Permanent Site Conditioning and Post-Construction Land Forming

GG-4 Site Preparation and X-15 Landscape Cleanup

This step seems to be one of the last in the process. However, it must be addressed in the very beginning. Pre-knowledge, policies, and decisions must be developed at the first, so the results will be best at the last.

Permanent Site Conditioning refers to the ability of the ground on the site to support growing plants, to hold its position against wind, rain, and snow; to offer advantageous quantities of sunshine, and fresh air circulation; to resist erosion; and to create easy maintenance of surface landscape structures including lawns, and  terraces; and water features, like ponds, streams, and water gardens.

Successful site conditioning is not left to chance, but requires deliberate planning, and the discipline to follow through with that plan. A healthy homesite, after construction is completed, is no accident. Some important aspects:

• Leftover fill dirt must not be piled up, just anywhere. The very composition of loose fill dirt, loose and granular, makes it very susceptible to erosion. Seasonal rains will quickly transport piles to low areas, possibly causing the blockage and unintended rerouting of drainage paths, which in turn might direct water in unacceptable directions, whether onto neighboring property, or into the house itself. Place leftover dirt in a location where it can be easily contained, or make lawful arrangements to remove it from the site.

Disposal of Construction Materials – WARNING : Nothing, which is left over during, or after construction, is ever to be tossed into a footing ditch, a wall form, a  ‘hollow’ of a concrete block, the area into which backfill material will be placed, or a hole in the ground leftover from the clearing and removal of plant features. As such carelessly tossed materials decompose, hollow spaces are left where their cast-away bodies once were. These hollow spaces severely weaken every structural part they occupy. Foundation footings will break apart, concrete walls will collapse, sinkholes will form, and dangerous pits will appear. Next follows some important items of disposable construction materials, and what should happen to them.

‘Wasted’ means leftover and no longer useful.

• Wasted Framing Lumber : REMOVE FROM SITE or mulch for landscaping.
• Food-related debris : REMOVE FROM SITE.
• Wasted trim & cabinet materials : REMOVE FROM SITE or mulch for landscaping.
• Wasted Insulation Materials ( batt, foam, caulking tubes, etc… ) : REMOVE FROM SITE.
• Wasted Moisture Barrier Materials ( wall wrap, roofing felt, all membranes, coatings, etc… ) : REMOVE FROM SITE.
• Wasted Plastic Construction Materials : REMOVE FROM SITE.
• Wasted Metal Materials : REMOVE FROM SITE.

The health of the land as well as the home on it depends of the care given in the beginning to assuring that every inch of the ground and structure has proper stability. Pay close attention to what happens to leftovers from the construction process. Make sure all wasted materials end up in a place, whether on of off site, in which they can cause no future damage.

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