Changing slope of backyard

[FastStache]

We are considering putting an offer on a lakefront house.  One of the issues we have with it is the slope is too steep for our daughter to play in the backyard.

There is no HOA, so I don't see a restriction with doing what I am thinking.

Would it be possible to get a few tons of dirt to make the backyard more level? What is the cost of getting a truck to dump a bunch of dirt at the front or back of the house? Is it possible to get dirt from somewhere myself? Is this safe to do and what are some obstacles I may see?

[SnackDog]

You could do this for about $30-50 per cubic yard but if you don't engineer it properly it could all slump into the lake at the next heavy rain.  Speaking of which, houses on steep slopes can slump away with those slopes, depending on the quality of the foundation.  Be very wary.

[Spork]

Is it possible to get dirt from somewhere myself? Is this safe to do and what are some obstacles I may see?

I'm an avid do it yourself'er.  I don't think this is a DIY job.  It's minimally a big convoy of dump trucks and a bulldozer, and possibly also includes a retaining wall to hold it together. 

It is often surprising just how much dirt you are talking about, too.  We thought we needed "a little dirt work" when we built our house.  We had the opposite problem... too much of it.  The dozer operator estimated it would have taken 70 dump trucks if we had hauled it out.

[GuitarStv]

Probably cheaper to just get your daughter climbing gear for playing outside . . .


:D

[anastrophe]

I also do not think this is a DIY job. In addition to the potential erosion problem, the heavy equipment problem, and the "it's going to be a bigger job than you think probably" problem, if this is a lakefront house then there may be additional restrictions on moving earth around since it can affect water quality. Check with the town government to see if there are water quality regulations that might apply, and if this is the kind of thing that requires an earth-moving permit.

[anotherAlias]

Depending on how close to the shore you'll be working, you may need to consult with your Department of Natural Resources (or your states equivalent)

[k-vette]

Depending on how handy you are, it still could be a diy job.  See the attached picture.  Our yard was too steep to play in as well.  110' long retaining wall.  Originally the yard sloped all the way down to the curb in the picture.

$1,000 in bricks, $300 or so in gravel, less than $100 in plumbing and appropriate drainage.  Dirt was free (thankfully my dad and brother had some available, plus trucks to move it).  Tractor was borrowed and thus free.

Add in lots of manual labor by me and a few hours of help from friends/neighbors.  Start to finish of the wall was less than a week. 

Permits here are required if the wall is over 4'.  Mine is just under of course.  Lookup "french drain" for pictures on how to appropriately drain.  Contact city, etc on local permit regs if any.

[GuitarStv]

Wow, the whole house, the road, AND the trees were all sloped at a 45 degree angle?

[k-vette]

Haha very funny.  That's the only way I could get the whole wall in the picture.

[lakemom]

Before making an offer I would definitely check with the county/town/state and the DNR.  Living on water can be a joy but rest assured that anything that "might" affect the water/shoreline/critters must have layers and layers of approval beforehand.  Do NOT make the mistake of buying the home THEN finding out the yard cannot be changed or the changes will be in the 10's of thousands of dollars.  Our friends built about 6 years ago and their permit took over a year for approval and the actual site work added $87,000 to the cost of the house (present day value around 750k).  At least 50% of our circle of friends lives on one of the lakes in our area (my county has around 100 lakes) and doing anything on the water side of the property is never as easy at it seems it should be.

[Longwaytogo]

i'll add to the warnings about waterfront property/grading issues. My uncle who lives on the water was having his yard eroding  each year and did some DIY type solutions he found online only to have army corps of engineers suggest he remove and restore everything to its original state immediately or facing $1000 a month fine until proper permits/plans were issued.

[anastrophe]

i'll add to the warnings about waterfront property/grading issues. My uncle who lives on the water was having his yard eroding  each year and did some DIY type solutions he found online only to have army corps of engineers suggest he remove and restore everything to its original state immediately or facing $1000 a month fine until proper permits/plans were issued.

Indeed. I know of a local developer who thought it would be no problem to backfill a small pond to put in overflow parking; turns out there were some endangered salamanders (I think that was the critter) living there and they had to rip out the parking lot and pay for some very expensive specialists restore the habitat. Check first--even if you don't think you see anything except a few plants and sand, and you're not even that close to the water, moving around soil can cause a lot of damage to water quality invisibly and you don't want the federal engineers suggesting anything to you about it.

[FastStache]

Alright, I think I have been scared off of this home. If I do go lakefront I will make sure the backyard is how I like it.

[anastrophe]

Alright, I think I have been scared off of this home. If I do go lakefront I will make sure the backyard is how I like it.

Well, you can still look into it, just be aware it might not be straightforward. If you like it otherwise, you might still be interested, and your kid will grow right?

[Russ]

who says your kid can't play on it? sounds to me like you're about to have the most popular slip 'n' slide hill in the neighborhood

[Adam Zapple]

It all depends on the height of the retaining wall you would need to hold the dirt in place.  Another consideration:  is the house in a flood zone or close to being in a flood zone?  The national flood insurance plan is broke and the only way they can fix it is by raising flood insurance rates or extending the flood zones.  We were paying a (surprise) $2000 a year in additional flood insurance for our home until we were finally able to prove there was no possible way our house would flood.