{"id":6134,"date":"2019-05-23T12:54:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T12:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=6134"},"modified":"2025-05-01T10:15:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T10:15:22","slug":"flood-proof-tiny-house-planning-the-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2019\/05\/flood-proof-tiny-house-planning-the-location\/","title":{"rendered":"Flood-proof Tiny House: Planning the Location"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you are building a tiny house, play house, workshop or shed on your land, you need to prepare the spot.<\/p>\n

The first, VERY first step<\/strong> is to make sure your building is not going to flood. Even before you plan the foundation, you need to plan the location.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
This land is not below flood plain, but floods anyway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flood Plain<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is the location for your tiny house above flood plain? How much above flood plain? Even if the land is above flood level, does that particular area flood anyway?<\/p>\n

If you have no other choice, even if the area floods, you might be able redirect the water flow.<\/p>\n

Ways to Redirect Water<\/h2>\n
\"Flood-proof
This photo of flood remediation by NRCS Montana shows berms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Berm<\/strong><\/p>\n

A berm acts as a wall or dam to divert water. It doesn\u2019t have to be very high and it doesn\u2019t have to be steep. As long as it is high enough and in the right place, it will redirect the water so that it won\u2019t wash into your little house.<\/p>\n

The photo above shows a campground with some serious flood remediation by NRCS Montana. These berms are really high. Ours are much lower. We don’t get serious flooding, we just want to redirect the water. I’m sure these berms will look much better after they get some grass on them.<\/p>\n

The more gradual the slope, the easier it will be to mow. Some people add ornamental plants, but keep in mind that this area gets less water.<\/p>\n

Our berms don’t show at all. They are much lower than the ones in the photo above.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
Swale to redirect water leads to a culvert for the driveway.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Swale<\/strong><\/p>\n

A swale is a lowered place in the yard to direct water. If it is wide and shallow, you can barely tell it is there and it is easy to mow. But, when it rains, the rain is directed away from your little house.<\/p>\n

I tried to take a photo of our swale, but it just looks like grass.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
Dry Stream Bed Pins on Pinterest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dry Stream <\/strong><\/p>\n

You can dig an area low enough to divert a lot of water, and then fill it with river rock. When it rains, it fills with water, instead of flooding the whole area. Make sure it runs somewhat downhill and away from anything you don\u2019t want to flood.<\/p>\n

You can find a lot of Dry Stream Bed Pins on Pinterest.<\/p>\n

Ditch<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can dig a ditch or trench if you need to divert a lot of water. The more water, the deeper and wider the ditch. Put a culvert in wherever you need to cross. Or lay two smaller culverts side-by-side if the ditch is wider.<\/p>\n

Use just one of these methods or a combination.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
This ditch overflows in high rain. It needs to be deeper and wider.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Make these changes before you start on your foundation<\/strong> and keep an eye on the area during the highest rains. Then you can tell if it\u2019s not working before it damages your new little house. You can add another method or adjust the one you\u2019ve used. You will see if you need to make your berm higher or change the location. You might have to make your ditch or swale deeper or wider. You may find that you need to redirect the water better.<\/p>\n

The photo above is the ditch when we first bought our land. It filled up when there was a lot of rain, then overflowed flooding the field. We had to make the ditch wider and deeper.<\/p>\n

What if it still floods?<\/h2>\n

If it still floods, even a little bit, don’t ignore it.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t prevent flooding in the area you want to put your little house, shed, or other building it is going to cost more and take more time.\u00a0 Consider choosing another location.<\/p>\n

If this spot is your only choice. Measure how deep it floods. If you are actually below flood plain, how far below?
\nBeing below flood plain or in an area otherwise prone to flooding doesn\u2019t make it impossible to build, but you will have to raise your building high enough to protect it.<\/p>\n

How to Raise Your Tiny House So It Won\u2019t Flood<\/h2>\n

You will need to raise your tiny house or other building so that it won’t be flooded. There are quite a few ways to do this.<\/p>\n

Fill Dirt<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can build the level of the ground higher by grading, moving dirt from other areas of your land or bringing in fill dirt.<\/p>\n

Foundation and Backfill<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can put in footers and a block foundation to get high enough. You will probably want to backfill so that the area under the house doesn\u2019t fill with water. You don\u2019t want your house sitting on a pond or swamp.<\/p>\n

Piers<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can put your tiny house or other building on piers. Piers can be built out of concrete block on a cement footing or use a concrete tube form like Sonotube. This way even if water flows under and around your building, it won’t get into it or wash it away.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
Columns made using Sonotube concrete tube forms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sonotube concrete tube forms can be used to raise your building above flood level.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
Sonotube to secure a 4 x 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Depending on what you are building, perhaps you can use 4 x 4 posts, as if you are supporting a deck or porch. A Sonotube concrete tube form can be used make the cement footing for 4 x 4s.<\/p>\n

\"Flood-proof
4 x 4 posts supporting a deck set in Sonotube concrete tube forms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t skip or rush planning and preparing the location of your building.
\nPreparation now will save you later.<\/p>\n

Now you can Plan the Foundation ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you are building a tiny house, play house, workshop or shed on your land, you need to prepare the spot. The first, VERY first step is to make sure your building is not going to flood. Even before you plan the foundation, you need …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[85,41,1,40,34],"tags":[84,37,62,43],"class_list":["post-6134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adus","category-garage-storage","category-research","category-she-shed","category-tiny-houses","tag-flood","tag-foundation","tag-grading","tag-tiny-house"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/featured-flood.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1488,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/building-a-new-house-can-you-build-in-a-flood-plain\/","url_meta":{"origin":6134,"position":0},"title":"Building a New House \u2013 Can you build in a flood plain?","author":"Carla","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Can you build in a flood plain? 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That means there is a 1-in-100 chance of flood in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our New House"","block_context":{"text":"Our New House","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-house\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/featured-flood.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/featured-flood.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/featured-flood.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/featured-flood.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2379,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/grading-getting-above-flood-plain\/","url_meta":{"origin":6134,"position":2},"title":"Grading – Getting Above Flood Plain","author":"Carla","date":"April 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Late in the day the graders showed up and started moving dirt around again. There is a lot of dirt. From Dartmouth, you can't even see there is a house being built back there. It looked like they were just rearranging the piles. But they knew what they were doing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Our New House"","block_context":{"text":"Our New House","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-house\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Grading - Getting Above Flood Plain - Project Small House: Building our Schumacher Home","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-grading-getting-above-flood-plain-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-grading-getting-above-flood-plain-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-grading-getting-above-flood-plain-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/featured_image-grading-getting-above-flood-plain-1.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15066,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/10\/hurricane-helene-vs-the-log-cabin\/","url_meta":{"origin":6134,"position":3},"title":"Hurricane Helene vs. the Log Cabin","author":"Carla","date":"October 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I lived in Meadowbrook Log Cabin from 2005 until 2022 and there were a few weather events that caused flooding and road closures in Hendersonville. 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