Another foundation/grade problem

shazapple

Hello all
I am in the process of planning an addition for my house. My house is built on a hill with the garage about 50 feet uphill from it. We have a wrap around driveway that passes close to the garage. My plan is to put the addition on the back of the house into the hill (and I know how you all like pictures, so here you go)



The problem is if I keep the original flat area in front of the garage, the new foundation will be about 1ft below grade. I guess I could either A) change the grade or B) raise the foundation

A) I'd have to remove 2+ feet of soil to get proper spacing and drainage, will this be too awkward in terms of driving (about a 7% grade)

B) With a 12" thick foundation wall, Local codes say I can raise 4" of that to a maximum of 14" for the stud wall to sit on. Would this reduce the grading required to something more acceptable?
Alternatively, if I step the foundation, is a ledger a suiltable way to support the floor joists?

C) any other suggestions are welcome!

Marbledust

do you have room to add a walkway say 4 feet of space?seperate the high grade with a short retaining wall,add a sloping walk way?

havalife

How would it look if you raised the wall where you need to then drop it back down when you have the clearance? As far as using a ledger for supporting the floor joist that is done all the time but you will need to have that done by an engineer.

__________________
"Yeah, it's a nice garage, but you have to keep it heated at all times so it doesn't mess up your roof line."

concretemasonry

Just face it -

If you are doing a major addition, you will lose most of the driveway during construction of the addition and the new foundation, so just recognize the best solution is to put in a new driveway at a proper grade that will not be as steep as the dreaded 7% mentioned earlier.

You cannot put your wood framed walls below grade, especially in an area that will attract a lot of water. The longer the driveway, the more flexibility you ahe in controlling the drainage.

Dick

shazapple

I'm not a fan of the walkway idea, what with snow, vehicles and etc.

Speaking of snow, keeping the current grade and stepping the foundation walls might be the best solution to avoid any problems that snow buildup would cause.

The driveway as it is only gravel, so no worries about that. What is a proper grade? My concern is if 7% is awkward considering it is where vehicles emerge from the garage as well as circle around the house? I don't know anything about grading.

I know I can't put wood framed walls below grade, which is why that wasn't my question.