Barn location

[Coolbreeze89]

We bought our homestead from an Amish couple. He built the barn uphill from the house...it's like....duh...every time it rains. Plus, there is another slope that runs from my chicken coop to the north so everything from that field drains towards the barn and then towards the house. It was like "what the heck was he thinking?" The house should be where the coop is, the barn and chicken coop where the house is.

My best advice is to walk your property, look for the highest area and avoid it. Choose one of the three sites that has the flattest building area away from any rises or low areas and build there. Like mentioned by others you will be happiest without run off.

I never thought about waste runoff, just flooding...great point! I have learned too much about rainwater runoff, as the person who originally built our home built it on a downslope, overlooking a ravine...with a basement below the level of rain runoff. Sigh. We had a massive french drain system installed this spring to resolve the basement water issues with heavy rains. Knock on wood, not a drop since the install (wish we would have done this a few years earlier!) Now, I am obsessed with water runoff patterns. Keeping in mind everyone's suggestions, I am constantly thinking about pros/cons of every possible site. Now I have one more great feature to consider. Thanks!

 

[Baymule]

A basement, in Texas? What were they thinking? I would love a basement, but if we dig a post hole, it fills with water. Texans just aren't meant to have basements.

 

[Coolbreeze89]

A basement, in Texas? What were they thinking? I would love a basement, but if we dig a post hole, it fills with water. Texans just aren't meant to have basements.

So true! The house is built overlooking a ravine. The back of the “basement” is fully above ground, but the front-facing side is fully underground (and well below the peak of the hill the house is on). The main floor is above the peak, so has no water issues, but that front wall was getting hit with all the water pouring through the sand (we have the same powdery sand ground that I’ve seen you describe). Very poor design of the structure. Thankfully, I have a local contractor I trust for practical, cost-effective answers to such problems!

 

[Baymule]

Maybe build a low non-porous wall in front of that side of the house? Landscape it and call it architectural interest?

 

[Coolbreeze89]

Maybe build a low non-porous wall in front of that side of the house? Landscape it and call it architectural interest?

I had the contractor dig a 12 foot trench along the front of the house, to below the level of the basement floor, “upstream” from the water coming down toward the basement. He installed a waterproof membrane along the house side, put a French drain at the bottom (that runs several hundred feet around the house and down to the ravine), then backfilled the entire drain path with big rock. Final covering by the house matches the landscape “rock garden” (the runoff from the roof in heavy storms destroys anything but rock beds, so the house is now surrounded by them) and sod in the grassy area. We’ve had zero water in the basement since, even with 8-10” in 48 hours. Very thankful it worked!