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Building Regulation Passed by City Council

4,159 Views | 57 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Diggity
schmellba99
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aggiedent said:

Houston has been long overdue for some common sense building regulations that protect homeowners. Now we need some effort in building a 3rd reservoir and protecting the eastern edge of the Katy Prairie from development. All the county commissioners say they support those things........but talk is cheap in Houston.
As soon as I see this phrase uttered, I know the regulations are completely FUBAR
schmellba99
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Quote:

I think every homeowner in Harris Co should hav a flood policy,

If you are anywhere south of I-10 on the east side of town and 59 on the west side of town, or within about 5 miles of any river, creek, bayou, storm drainage channel or other waterway - get a damned flood policy. If you have municipal maintained storm sewers, get a flood policy.

They aren't expensive and you can generally pay for a flood policy for about 40 years before you begin to get into the area of spending more on your flood insurance policy than you would for a single event where you got an inch of water in your home.
Ducks4brkfast
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So, if you're in the 100 or 500 year, you have to build 2' above the 500 year?

But if you're not in the 500 year, you don't have to go up at all?
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Ducks4brkfast
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jayelbee said:

Nobody is talking about raising existing slabs above grade, though. You're right that that's a totally different animal.

I totally agree with your comment about looking at individual development in a vacuum. I don't trust hydrology as a science any more than I do voodoo.
They are if the repair to the home is > 50% its value.
Diggity
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it's a pretty easy system to game for the nicer neighborhoods.
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94chem
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Isn't it pretty expensive to remove a foundation, which is required by code to even sell the property? I don't know that most lots would even have a net positive value once this is done.

Also, in many of the homes in Kingwood, the 50% math is entirely dependent on whether the home is 1 story or 2 story.
Satellite of Love
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jayelbee said:

Ducks4brkfast said:

jayelbee said:

Nobody is talking about raising existing slabs above grade, though. You're right that that's a totally different animal.

I totally agree with your comment about looking at individual development in a vacuum. I don't trust hydrology as a science any more than I do voodoo.
They are if the repair to the home is > 50% its value.

Serious question, what percentage of people under this category are actually spending the money to raise a gutted pile of sticks vs. tear it down and start from scratch.

In a lot of areas, these are 50-60 year old houses with foundation problems, aluminum wiring, cast iron pipes, and a flat grade out to the street. Many people take the insurance check and use it as a down payment to build their next house on their old lot, filled 24" and put on piers this time.

The Meyerland crowd is into it. Go drive the hood and you will see several lifted homes. Very odd looking to see one in progress.
bad_teammate said on 2/10/21:
Just imagine how 1/6 would've played out if DC hadn't had such strict gun laws.

Two people starred his post as of the time of this signature. Those 3 people are allowed to vote in the US.
AgLA06
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schmellba99 said:

. Raising a house with a slab on grade 2 additional feet isn't something you just come in and do.


Actually, that's exactly what most of the new homes in the Oak Forest and surrounding areas have done. Flooding rarely gets better and usually continues to get much worse as more and more pervious soil is replaced in this town.
94chem
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AgLA06 said:

schmellba99 said:

. Raising a house with a slab on grade 2 additional feet isn't something you just come in and do.


Actually, that's exactly what most of the new homes in the Oak Forest and surrounding areas have done. Flooding rarely gets better and usually continues to get much worse as more and more pervious soil is replaced in this town.


Aren't the 2 of you talking about completely different things?
schmellba99
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Go back and read again. New homes are not the same as existing homes.
AlaskanAg99
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Here's why this is happening. Prior to Harvey the USGS wants to remap ground surface elevation every decade, especially Urban areas. LiDAR was last flown in our region in 2008 before IKE hit. The USGS cannot afford to foot the entire bill so they work with local government as part of a cost sharing program.

This for the 13 local counties around and including Harris: http://www.h-gac.com/lidar-cost-share/default.aspx

Ft. Bend flew theirs in 2017 but will be on board for a regional update in 2028. It's cheaper this way and the state is also involved with this. In '08 the minimum standard was 2 points per square meter, now it's 4 points but the resolution will be higher because the sensors are better than min standard.

Once all this is done engineering departments and flood control departments can start to update their modeling. FEMA will also get this data and in working with the flood control agencies and with all the recent flooding data they will recalculate the 100 year flood plain. It is highly anticipated the new 100 year will include vast areas of the existing 500 year. The policy changes now are meant to get ahead of FEMA changes which can take 3-5 years due to the public comment period.

The changes are being made now to make compliance in the future easier.

https://www.fema.gov/community-compliance-program

I'm 100% for this, make the homeowner responsible for bearing the cost of their decision on where to build and not make the tax payers bail them out when a storm hits later.

Lastly, once the 100yr is expanded, those without flood insurance and with a mortgage will now be required to have flood insurance if their loan is owned by Fannie or Freddie, and if not the banks may have similar requirements. So they will be forced to purchase insurance at the 100yr rate.

This is happening all over the US. The next step is to raise the cost of insurance so the fund isnt perpetually bankrupt.
94chem
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FYI, my neighbor is a builder, and bought the vacant lot across the street in the 100 year plain. He brought in fill dirt to elevate the home 18" above the 500 year plain. His home, as did mine, got 2 feet of water, so the new regulation wouldn't have prevented flooding in our homes.

I wonder if there's going to be a rush for permitting before the flood maps can be redrawn?
AlaskanAg99
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Guess what, sometimes floods happen that exceed building standards.

Build to resist a 6.0 earthquake and a 7.0 flattens everything.

**** happens.
Diggity
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Are you still allowed to bring in dirt to elevate homes?
94chem
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Quote:

Guess what, sometimes floods happen that exceed building standards.

Build to resist a 6.0 earthquake and a 7.0 flattens everything.
Username checks out.
94chem
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Diggity said:

Are you still allowed to bring in dirt to elevate homes?
Well, the proposed new regulation read "no net fill." I don't know if that's what passed or not. Does that mean that you have to elevate it using dirt from your own lot?

Also, how is bringing in dirt to raise the slab height any different from bringing in concrete to build a parking lot? Or are we going to build a pier and beam Home Depot?
Diggity
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I'm not sure about your area, but that's been illegal for a while in the city.
stroodles
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Diggity said:

Are you still allowed to bring in dirt to elevate homes?

My understanding is anything within the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) would not be allowed to have a net fill. So if a builder or owner brings in dirt they will have to mitigate it somehow.

Here is a link that shows where the SFHAs are currently located.

https://msc.fema.gov/portal

What impact will the redefined flood maps have is the larger question IMO.
FarmerJohn
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Quote:

Also, how is bringing in dirt to raise the slab height any different from bringing in concrete to build a parking lot?
It's not. That's why the parking lot has a detention pond. Or why there are suddenly "lakes" in west Houston developments.
RK
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Diggity said:

Are you still allowed to bring in dirt to elevate homes?
not where we are re-building.
26.2
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Diggity said:

I'm not sure about your area, but that's been illegal for a while in the city.
This was just reported in my 'hood (77007). The builder raised the ground at least 2, maybe 3 feet. Is this really illegal? It's definitely going to screw over the neighbors (not me).

https://seeclickfix.com/issues/4348792-building-or-sign-code
Diggity
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It's against city code
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