Would you build a home on a flood plain?
 

let's say you have an opportunity to build a beautiful home on a flood plain. It will flood 1-3 times per year, but the Government (through higher taxes on a national scale) will pay for any damages associated with the flood, forever.

Would you build on a flood plain?

I wouldn't.

No

If it flooded that frequently it would definitely be condemned

Is there a point to this?

1 - 3 times a year? Most people won't.

But stretch that out to every 50 or 100 years - and people think, "hey, that is not likely to happen to me anytime soon.."

And they are right.

The problem is - 10,000 homes in a 100 year flood zone and the government is paying for 100 homes a year (on average). And that is a lot of money too.

The government has no business subsidizing some taxpayers at the expense of other taxpayers..

But think about how good the fishing would be, right from the comfort of your living room

John Stossel did a piece on beachfront mansions on LI that regularly get destroyed & are re-built by the govt.

My folks live on an island that's 18 miles long and 1/4 mile wide. The Army Corps of Engineers keeps the ocean away from the bay, which we pay for, and my folks, who are not poor at all, get flood insurance subsidized by the rest of us. I think it's wrong. But as long as it's available, people will take it.

People do it all the time. It's a question of cost (insurance), design event (typically a 50-year or 100-year event) and objectives.

Would I build on one? Sure, as a developer knowing the risks. Would I live there? Probably not, but again maybe depending on a full cost-benefit analysis taking all factors into account.

If the property was really nice and in a great location?

I would build a Key West Style home:

http://www.flgulfhomes.com/images/pi...rbor_house.jpg

Then buy a well lifted Jeep for those occasions:

http://www.ajeepthing.com/images/cjlifted.jpg

Then I would have a garage on a mound with lifts for the cars.

This is assuming I have lots of money to do this. :D

People of means have always had houses on barrier Islands and otherwise near the shore. The thing is - until Federal Flood insurance came along - they were bungalows! Now they are McMansions!

And this is not only a coastal issue at all. Plently of tract homes on low lying land have been built in the past 60 years..

All kinds of modern mapping and databases are available. There is no excuse any more.

jim is correct. i would if i could engineer a fantastic home. then 1-3 times a year, you could fish off the back porch.

house on stilts, garage on stilts, boat dock, back up power, big beer fridge...

Every house is in a flood plain--it's just a question of time. Will it flood in 20,000 years or 2 years? Because a house is on-average expected to last about 100 years, I'd say that a 100-year flood plain is the minimum timespan that should be acceptable for building.

The issue is getting a building permit. If it is a ACOE denoted flood plain you will have to provide compensation else where for whatever additional impervious you add. Also you will need to do major water quality compensation. Not fun.

Look to pay a CE a minimum of $20k to do the analysis for a 1/4 lot.

...and chances are if its next to a river there are tons of critters around to screw you through fish & game permitting.

You also have sewage & leach line issues if you are in a flood plain.
There is also a min floor elevation you need to build up to, that may be to raise the pad up (major earth work) basically creating an island in the flood plain, or using a raised floor / stemwall construction to get the finished floor elevation up to the min level - all aspects of building in the flood plain are expensive.
The view (or the fishing) better be damn good to justify the cost.

A lot are doing it...again...and again...and again...The place is called New Orlean.

To the original question - no, it's too much of a hassle to deal with even if costs are covered.

I'd build me one of these!:D

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219858138.jpg

People buy high rise condos in San Francisco, don't they?

house would have to be a standard foundation home, zoning laws.

That is stupid, my answer is now no.

Nope

I bet you're just full to the brim with knowledge about New Orleans. Did you watch some TV during Katrina? Come on, surprise me!

No. I wouldn't.
I wouldn't build one on top of a hill surrounded by brush in a high fire danger zone either.

Isn't the San Fernando Valley one big floodplain?

would I NO!!!!!!!

i think living in flood plain is stupid...even if your house is ok. inconvenient not being able to get in/out when it rains would suck.

NO does not flood 2-3 times per year. I can't think of a place in the continental US that does.

Standard foundation? No. I doubt it is allowed by code. Shore areas, etc. have foundation designs that have ports, allow for water to flow through without damage.

Shawn, is this another social experiment, or is there a specific location you are referring to?

Edit: I would build in a flood area, if I really wanted to be there. Using proper techniques, and not expecting a handout for repairs.

build a dock for the ark

Before levees there were housed built to deal with floods. All the plantations along the river had living quarters starting on the second floor. The city was never that way. Trust me, lots of places flood, burn or shake to pieces more often than NO floods. Almost everywhere is on a flood plain of some sort.

I actually do live in a flood plain. And currently fema will only pay up to a certain value once. If you have more than something like 50% damage you have to either raise your house or not be covered for flood insurance in the future. And they keep track of the claims made on the property. Also currently Fema will only insure a residence for $250,000. You would have to get a rider from someone else past that amount. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219882734.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1219882758.jpg

I built my house after the 93 flood and you have to meet fema standards in order to get a permit and insurance. I had to build at least 2 feet above the 93 level that was considered I believe the 500 year level. I built 7' above.

So in order to build somewhere that it floods reqularly you would have to put the house up on stillts and the piers would have to meet fema standards. They have some of those around here on the river. We call them clubhouses.

no - and you ruled out building on stilts or one based on a floating slab that is tethered...

but what's your point Shaun? time to reveal where you're headed, unless you just want the thread to drift away....


BTW - the real problem is not new construction so much as RE-BUILDING. The latter includes all new construction when there is just one grain of concrete foundation left from the last flood....

Why build in an area below sea level, near the coast?

Oh, wait...

tomorrow, I'll put it together Randy. very long day, going out to get some dinner.

What's the big deal? We have an entire community in Biscayne Bay..."Stiltsville":

http://www.key-biscayne.com/about/stiltsville5.jpg

http://www.key-biscayne.com/about/stiltsville3.jpg

http://www.vantagepointguides.com/gl...ayne_bay_1.jpg

http://com.miami.edu/parks/images/stiltsville5.jpg

http://img1.jurko.net/wall/paper/miami_stiltsville.jpg

In some coastal areas, they build houses on stilts. Sounds like that would be a good way to go.

Geez, how do you water that lawn? You must have like a hundred sprinkler heads?

No sprinkler heads, just rain. We had so much this year that I am going to have a couple of truck loads of dirt hauled in to fill in a couple of low spots that held water so long the grass died.

If you had to have a standard concrete foundation you could make the bottom floor (10') garage and then build on top of that. You can put uninhabitable floors under the fema 100yr peak elevation.

I've seen this done with condo's in Everglades City. But they were on public utilities and the had there A/C units on 8' stilts.