Wash or No Wash

[Great Joy]

It's a great question, and one that everyone asks if they've not lived in the desert before. I had the same question too.

A "real wash" is a dry river bed. When it rains, it can become a river very quickly. People should not walk, bike, or drive through washes when it is raining because even though a wash may not have water when a person enters it, water may be raging down the wash and soon engulf the dry river bed. Thus, the term "flash flood". We've seen news video footage of how quickly that can happen, and it's amazing. I recommend living on much higher level ground if you're going to live next to a "real wash". There are some real washes here that are very deep that I would live next too, and there are also some real washes that I would not live near. To find the "real washes", I recommend looking at a map that shows where the rivers are here. In addition, watch for dirt on or near the sides of the roads. After it rains, the dirt along the roads indicate whether water flows across that road or through that area. Further, ask a good real estate agent to help you spot these areas.

Here in AZ, we've also learned that the real estate industry refers to an area of land that has a slight valley as a wash, even though it is truly not a dry river bed. It is common for a home that is for sale to state in the property description that they are adjacent to a wash if they are next to an open space of land that has a slight valley. If the developers did a good job developing the neighborhood, then this type of wash is nothing to be concerned about. We have this type of wash behind our house, and we've never had a problem with water. We would definitely buy a home with this type of wash because most of the time that property also has a view fence (versus a block wall). We like that it makes our yard appear larger and we like privacy of not having other homes around us staring into our backyard. However, be aware of the creatures that can come along with that. We haven't had an issue with that either though because we're not on the outskirts of the subdivision, and we get our house sprayed for bugs.

[Magnum Mike]

I live next to a "wash" and I never had any problems.. okay, it's a "car wash"..

Washes in Arizona can be as unpredictable as monsoon weather, one day they can be very dry, then in less than an hour, a thunderstorm can turn it into a raging river. That's one reason to be very careful if you want to live next to a wash. Another aspect to be aware of is errosion, and builders usually will line the wash banks with concrete to prevent errosion. It's always a good idea to be about 100 feet away from the wash, and the foundation of the house to be at least 10 feet higher than the bed of the wash.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

I live next to a "wash" and I never had any problems.. okay, it's a "car wash"..

Way to go, Mike . . . always DEPENDABLE! ! ! ! !

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by liberty413

We are planning on moving to AZ within the next 4 months. We are looking online at homes and many are next to washes. What are the pros and cons to buying a home next to a wash? Should I be staying far away from them? The areas we are looking into are Laveen, Litchfield Park, Cave Creek and Queen Creek. Are the washes in some areas less harmful than others?

Thank you

Calm down!

That's the wash you're NOT getting: http://lowenddslr.com/img/flood1-led.jpg

This is the kind of "backing to wash" you're getting: MLS (http://tarmls.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Tucson&PRGNAME=MLSPropertyDet ail&ARGUMENTS=-N212005425,-N388870,-N,-A,-N20687792 - broken link)

It's not the best picture, but don't have much time to search. When you search, you'll see what the pictures of the houses backing to wash look like.

[liberty413]

I really want to thank you all for your information. I was really leaning toward a house near a wash but my husband was giving me all these horror stories, especially when he sees all these news stories about the floods. It is good to know what to look for and what to stay away from. Thank you all.

[cactus jumper]

Originally Posted by Bummer

LOL @ Tigerclaws . . . GOOD ONE!

Any place else in the country they would be called "ditches" or "gullies" or possibly "open sewers" but out here there seems to be a need for a classier, more sophisticated name . . . another example of WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I was raised here and all my life they have been called Washes. Also, what exactly, do you mean by "open sewers"?
Now, if you want to infer that a name is made up , lets talk about The so called "Monsoon Season" never heard of it till all you people from different states started crowding in and trying to change everything.
Just my opinion......

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by cactus jumper

I was raised here and all my life they have been called Washes. Also, what exactly, do you mean by "open sewers"?
Now, if you want to infer that a name is made up , lets talk about The so called "Monsoon Season" never heard of it till all you people from different states started crowding in and trying to change everything.
Just my opinion......

Definitely, "open sewers" . . . the wash near my home mysteriously fills up with lots of trash and debris within days after the city cleans it. Then after the next big storm it looks just like an open sewer in a third world country.

As for "THE MONSOONS" . . . don't blame the LOCALS or the INVADERS, blame the MEDIA! ! ! ! !

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Definitely, "open sewers" . . . the wash near my home mysteriously fills up with lots of trash and debris within days after the city cleans it. Then after the next big storm it looks just like an open sewer in a third world country.

As for "THE MONSOONS" . . . don't blame the LOCALS or the INVADERS, blame the MEDIA! ! ! ! !

Got stalled for the first time on Sat. Frankly, never paid attention to the dips on 86 close to Why because the damn downpours have never continued into September, for as long as I remember. It was quite the experience...

Never have been sure how it's better to go through the damn running water. Figured as fast as possible would be better and that's what I did with the first one. Went through a few more (smaller) and right after the last one it was "no more"... Later people told me going as slowly as possible is more advantageous... I lived by dips of about the same size for almost 5 years and never had such problems. This water was quite crazy.

[blueeyz911]

There is a wash filled with river rocks behind our apartment surounded by desert habitat. I love the privacy of not having another building behind us but there are a lot of scorpions in and around our wash. But I would still rather have the privacy even if it means being on scorpion watch.