but in other areas, you may actually be able to save money.
One of the biggest cost contributors is the foundation, and the price can vary depending on the design you use. Specialized foundations cost more to build than traditional slab foundations. They also tend to require a phased construction approach, as the engineers will need to evaluate the foundation and recommend adjustments before moving forward.
Steep slopes may also require more specialized equipment during site preparation and construction. Traditional equipment may not be able to operate on rougher terrain or adequately reach the higher areas of the property. Adding retaining walls and drainage solutions also contributes to costs.
However, building on a slope may require less excavation than building on level ground in certain cases, which can save you money. Your builders can provide you with a detailed estimate after evaluating the building site.
Build Your Dream Home on Your Lot With Schar Construction
Choosing a lot for a custom home is a crucial step. Location is everything, and it’s the one factor in your home build you won’t be able to change later.
While building a home on a slope poses certain limitations, it also opens up a wealth of opportunities for a truly picturesque property. Schar Construction has built over 50 custom homes in the Eugene area and knows how to work with challenges like sloped land to bring your dreams for your property to life.
Contact us today at 541-255-1624 to schedule a consultation.
