Building on a slope

[lutz123]

I have someone coming out to quote us on leveling an area for a 8x10 to 10x14 shed (coop) today. I won't pretend that I can figure out grade, but it probably drops 4 feet minimum over a 20 foot wide area. There's a large local building project going on with lots of clean fill dirt and my preference would be to build it up rather than cut into the slope. I do recognize that there's a chance for settling, but my feet are terrible and the opportunity to flatten out our yard some is very tempting. My question is, should we have the chicken yard done leveled (slight slope) at the same time? My thinking is that it shouldn't really matter because they will tear it up soon anyhow. I'm worried that running welded wire & hardware cloth fencing might be more difficult to do on a slope. Also I'm having more bluestone (crushed gravel) put on our riding ring. Would it be a good or bad idea to put a crushed gravel base on the entire chicken run for drainage, or will it end up a mess anyhow? I'd like to make cleanup easiest for the long run. I'm open to any ideas you might have. I really need to get this settled because I have keets and chicks ready to go outside soon.

 

[jamband]

There is alot to consider when re grading a section of land. a pic of the area and in relation to buildings etc would be great. I will say to bring up a slope 4 ft over a 20 ft section will require more dirt than you could possibly imagine.....i mean tandem load after tandem load of it. You also need to consider water drainage, tree roots etc. adding or removing alot will likely affect both of them . my best suggestion is to talk to at least 5 people about it and get prices. I had grading done on maybe 500 sq ft and prices ranged from 350 to 2200 and the ideas were even more varied.

I personally would not grade the yard if its a slope they won't mind but I don't personally like the idea of a static yard so I may not be the best for that one.

As for the gravel.....wouldn't that make it tough for them to be able to scratch and what not? If its not flat I wouldn't do gravel. You'll end up with a pile against the fence on heavy rains.


hope that helps

 

[Ridgerunner]

The way I read this, it is run only, not under the coop. And when I Googled your location, I got Virginia. You can get some pretty heavy thunderstorms there with a lot of runoff.

If you are on a slope and add fill without a retaining wall, I'd be concerned about erosion. Imagine building a fence on the lower side and the ground washing away under it, even in only a couple of spots. There goes the predator protection. I personally would not do it.

Four feet in 20 is pretty steep. You might have trouble running welded wire or hardware cloth. It might be easier for you to cut it and only run a section between two posts instead of trying to run the uncut wire the entire length of the fence.

While the heavy equipment is out there, I suggest you consider creating a swale just above the run. Above the coop too for that matter. The intent is to create a gentle drainage ditch above the coop and run to keep the water from running through the run. As steep as it is, I'm not 100% comfortable with this advice. I'm not looking at it and I don't know how big the run will be. My concerns are the you might be creating a gully that will wash out and create an eroded mess. Also, on a slope that steep, the water would probably run off pretty quickly so it should not stay wet, but they will strip it bare so it could easily erode. I'd try to keep water from running across it. The potential for more erosion is why I suggest creating a gentle swale instead of a ditch above it. I'd expect a slope like that to be pretty rocky too. Another reason to build up a gentle swale instead of digging a ditch.

Thinking about what I had to do to my driveway to keep it from washing out, maybe just build a low rock wall along the top section of fence to divert the water?
(I call mine a long rock pile instead of a wall. My rock pile is not neat or organized enough to be called a wall)

 

[patandchickens]

Honestly, although I could be wrong since we've not seen photos, on the face of it it seems like a big mistake to make that big a cut without Very Firm Plans for retention of the resulting bank. Retaining a 4' bank in a way that will LAST is going to cost money, too. (Unless you're actually going to grade back a whole lot further so making the bank slope much more gentle. But even then, make sure you do something right away to prevent erosion and get vegetation going again as fast as possible.)

If it were me I'd be highly inclined to do a pole-built shed, that way you can ignore the slope of the land and not disturb it. Yeah, the downhill end of the shed will be "hovering" 2' or so above the ground (if it is 10' wide and the slope is even), but that is no big deal at all.

I'd be leery of filling the area for the run. It will be hard to get fenceposts in SOLIDLY, and easy for chickens to dig out and predators to dig in.

It is not hard to fence a slope, you just have to do it a bit differently. Several options exist, none are especially difficult although most look a bit 'odd' til you get used to them.

JMHO, good luck have fun,

Pat

 

[jamband]

Quote:
x2 even building a wall yourself (no small task) will cost you several thousand. Plus an anything less than perfectly pitched and drained wall begins degrading immediately.

 

[lutz123]

Sigh... Yes, it's a pretty steep drop off. The only flat area remotely near the house is our septic drainfield. I have the guy coming out today or tomorrow who did our riding ring and did a fabulous job (it's been 5 years). It was cut into 15 feet deep at one end, built up at the other, has a nice crown, and has plenty of swale that drains wonderfully. I trust that he will give us good advice. I will also look at a local builder that can just do onsite shed/coop work.

 

[patandchickens]

The thing is, it is SO easy to just sink posts and do a pole-building shed (coop), I just don't know as there is a lot of point in doing riskier and much more expensive things, you know?

If the slope bothers you, perhaps there are strategic places where a ramp or steps could be built to a walkway, so that most of your path to the coop would be on the flat.

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Huskeriowa]

I just built a run on a slope that is a 2/12 pitch. I set posts 5' in the ground to hopefully avoid frost heave and then built a retaining wall within the posts. Behind the retaining wall I placed gravel and sand. I am happy with what I did and believe it will function as intended for years but it was a LOT of work. If you are getting quotes on that project I would make sure they are reputable and have insurance. Anytime you are dealing with a slope, new fill and hydraulic pressure you can have problems. What looks great this year can be destroyed by next year if the contractor doesn't know what they are doing. Good luck.