Page Under  Construction
"Sheet Drainage" According to Ryland Homes
Ryland Homes: Imposition by Design

 
Introduction.  This is a case study of a new residential construction by Ryland Homes.(1).  It is applicable to those with management, economics, environmental and regulation interests--or anyone considering a home where Ryland Homes is active.  This study is three parts:
  1. Background and Placement
  2. Encroachment and Property Damage
  3. Water Control

Part 1: Background and Placement

Background.  The house is a production (not custom) one story structure on a flat slab, approximately 2,500 square feet of living space.  It is on an irregular, steeply sloped, pie shaped, cul-de-sac lot.  The house is positioned at the legal minimum on the right side of the pie facing it from the street with variances front and rear.  All protrusions from the house (extended garage, electrical ground, garage side entrance stairs, gas, hot water heater drain, air conditioner, cable, and electric) are on the street side.  This view crosses the cul-de-sac.  Neither the far side nor the back can be seen from the street.  The exterior is mostly white brick with some frame in the rear.  On a large, flat, rectangular lot It would complement many neighborhoods.(2)

Placement.  Ryland Homes obtained a double variance on placement of the house.(3).  It does not comply with setback.  This was in addition to an existing variance on the front setback, i.e., it now has three variances total.

The reasons provided by Ryland for the variances are explained in the NOTICE OF APPEAL.  Page 1
is general information.  Page 2 lists reasons for the appeal:

  1. to save 2 mature oak trees.
  2. to minimize foundation exposure
  3. to maintain proper drainage pattern
  4. need to extend garage 3' to drop add stairs due to topography
Restated reasons:
  1. to possibly save one oak while increasing risk for another
  2. to minimize foundation cost without using a different builder
  3. to minimize dealing with drainage by channeling water to the adjacent owner
  4. the house and garage are going to be longer than illustrated
Discussion:
  1. Oak 1 is near the center of the lot (see placement layout).  The center of a lot is lost to the foundation in any reasonable construction on this size lot.  Approximately half the roots are cut away now on three sides.  The other two oak trees are approximately 8 and 12 feet from the side property lines respectively. Oak 3 is nearest the street, with Oak 2 behind it in the photo.  They could accommodate many configurations, most of which would improve the survivability over the current one.
  2. "Foundation exposure" assumes a flat slab production home rather one customized to the lot.  Step-downs cost more, as does converting the space to a basement.  Using a flat slab on a steeply sloping lot is called round peg in square hole in some circles.(4).
  3. Roofing and concrete now cover the previously water absorbing surface.  Water that previously flowed to the street now flows to our property.
  4. Don't know what this means except that the house is approximately 74.5 feet long versus 72' 11' in the drawing.
Click on the photo to enlarge.  The closest the house is to the two side property lines is 43 feet on the left side  and 30 inches on the right side.  The legal minimum is 5 feet, but extensions, decks, stairs, air conditioner slabs, etc. aren't included.

Part 2: Encroachment and Property Damage(5)

The white line is the property line.  The black line is the approximate end of the grass when Ryland began construction.  The reason for the Ryland encroachment, according to the Ryland construction foreman, was the previous builder.  The relatively poor condition of the grass, even outside the encroachment and damage, is due to lack of water.  Ryland broke a sprinkler then covered it with dirt after each watering.
 

The white property line is faint in this photo.  The left side is the Ryland construction.  Most of the foreground was wooded then construction began.  They were part of a pristine woods that extended to the few trees onto the Ryland property. The reddish dirt was added by Ryland.  It covers tons of rock Ryland placed there.

These are about one third of the rocks and debris removed from our property.  It was placed there after being instructed in writing not to put anything there.  Most of the other two thirds were moved back onto the Ryland property in the front and rear.  I removed about 20 wheelbarrow loads of smaller rocks and debris.
 

This is the Ryland construction before and after the rock removal.  It is approximately 150 feet from the street to rocks behind the house.  It is not grassed.  It crosses no property other than that belonging to Ryland.
 

This is approximately one third of the route used by Ryland.  The route used is approximately 1,000 feet total.  The driver made approximately 30 trips removing several tons of rocks, one Bobcat load at a time.  The route crosses two vacant lots, a common green belt, and two owners' back yards.  It was used rather than 150' of bare Ryland property.  Where you see the tire ruts and rocks was grass.  The remaining four fifths of the route looks the same or worse.
 

The Ryland construction foreman stood approximately here while the rocks were being removed.  He reported that he did not know the rock removal was damaging others' property and was therefore was not responsible.

Part 3: Water Control 

This is the slope near the center of the Ryland drive.  The garage and drive were placed on the lowest part of the lot at the bottom of a significant grade.  However, only the drive basin is at or below street level.  The house and remainder of the lot is above street level.

Water is channeled onto our property in three places.  The large arrows are the major channels.  The smaller arrows indicate the source of the water for the major channels.
 

This is the drive at 8707 Sicily Isle the day following a 30 minute thunderstorm.  Pine bark mulch from the Ryland flower beds settled on the lowest part of the basin.  The center of the drive is a saddle or basin that collects water from the surrounding area, including the adjacent Ryland built home to the South.  Most of the lot is above street level.  The garage and drive entrance are above street level.  Water that previously flowed to the street now flows to the basin on the way to our property..
 

Ryland grading would have channeled all front water from the Ryland drive basin to our property in a blended yard saddle.  The Ryland construction foreman changed the grade the day after I notified him we would accept no water channeling, but offered no clue as to what would cause it.  The revised grade made it part way--to the sidewlak--then onto our property.

Shortly after construction began, channeled water in the rear (not shown) washed away about a half truck load of top soil up to 150 feet, e.g., it was a lot of water.  However mounds of debris blocked other routes at the time.

Thundershower.  In the first significant rain after completion of the construction, a short (30 minute) thundershower, August 5, 1998, considerable water originating from two Ryland constructions ended up at our front door, via the front channel.  It was over an inch deep on our drive and front walk, more water than we had ever had previously in heavier, longer rains.(6)  This is a photograph of the drive basin after that shower, but before cleanup.  The mulch you see is from Ryland flower beds.  Water rutted the ground at the mid and rear channels as well.  I requested Ryland correct the channeling and respond in writing 

The complete telephone response(7) transcribed is (Please be patient.  The audio (.WAV) file loads slowly.):

  1. ". . . the grade that we've (Ryland) established . . .is ah. . .is ah . . . (vocal pause, stammer, change subject). . . "
  2. ". . . the home is built on a higher plain than yours is."
  3. "The bigger problem you have is the height of your (our) garage . . ."
  4. (Ryland has) . . . done everything we can to make sure that we had sheet drainage from our property . . ."
  5. ". . .haven't done anything to accentuate the drainage to one focal point."
  6. ". . . no action that Ryland/Scott Felder will take at this point."
Points 1. and 5. address the issue.  Points 2. through 3. skirt it.  Recommend you listen to it all.  Completing the first sentence, summarizing and responding to the call:
  1. "The grade that (Ryland) established channels water from two Ryland properties to the basin in 8707 Sicily Isle drive and from there to our drive and front entrance via the front channel.
  2. Virtually all homes in Olympia Hills are a higher or lower plain than adjacent ones.  Only one home of which we are aware, 8707 Sicily Isle, channels water sideways by design to the adjacent property rather than forward to the street and storm drains or rearward on the property to the collection creeks or both.  The Ryland lot and house are on a "higher plain" than street and storm sewer as well, but negligable water is directed there.
  3. Our drive is 600 square feet over the minimum.  The Ryland channels collect 20,000 square feet on two Ryland properties and channel it here.  Additionally Ryland blocked 5,000 square feet of water from two adjacent properties and channeled it here.
  4. Then there are three "sheets," each approximately two feet wide channeling water from the Ryland property to ours.
  5. That is correct.  Some 25,000 square feet of drainage is accentuated to three focal points, not one.
  6. Perhaps another point then.
Light rain.  Little water flowed in a light but steady rain August 22, 1998.

Heavy rain.  This is what it looks like in the first heavy rain after completion of the Ryland construction.  It started October 17, 1998 and continued intermittently and heavy for almost two days.

Front.  The dark line you see crossing our drive is topsoil.  The planks in the background on the sidewalk are our attempt to divert some of the water to the street.

Middle In.  The water there is from the Ryland property and from two properties higher on the ridge, plus the Ryland property itself, plus the gutter that drains the full length of the east side of the Ryland house.

Middle Out.  This is where this channel comes out of a small woods that had no channels whatsoever prior.

Rear.  Ryland blocked the water along the full length of the fences on both properties, so water that previously drained through the Ryland properties to the street now collects in the corner of the Ryland lot.  The water broke through near the end of the barrier.  The rocks you see are from the property behind the Ryland lot.

For a pictorial review go to http://members.tripod.com/~Ray_Martin/RylandPP/ppframe.htm.

Update March 19, 1999.   Received visits from an Eric D. Trevino, Operations Coordinator, and a Ken Trainer, Operations Manager, February 19, 1999, some 10 months after completing construction.   In a March 15, 1999 letter, with which he provided a drainage plain too faint to reproduce. Mr. Trevino said:

Regarding lot 92, the adjoining lot to your property, it is evident that the natural contour pattern did not direct drainage towards the street.  The grade contours do indicate a significant natural patter that descends towards your lot.  Given the extreme fall of the land, the natural drainage will prevail regardless of the homes orientation.
This is a revisit of the "higher plane" theme first provided by Rick (no last name given) in the Summer of 1998.Virtually all homes in Olympia Hills are higher or lower in elevation than the adjacent ones.  However only one, the Ryland property at 8707 Sicily Isle, collects or diverts some 25,000 square feet of water sideways to the adjacent property.

The contours he describes each represent 5 feet of elevation.  There are 4 of them on the Ryland lot--i.e., 20 feet of grade change total.  Essentially the same as our lot.  There are likewise 3-5 contour lines on the other 10 lots on the same ridge.  Most of the lots are smaller, have greater grade changes, and have contours more perpendicular to the street.  However, all drain most of the front water down the drive to the street and from there to the storm sewer. None of them (not one) drains water from the direction of the street to a basin, then sideways to the adjacent property.  These are photos of all properties on the same ridge with the same option for controlling water:

  • Drain01.jpg
  • Drain02.jpg
  • Drain03.jpg
  • Drain04.jpg
  • Drain05.jpg
  • Drain06.jpg
  • Drain07.jpg
  • Drain08.jpg
  • Drain09.jpg
  • Drain10.jpg
    • The storm sewer was equally or more accessible from the Ryland lot as it is from any of the 10 lots above.  The center of the Ryland lot is some 10 feet above the storm sewer and some 5 feet above the street directly in front of the lot.  The rear of the Ryland lot is some 15 feet above the street directly in front of the property.

    All the builders above and Ryland that had the same choice to make:   (A) Drain water to the street and storm sewer, or (B) drain it sideways to the adjacent property.  The 10 above chose (A).  Ryland chose (B).  The imposition is by design.

    All feedback and questions are welcome.  Contact Ray_Martin@AltaVista.net

    Notes

    1. The two constructions were supposedly "Scott Felder" homes.  Scott Felder Homes was founded in Austin, Texas in 1981.  Scott Felder had a reputation for quality homes and fair dealings.  Since 1994 Scott Felder Homes has been a part of The Ryland Group with a World Wide Web site at URL: http://www.ryland.com/.  Financial information is at URL: http://nt1.irin.com/irin/Detail.CFM/ryl. Mr. R. Chad Dreier is President, Chairman & CEO of the Ryland Group Inc., 11000 Broken Land Pkwy, Columbia, MD  21044-3562  Phone: 410-715-7000, Fax: 410-715-7909.   Mr. Kelly Frazier was the construction foreman.  Mr. Rick (no last name provided) has something to do with the construction and provided the telephone response: 
    2. We considered a Scott Felder/Ryland home when building in the area, but rejected them primarily for two reasons:  (1) Extremely aggressive sales people, to the point of annoyance.  (2) Flat-slab-only construction with no changes to accommodate a lot.
    3. Notification of the APPEAL to owners within 200 feet of the property is required by law. We live zero feet away.  We were not notified.  See Municipal Government Variance Approval for details.
    4. It is actually a complex rectangular peg in a pie shaped lot.  Without the six step-downs, the northeast corner of our home would be some 10 feet above the ground.  The step-down deck is 5 feet above the ground.  A flat slab on a steeply sloping lot is called a "foundation exposure" problem by Ryland.
    5. Overall encroachment was approximately 15 feet. This excludes construction materials and debris which extend across our property to the adjacent lot to the east, up to 200 feet away.  Encroachment in the other direction, onto a prior Ryland property, was zero feet.  Some early scanned photographs:
      6. Not included but available on request from Ray_Martin@AltaVista.net:  (1) Paint and thinner dumped on a vacant lot.  (2) A vehicle battery discarded (removed after about three weeks).  (3) Trash and debris both piled up and spread out up to 200' away.  (4) Power washing the drive and front of the Ryland property, then depositing it at our mail box.  (5) Mounds of dirt and grass stored in the street.
    6. No photographs August 3, 1998 due to lightening.  The shower only lasted a few minutes.
    7. The following additional information may be useful to a potential buyer:
    8. Telephone call from "Rick," 210-490-8614, ID: Felder Scott In, 8/17/98, 11:34AM.  The Ryland response is recorded in a Wave (.wav) file format used with Microsoft Windows.  It can take a couple of minutes to load, so please be patient.  In the telephone call from 210-496-9259, 8/7/98, 11:17AM, "Rick" said he would respond in writing as I requested.


    Access Since April 22, 1998: