Is that a case against having the floor inside the building lower than the ground outside – wouldn that encourage dampness to seep in from the outside?
I would usually advise keeping the interior floor level above the outside grade where the doors are. It is possible to create covered entrances and special drains to keep the water from entering the house when it is dug in lower than the grade, but this must be carefully done. Q: I want to get your thoughts on drainage issues. Berming a home into a hill obviously raises some concerns here, perhaps particularly where our sandy soil means VERY RAPID water movement over and through the soil. I think if you can channel that water effectively, it very quickly moves on, but if you don’t, I could imagine some problems. A: Obviously, drainage is very important. First of all you would want to create a circular swale around the back of the house to direct surface water around to either side and not into the house. Then the water that percolates into the soil near your house needs to be kept from entering the house with a moisture barrier. I used two layers of 6 mil polyethylene draped over the e
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