What is Oklahoma's regulation on how high on the house should the landscaping dirt or mulch come?
Question:We have a house that is 8 months old. The landscaping slopes down toward the house and holds water against it instead of draining away as it should. This not only happens when it rains but even if we run the sprinkler. I've heard two people recently say they had black mold in their fairly new homes because of problems with landscaping dirt or mulch against their house. That is why I'm concerned that we both correct the slope to drain away from the house and bring the dirt to the proper height on the house! Does anyone know the answer or can you tell me where I can find out?
Also, yesterday we pumped out the storm shelter in our garage floor because we discovered it was 2/3rds full of water. It may have been that way for awhile because the garage floor has flooded several times over the last two months. We have pumped it out and will get someone to correct our drains but should we wash the storm shelter walls with something or be concerned about mold?
Answers:
Codes only apply to new construction but they are prudent guidelines after too. Code says the soil should not be higher than 6 inches below the sill plate or the top of the foundation. Then it requires a 10% slope away from the house in the first 10 feet so the soil should slope away from the house 1 foot , 10 feet away or 18 inches below the top of the foundation.
I am citing the Interanational Residential Code which has become fairly universal.
Mold in the garage is not a problem nor is there likely to be much of it without something for it to eat. Washing it down with a bleach water solution wouldn't hurt anything though either.
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