Landscaping Ideas To Help Keep Your Tiny House From Flooding

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Do you know that over half of people in the U.S. are thinking about taking up residence in a tiny home? Also referred to as a micro home, there are various reasons why individuals – particularly retirees and millennials – have adopted this type of living. The most common ones include: downsizing, living simply, financial freedom, mobility, lower maintenance, eco-friendly living, or sustainable living.

After you’ve built your micro home, there are immediate benefits you stand to gain from living small. It will be easier to decorate or renovate, you’ll have less to clean, save more, and so forth. If you are in the design, building, or transition phase of your tiny house, it’s the right time to incorporate some elements into your house plan that accommodate your needs better. Regardless if you are putting up a tiny house, shed, workshop, or playhouse on a tract of land, you should think about preparing the location to cater for future catastrophes.

Are you aware that flooding is the primary natural disaster in the U.S? The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated that flood insurance claims account for up to $3 billion annually. The most damaging part of hurricanes are flooding and storm surge, and any house (excluding elevated houses on pilings or stilts) could be ravaged by flood waters. Because of this, the VERY first step you should take as a tiny house owner is to ensure that your place isn’t going to flood. Even before embarking on setting up your micro house, you’ll want to plan the landscaping and location.

And considering the amount of tender love and care put in your newly downsized house, you’ll want to ensure that it can take whatever the elements throw its way, regardless if your micro home is on a fixed foundation or is movable. Here are some landscaping ideas you can implement to aid keep your tiny house safe from flooding.

Plan Ahead: Location, Rules, Evacuation Plan

Among the many benefits of having a tiny house is their mobility. If you want to relocate to an area that is less prone to flooding, you can simply tether your small home onto a truck and move to a new spot.

However, the majority of existing parking lots are in tiny home communities, RV parks, and mobile home subdivisions are situated in floodplains.

Regardless of where your Tiny House on Wheels is located, you should make a point of creating an emergency evacuation strategy. Thus, take into account house packing prep, tow vehicle access, and provisional parking alternatives. Moreover, make sure to have a contact list of professional movers.

But if you’re thinking about building your small home a bit more conventionally, you’ll have to locate a suitable spot and prepare it properly, even before setting up the foundation. The general principle to use is to set up your home on top of the floodplain. Even if the tract of land isn’t below the flood level, you may find that it still floods anyway. If this is the case, and there’s no other location you can set up your tiny house, there are a couple of strategies you can use to redirect water flow.

Identify the problem areas

You’ll need to examine the manner in which water comes into your territory, where it is pulled by gravity, and where it eventually settles. Flooding only occurs when the soil is incapable of absorbing any more water, hence a few heavy rains may need to happen before you notice. When the soil is unable to drain away water, the residue will go to the lowest region in the territory.

WAYS TO REDIRECT WATER

Without the presence of spongy surfaces or plants to absorb water, rain rapidly runs across landscaping and lawns. As a consequence, the water just washes off, varying with it sediment and pesticides, and even so often pollutes nearby water sources, in addition to flooding your property. Other than costing tiny homeowners significant water damage, flooding may accrue county and city fines too. That’s why it’s so integral – both ecologically and economically – for tiny homeowners to know the different alternatives available to help control and redirect water from their place.

Berm

Flooding houses can minimize their risk of water damage by building a berm. A berm simply functions as a wall or dam to help redirect water runoff from your tiny home. It doesn’t necessarily need to be too high nor sheer. If it is at the appropriate height and in the right location, it will reroute the excess runoff water so that it doesn’t enter your small house.

The best part about constructing berms is that they don’t need to be put up too high. As a matter of fact, it shouldn’t exceed two feet, but its overall length needs to be taken into account. You want the berm to gradually slope into your lawn. The gentler the slope is, the easier the task of mowing will be. Some tiny house owners will include ornamental plants, but you should remember that this place receives less water.

Swale

If water runs down any slopes or the driveway, then a swale may be the ideal solution for your case. A swale is basically a sunk area in the yard meant to reroute water to other areas. When rain falls, the water is redirected from your tiny house as it gets absorbed by the soil as it advances. Therefore, it is ideal to include a swale in an area where there will be water flooding since it can hold up and absorb the water moving to the bottom of any slopes. You may have noticed these on farms or large hills appearing like a staircase. It stops the water from whooshing to the bottom, which creates gullies – and also from eroding all the nutrients located at the top of the soil.

To make a swale, you’ll have to dig a long superficial ditch laterally to the land’s contour, which will make the water move where it is rerouted, dissipating the water’s impact. You can incorporate swales into your yard by yourself, or you can enlist a professional landscaper if the job seems daunting.

Remember that swales don’t stop but reroute water flow, so ensure that the terminus is somewhere safe and planned. You should intentionally have your swale damp the excess water runoff into a well or a plant garden that requires regular watering.  Don’t guide a swale to release water at an area that’s outside your place.

Dry Stream

You can tunnel a place that’s just low enough to reroute a lot of runoff water, and then pack it with river rock. When the rain falls, rather than flooding the entire place, it will just fill up with a stream of running water that’s is quite simply aesthetically pleasing. There are various designs you can go with to make your yard attractive, plus constructing a dry stream requires little to no maintenance.

Ditch

If you are looking to redirect a lot of runoff water, you should consider digging a trench or ditch. To avoid your ditch overflowing when there’s high rain, make sure that it is wider and deeper. If you’ll have to cross over the land at some point, you can put up a culvert. For a wider ditch, lay two smaller culverts alongside each other.

Build a Rain Garden

Having flood-proof plants distributed across your garden can play a significant role in preventing flooding. In this case, you should fit in a rain garden. This is basically a deeper structure that has been constructed into your landscape. It’s intended to hold and soak up water, thus a flood can accentuate the aesthetic appeal of your landscape instead of wreaking havoc. Make sure to utilize plants that are native and natural to your place, because they have a significant chance of thriving in the area's climatic conditions.

Building up Barriers

If and when flooding afflicts your territory from a slope or hill, building up natural barriers and grass can assist in alleviate potential damage that may ensue from flooding. Not only can grass barriers safeguard your property from water damage, but they can also reroute water to locations with plants that are more impervious to water.

To prevent flooding for your tiny home, you can use one or a combination of the aforementioned landscaping strategies. After you’ve applied these methods, observe the area when there’s heavy rain. This way, you’ll be able to discern where the strategies you’ve employed are working or not before flooding destroys your dream of living in a tiny home. Also, you may be able to make a few alterations to effectively reroute water from your place.

Conclusion

Flooding can be detrimental to your tiny house. For this reason, it’s integral that you prepare, plan, and employ effective flood solutions. Tiny homeowners should make a point of designing landscapes that are more impervious to flash flooding, floods, and water damage that arise from these disasters. By following the aforementioned landscaping design ideas, you’ll be able to prevent your tiny house from changing into a swamp and make sure that it can withstand storms and floods.