Who You Gonna Call? EXCAVATORS!!

So you’re thinking of buying land and building your dream home. We’ve already talked about making sure there’s been a survey done so you’re sure of the property boundaries. What about what’s inside those boundaries and what it allows you to do, or prevents you from doing. Sometimes lots or land are listed for sale with a septic and well permit in place, and maybe even established access to the preferred build site. Those lots are always more expensive. Raw land can be affordable, beautiful, in a great location, and seem perfect for your vision. However, if you don’t get a few very important variables addressed you could wind up buying a piece of land you can’t use.

The issue we’ll focus on here is access to the build site. People come to WNC for the mountains. People want views and pay a lot for them. I’ve had buyers look at houses and say “the view is great but this house isn’t worth anywhere near that price.” They may be right. The house isn’t worth that much but how much did it cost just to access the build site? WNC is all trees, mountains, and water. That’s what we love about it, but where it becomes a problem is building and maintaining driveways in those conditions.

The most obvious consideration when putting in access to a build site is trees. That’s not a difficult cost to calculate. A more skilled eye may be needed to recognize things like rock obstacles though. It’s the mountains. There are rocks, some of which you can’t see and those are the killers. What appears to be a relatively easy path to cut can turn very costly with the discovery of just one rock. At first it looks like a large rock that might take a little digging out and next thing you know, you’re having to consider whether to jackhammer, blast, or reroute the driveway. All of these options cost a lot of time and money.

Springs and streams make for a peaceful setting and summer rains bring beautiful rainbows. With that beauty come some hidden surprises. Drainage is at the top of the list. A gravel driveway with poor drainage and inadequate water control will wash out in no time. I’ve seen a driveway have to be almost completely rebuilt after a hard rain before the house was even framed up. Even on paved driveways, poor drainage can destroy the road surface and erode the soil under the road causing cracks and holes to open up. A skilled excavator can help you avoid much of the headache related to water management, but the most significant bit of information you’ll get from someone who knows what they’re looking at is the condition of the soil.

What does this have to do with water? A nice clear, grassy area on a beautiful piece of land might look like the perfect place for a driveway but sometimes it’s clear because of a landslide or the buildup of boggy silt running down the mountain with a spring fed creek. Over the course of many years, those beautiful creeks can deposit material in such a way that it makes building a driveway or access road an untenable endeavor. Without significant engineering costs, and/or constant maintenance, this type of soil could quickly render your driveway impassable.

If you are thinking of buying land, make sure you ask all the right questions before you sink a bunch of money into something you don’t know enough about. Is there a septic permit? Has there ever been a perc test done? Has a survey been done? Where does the access need to go and how much will it cost? Your realtor should be able to help you get all of these questions answered and, in some cases should have documentation to show you when you first look at the property. Find a good excavator who has experience in the area. They might not always be the lowest price but their expertise if valuable. If you hire someone who puts in a driveway that isn’t built or placed properly, you may end up paying more in the end than you would have if it’d been done right.