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Old 09-17-2009, 03:17 PM
 
65 posts, read 227,887 times
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I am getting a new Taylor Morrison house built but I came to know that the drive way will be steep. The house is to the point where the plumbing pipes are done but the foundation is not done. The builder is suggesting that they can reduce the slope of the driveway by dropping the garage but that will cost money. I am checking on the prcetag for that. I am not sure what to do.

May be there is another option where we have more steps to enter the house but not make the drive way steep. What is the normal slope of the driveway?

Any suggestions are welcome.
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Old 09-17-2009, 03:41 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,013,040 times
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There is no "normal" steepness! It will vary according to the lot.

In the City of Austin, I know that 10 feet back from the street, the driveway must rise to 6 inches above the street grade for proper drainage, not sure if the steepness of the driveway is addressed anywhere in City code, might be. Certainly the city must sign off on the driveway before the cement is poured but I am guessing that you aren't in the City anyway.

I would focus on making sure that the entire lot drains well before worrying too much about the grade of the driveway. Can the builder show you a driveway that has a similar grade so you can see just how steep it will be?

Does the drive slope down towards the the street or down towards the house?
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Old 09-17-2009, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
15,232 posts, read 35,410,327 times
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Quote:
Does the drive slope down towards the the street or down towards the house?
Since the driveway can be fixed by lowering the garage, I will assume that it slopes down from the house . I have seen some very steep driveways, and am not a fan, but our moderate driveway slope (guessing it drops.....2.5' over about 30' ?) is not too bad.
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Old 09-17-2009, 04:59 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 48,814,423 times
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How steep is it?

My whole career has been commercial and institutional architecture, so I'm not sure where to even begin looking to see if there are standards for residential driveways. If anyone has them its probably the City of Austin. Or possibly the County if you are outside of the CoA.

Note the difference between degrees and percent of slope in the following:

My old copy of Architectural Design Standards for parking garage ramps say that a 12 % maxium slope is OK in the middle of the ramp as long as the breakover angles at the intersection with the garage floor and street are 6 % or less and at least 12' long. Slopes of 15-17% are considered acceptable for short distances as long as you allow for the breakover angle. A flatter slope is needed at the top and bottom to make sure a normal passenger car does not bottom out or hit its bumpers on the ground when trying exiting or entering. 9 degrees (about 15%) the maximum breakover angle listed for a Pontiac Tempest. So it would have to be less then that or the Tempest would bottom out.

Look at the photos on this website , these are just absurd, there is no way a car could navigate the slope changes much less drive up that slope in snow or ice. That website discussion indicates some cities allow as high as 15% max for driveways.

EDIT: More web search results:

Note: The American With Disabilities Act prohibits new sidewalks that are in the public right of way from being constructed with more then a 2% cross slope without special exemptions. So the driveway slope where a sidewalk crosses it cannot be more then 2%.

City of Evanston Il http://www.cityofevanston.org/departments/publicworks/pdf/driveway_regulations.pdf (broken link)
Maximum Slope of Driveway outside of sidewalk area ……………12%

Coronado California
http://www.coronado.ca.us/egov/docs/318141203719648.pdf
Primary Ramp 20% max
Ramps over 14% require an 8' transition at top and bottom of one half the primary slope.

City of Converse Texas
http://www.conversetx.net/Ordinances/Ord624_05.htm (broken link)
Driveway and Ramp Slopes: The maximum slope of any driveway shall not exceed seven percent (7%) percent. Transition slopes in driveways and ramps shall not exceed eight and one-third percent (8 1/3%).

Last edited by CptnRn; 09-17-2009 at 05:45 PM..
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Old 09-17-2009, 05:08 PM
 
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We have a Morrison home too in Steiner, and we have a very steep driveway. Honestly, I would much rather have a steep driveway than have the garage lowered. If you drop the garage down a bit, you will have stairs to climb to go from the inside of the garage to the inside of the house. And it is MUCH easier to drive up a steeper driveway than it is to haul loads and loads of groceries (or kids, or Christmas Trees, or furniture...) up the stairs.
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Old 09-17-2009, 05:49 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
16,787 posts, read 48,814,423 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mm57553 View Post
We have a Morrison home too in Steiner, and we have a very steep driveway. Honestly, I would much rather have a steep driveway than have the garage lowered. If you drop the garage down a bit, you will have stairs to climb to go from the inside of the garage to the inside of the house. And it is MUCH easier to drive up a steeper driveway than it is to haul loads and loads of groceries (or kids, or Christmas Trees, or furniture...) up the stairs.
I'm sure you would feel different if it were this steep.

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Old 09-17-2009, 05:54 PM
 
7,982 posts, read 10,319,085 times
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CptnRn - You got that right! But I'm going to assume the OP's isn't that bad.

Mine's about at steep as you can find in Steiner, though. But growing up in the hilly Northeast, it still doesn't seem that bad to me. And it's not like I have to worry about snow anymore.
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Old 09-17-2009, 06:39 PM
 
Location: Great State of Texas
86,052 posts, read 84,107,183 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mm57553 View Post
CptnRn - You got that right! But I'm going to assume the OP's isn't that bad.

Mine's about at steep as you can find in Steiner, though. But growing up in the hilly Northeast, it still doesn't seem that bad to me. And it's not like I have to worry about snow anymore.
Right..we just worry about "black ice" here in Austin
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Old 09-17-2009, 06:53 PM
 
7,982 posts, read 10,319,085 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan View Post
Right..we just worry about "black ice" here in Austin
True, but everything shuts down. So it's not like we're expected to still show up to work or school ot anything. There could be a foot of snow up north, and I'd still have to go to work.
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Old 09-17-2009, 07:13 PM
 
Location: Jackson, MS
1,008 posts, read 3,378,140 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn View Post
I'm sure you would feel different if it were this steep.
When I use to deliver pizzas as a teenager, there was a house I delivered to that had a driveway that was almost as steep as the one in that picture, except that it was the small pebble type concrete, which was extremely slippery when wet. There were no stairs/steps to the house either. I hated delivering to that house...
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