Building On/Near a Flood Plain

[donpablo]

I'm considering purchasing some property and a portion of it is on a flood plain. Are there regulations about building near a FP (like a minimum distance from it)? I've been told that you can actually build on the FP as long as finished floor is at least 2' above mean fp elevation. Is this true? Would a house built in that manner be insurable? Looking to benefit from TBH wisdom. Thanks.

Pablo

[texasair]

Regulations are different from county to county.

Check with the Permit or engineering office in the county where you want to build

[donpablo]

Regulations are different from county to county.

Check with the Permit or engineering office in the county where you want to build

Good to know. I'll call them tomorrow. Thanks.

[glen]

We had to be 13 ft up on our build. Everywhere will be different

[JHT]

I have been through three flooded out houses here in Houston all over town.
My question is why would you want to risk it?

Two of the houses were located in 500 year flood plains & these two houses had never been flooded before.

[Bill M]

If borrowing from a lender to buy the land to build, they will likely have something to say about it.

[rtjh]

My house flooded during Harvey and I don't wish that on anybody, I wouldn't risk it.

[Brazos Hunter]

Building is not the issue, financing (if applicable) and insuring will be your obstacle. A qualified engineer from the area can probably answer your questions better than anyone.



Michael

[Chad_E]

Regulations are different from county to county.

Check with the Permit or engineering office in the county where you want to build

This is the best answer. You will at a minimum be adding fill to keep your slab at or above the BFE (base flood elevation). That's FEMA's requirement. However as texasair stated, every county or governing entity is different and can superseed FEMA. Note that the floodplain you are looking at may also not have an established BFE. You can go to this website to lookup your location on FEMA to see which designated area you are in. https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

If it is a zone AE, that means that elevations have already been established. If in zone A, they have not been and the regulating entity may require a flood study performed by an engineering firm to establish a BFE where you intend to build. This study will likely cost you in excess of $10k. Additionally, you will likely need a surveyor (whether in AE or A) that will prepare Elevation Certificates to prove that your concrete forms and post construction building is at the required elevation.

Also as mentioned, the bank may also have something to say about building in the floodplain. If the above studies and surveys are required, those will likely be enough to satisfy most banks.

Lastly, you'll need the elevation certificate to cheapen your flood insurance that you'll want to carry on the house indefinitely.

In summary, if you can avoid it, I would. However, it is done quite frequently.

[kmitchl]

Move on to a property without flood plain issues. Flood plains get reevaluated periodically. Out today. In tomorrow. Also just because you are out of the flood plain does not ensure you will not flood. Will affect your resale market and value down the road. Speaking from being flooded twice in Houston. Run Forrest, Run!

[be12hunt]

We built in a flood zone. We built up a lot of dirt for our house pad. We are 5’ above BFE and our flood insurance is only about $500 a year.

[Agdog]

I built in one in Rosharon and was originally building the minimum pad height to meet everyone’s requirements. I added another 12” of fill at the last minute, which saved us from flooding during Harvey. Lots of good advice above. Mine would be, if you decide to go through with it, go higher than you need to!

[jtempleton]

Poured a slab for a metal building one time and were hanging the red iron when the county pulled up and stopped us. Said we were in a FEMA flood plain and we had to be at a certain elevation and check with FEMA before we built. It was obvious we were higher than many other structures in the area. Long story short had to get an engineer stamp on our elevation which was over their requirement to build and turn it into them to get a permit. Glad they worked with us and weren't a pain in the *****.

[howabouttheiris]

Around Lake Brownwood, for example, you need to be 10' above the dam spillway.

County was able to give us specifics with a quick phone call.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Hockley]

My house flooded during Harvey and I don't wish that on anybody, I wouldn't risk it.

Same, never again...