Land fit
House plans for sloped lots: walkouts, piers and grade
A slope can give you a walkout lower level, a view and a porch in the trees. It also decides your foundation, your drainage and part of your budget. Read the land before the plan.
The first question is which way the land falls. A lot that drops away from the street suits a walkout at the back. A lot that rises from the street can put the garage low and the house above. A slope across the lot pushes one side of the house out of the ground.
A survey with topography (contour lines showing how the ground rises and falls) answers this better than any photograph. Get one before choosing a plan.
Four cross-sections of a house on sloping ground: a walkout basement open at the low side, a daylight lower level with windows on the low side, a house standing on piers above a steep slope, and a level pad cut into the slope with a retaining wall.
Walkout
Daylight lower level
Piers
Cut and fill
Four ways to meet the slope
Walkout basement
The lower level is below grade at the front and opens at grade at the back.
Needs a slope that falls the right way across the footprint, and careful drainage at the buried walls.
Lots falling away from the street, views at the back.
Daylight lower level
A partial version of the walkout: windows at the low side, no full-height door.
Less light and access than a walkout.
Gentler slopes.
Piers or posts
The house stands on piers, leaving the ground below largely as it is.
Exposed underside to insulate and enclose; access from below is limited.
Steep or wooded sites, cabins.
Cut, fill or stepping
The ground is reshaped to make a level pad, or the house steps with the slope.
Earthwork and retaining walls, which your builder and engineer will price.
Moderate slopes where a flat plan is wanted.
What to check in the plan
- 01
Foundation options listed
Look for a walkout basement among the seller's foundation options. If it is not listed, ask whether it can be drawn, and at what cost.
- 02
Which side opens
A walkout plan assumes the low side is at the back. Check it matches your lot.
- 03
Where the porch lands
On a slope the porch may be high above grade. Check the elevation drawings for stairs and railings.
Editor's note: The foundation for a sloped site is decided with your builder and, where required, a local engineer. A plan's foundation options are a starting point, not an answer for your site.
Ask your surveyor, builder and engineer
- Do we have a survey with topography for the building area?
- Which way does water move across the lot, and where will it go around the house?
- Does the site need a soil or geotechnical report?
- Which foundation do you recommend for this slope, and why?
- Can the driveway reach the garage at a grade we can use in winter?
Read next
- LandHouse plans for narrow lots: what the width changesWhat will actually fit on our lot, and what does the width change inside the house?
- LayoutsWhere the porch goes: front, back, side or wraparoundWhich porch will you actually sit on?
- BuildBefore you buy a house plan: 11 things to checkWe like this plan. What do we check before we pay for it?