so its 11:00p in Atlanta

[eriknetherlands]

and this...this is what it has become....managing water runoff to protect our cars. All too familiar. I admit I have a version of PTSD from experiencing 3 weekends in a row of "Atmospheric River" deluge back in 2021. I live on a small farm, flat terrain, drainage ditch on west side, large sump pit, large sump pump, backup battery sump pump. But....when rain is non stop and exceptionally high volume, and main sump pump fails.....hope the backup will work. But when backup battery fails., after main pump fails...water fills pit, flows out and moves seriously near my shop!
Was able to source LAST Honda gas powered water pump in my community and get it in place just in time to shed the overflow and protect my barn/shop from the rising water.
All this excess rain and worry keeps me wondering how I can better prepare for next extraordinary "Atmospheric River" episode.
But like all of us here, I would do anything to protect my Coupe from whatever the weather throws at us.
I believe I'm better prepared than ever, but notice rain in this area seems to be getting heavier.
May be time to move to higher ground!

You have a lift already?
If the water comes, then at least you have 6 feet to spare. And also handy for other car jobs.

 

[eriknetherlands]

You have a lift already?
If the water comes, then at least you have 6 feet to spare. And also handy for other car jobs.

Half of our country is below sea level: biggest steps were made here in the 1600's when people realized that you can only do soo much alone, but you don't solve it by yourself. It needs cooperation on a grand scale.

 

[boonies]

So I have a fairly low building footprint and the driveway is long and adds substantially to the coverage, but this is in a 1.1x acre lot. The problem is that the slope of the lot is substantial and thus the township gives no allowance for acreage, so it is like I don't have the acre I pay taxes on...
So as it stands I suspect they would not allow the coverage we have in a new construction.

We will have to see what happens. I plan to swap out the "deck" with the garage (garage below, deck above) but the garage plan was for about 390 square feet. I know I will have to make adjustments to get this through the variance, but I also want to fight a bit to maximize the space.

 

[rsporsche]

so the question is, what is the deck made out of? if its wood with spaces and dirt underneath that should not be considered impervious. any water that hits the deck would drain off between the cracks and be absorbed into the earth ... unless its over the patio. and in that case, no reason to double up on the same area. with walls, do any of them hold back extra dirt that increases permeable surface area? i would give some thought to switch backs on the hill to avoid run off and give a better chance of absorption ... or at least check what the city / county has to say about the idea.

 

[boonies]

It is wood with spaces. It is about 9' off the ground and I have confirmed with the township that they conside the deck as impervious even though the water drains through. So I will get some offset. The challenge is that I will not be net zero added impervious space and that is their target for my property. We will see if that changes when the attorney is involved in the discussions.

the challenge with site improvements is that the cost can quickly overwhelm the value. at that point we are back to convincing my wife to move or rent or buy another garage. I just leased a two car garage in town for storage, but I really need working space.

Stay tuned...