11 Tips for Building a Home

on a Sloping Site
What are the technical, structural and design implications for a home on a sloping site?
Here, Homebuilding & Renovating offers some tips on costs, design and construction

A sloping site is both a problem and a gift. It will add complexity, and thus cost to the project, but the
finished home is sure to be more interesting. These tips will help you understand the problems with
sloping sites and how to overcome them. It will also introduce you to some design solutions.

This modern home has split levels creating visual impact both inside and out

1. Budget for additional costs from the outset

Sloping site homes often need reinforced suspended concrete floors, additional draining, stepped
foundations, a pump and more complicated hard landscaping and this all costs extra money.
Unfortunately, there is no sliding scale to apply to sloping sites to help you work out the additional costs
for every degree of slope. The best advice is to use detailed drawings and the help of an estimator or
quantity surveyor to work out the costs of your project.
Read tips on finding a plot on a budget

2. Cut and fill

To overcome the issues of building on a sloping site, some designs involve carving out a level plinth on
which to build a home designed for a level site. The spoil cut away from the bank is then used to make up
the levels on the lower edge.

The foundation costs are always going to increase due to the slope of the land and the requirement that
the foundations should find original subsoil bearing. If the spoil is piled up against the lower or built up
section of the new home then provision will have to be made for the oversite level within the building to be
brought up to within 600mm of the proposed external soil level, in order to equalise the pressure on the
walling. However, carting spoil away from a site is expensive and time consuming and its retention on site
is a cost benefit, just so long as there is space to store it.

A level site was created for this home by cutting into the hillside

3. Consider drainage and sewers

If your site slopes down from a road in which the sewer is fairly shallow then you may have to think of
using a pumped sewage system. This can add at least 2,000 to the drainage costs. However, there may
be a corresponding saving due to the fact that the 50mm flexible pipe may well be cheaper to lay than a
conventional drainage pipe. If your site slopes down from the road, within which the sewer is quite deep,
then the slope may actually represent a saving in cost, as the resulting house drainage will not have to be
as deep.

Sites which slope up from the road and sewer may seem more attractive so far as drainage is concerned,
but if the slope is significant it might be necessary to install tumble bays within the manholes, so that the
effluent can enter the sewer at a reasonable rate.

Surface and rainwater is also a consideration. Many local authorities will not allow surface water to go into
the public sewers, and require that precautions are taken to ensure that surface water from your property
does not flow down onto the road if your house sits above. Sloping down from the road means that
surface water can collect around the base of the lower floor, or worse still, find its way into the garage.
This may mean having to install a drainage channel to divert the water to soakaways.

4. Basements are not always a necessity

On a costing level a basement is always going to cost at least the same amount per square metre as any
other part of the home, if not more. In ground with high water tables or in heavy clay, these costs and the
sheer physical difficulties presented may make the choice unviable. However, if the lie of the land is such
that there is no alternative to either a full or partial basement, then this can be the cost effective solution.

5. Do some research on retaining walls

If you build into the slope, the walls of your home may have to hold back considerable banks of ground
we call these retaining walls. Alternatively, you can carve out a level plinth, the surround of which will
need retaining walls. Above 1,200mm in height these will have to be designed by an engineer.

In certain circumstances it may be cheaper, and visually more attractive, to construct a series of lower
retaining walls with the ground stepped between them. An alternative is wire cages known as Gabions
filled with stone, or interlocking concrete blocks that are subsequently filled with soil and planted, or left
exposed for an industrial look.

6. Build on stilts

On steeply sloping land one solution is to build on a series of stilts or columns. This removes the need for
extensive foundations and tanking. Moreover, it leaves the ground below exposed which you can then
cover with plants (to hide the stilts), or use for storage. In certain situations it can be the cost effective
solution and there is no reason why it cannot be employed with multiple level designs.
 Stilts have made it possible to build a level home on this steeply sloping site

7. Try upside down living

As sloping sites often offer wonderful views, one way to take advantage of this is to reverse the
accommodation, placing living areas on the top and bedrooms below. When it comes to your garage, it
makes sense to have this on the same level as the road, but think carefully about how this is connected to
sleeping quarters because you dont want fumes in bedrooms.

Be aware that for every potential buyer who is excited by the individuality of the design, there are many
who cannot accept departure from the norm. The housebuying public are incredibly conservative. They
expect a natural progression of rooms. It may not devalue your home in real terms, but it will cut down the
number of potential buyers and lengthen the time taken to sell.

8. Consider kerb appeal

All too often, homes built on sloping sites fall into the trap of providing purely functional accommodation
and pay little heed to the need to maintain a good visual impact. Where the garage and entrance are on
the ground floor, it can make the lower half of the house look boring and regiment so think about ways to
break up the utilitarian frontage. Set garage doors back or beneath overhanging balconies to reduce their
visual impact. Introduce doors as well as windows to upper floors and break up the front elevation by
stepping parts back and introducing forward gable projections. Consider balconies and ask yourself
whether your entrance has to be on the ground floor, or whether it may create more of a feature having it
on the middle level with some stairs and a platform to one side.

Sites that slope away from the road suffer from being unable to advertise the full extent of their
accommodation. What looks like a bungalow from the front may be a five bedroom house with several
stories to the rear and potential buyers may opt for a property with more obvious kerb appeal. There is
little you can do apart from positioning the home so that even the casual observer can see from the front
that it extends downwards and offer some indication of the hidden accommodation, such as through
the use of rooflights.

9. Dont forget about accessibility

Part M of the Building Regulations relating to disabled access can sometimes affect the design of a house
on a sloping site. Externally, they require that access ramps for slopes up to 1 in 15 should not be longer
than 10 metres, and those for gradients up to 1 in 10, no longer than 5 metres. Steeply sloping sites can,
in the absence of a ramp, employ steps at least 900mm wide with a rise no greater than 150mm and a
distance between landings of no more than 1,800mm. Additionally, if there are more than three risers,
handrails must be provided to at least one side.

Internally the entrance floor must contain a WC accessible by wheelchair and here, the Regulations make
no distinction between split level and flat site homes.

10. Make the most of changes in floor levels

On a sloping site, a split level floorplan is usually the most cost effective way to develop the site. Changes
in level can help you define different areas in an open plan space and certainly add interest to a layout.
However, multiple levels will limit the appeal of the property to households with elderly, disabled or young
members, so think carefully about your needs and futureproofing.
 Decking, terracing and even ponds have been built into this sloping garden

11. Use clever hard landscaping so that you dont lose garden space

A garden that slopes away from the home can be lost so use raised decks and patios to create useable
space. Raised wooden decks can be attractive and they can be constructed in such a way as to allow
light to filter down to the windows of lower storeys. A garden that slopes up from the home is one that can
be seen to an even greater degree than a flat site. It becomes a three dimensional garden that can be
terraced so as to bring beauty to all levels of the home