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Hello! My house is not build on the 100-year flood plain but my backyard dips down and goes out into the woods. The 100-year flood plain starts pretty much where the land dips down. We were hoping to build a deck straight out (where the land starts to dip down). The posts for the deck would be dug into the flood plain.
Can anyone offer some insight into building this deck or if we can even build the deck? Our HOA has approved the plans and we have a builder ready to go but it's a little iffy with the town of Holly Springs.
We submitted everything for HOA approval and our deck guy is submitting for the building permit. He said different towns enforce different regulations about building in a flood plain. I guess we'll find out next week, but I had just wondered if anyone out there knew! I did a lot of internet research and couldn't find much at all.
When we built our deck the inspector gave us a lot of grief about the soils and soil stability for post support. We had to dig much larger deeper holes for the posts and get a licensed soil scientist to give us a letter stating the holes were deep/big enough to support the deck once we poured concrete in the holes. It was a pain in arse.
I knew a landscaper who got into a bind while building a fence (around a new inground pool) that crossed into a flood plain. The Town of Cary inspector basically told him he couldn't build the fence even though the Town had seen the plans and given him a building permit. The reasons given were that the fence could interfere with the flow of flood waters (if it ever happened) and the flood plain is regulated by FEMA regulations. Don't know if you'll get the same type of response from Holly Springs.
I don't know the legalities of this, but a deck would certainly affect water flow in a flood. A powerful enough flood could certainly carry away a deck, and the big thing I have seen with floods is that such debris tends to back up at road crossings and create a debris damn, causing much more extensive flooding. Not sure if you would be held responsible for such an event, but it does not sound like a good idea to me. Generally the only recommended uses in flood plains are recreational trails,etc. that can quickly be cleaned up after a flood and would not provide rafted debris.
Make sure you have your ducks in a row with the town. Remember that just because your plans are approved that does not mean that the field inspector will also approve them.
Please post the resolution ... It would seem like a deck on posts in not much different from the seaside homes built on stilts to allow the water to overwash but I don't know what the code allows. Especially since this is not "occupied" space.
Hey! It's your neighbor. When I spoke with the town about clearing/planting stuff down there, they told me it was fine. I could even plant trees etc. They did tell me building structures is out of the question.
In your case, I can't see a few posts causing a problem. Posts would be just like trees in my book. It doesn't get all that bad back there anyhow. I would overbuild, think pier pilings??? If you were building a solid wall down, then yes, but just posts? I don't think so.
ANyhow, good luck. Oh, btw, I bought flood insurance 'cause you never know... $198/year.
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