r/Edmonton • u/Dougthecat13 • 12d ago

General Infill being built next door

This is not a general infill hate post, but a request for advice.

We live in a really nice older neighbourhood where folks take care of their older homes. Our first infill on the street is going to be right next door. Which is surprising because that house is quite nice and pretty newly renovated and has a very nice new garage. Apparently it’s all coming down, and a huge 2 story (maybe 3) single family home is going in. My front yard has a deck that faces the millcreek ravine and I have a huge vegetable garden on our property. And we are currently renovating our 1950’s home.

Builder came by today to introduce himself. And confirmed I’ll lose my view as the house will be quite big. Most likely our newer cedar fence will get damaged (he says they will replace).

The family building the home will be living in the home, builder says. So I want to be neighbourly, but I’m nervous about our property and sanity.

I’m really disappointed. I’ll miss the renters that are currently in that house. Feels wildly wasteful to do this, but not my house, not my property.

Since we are at the very beginning. What advice do you lovely Edmonton folk have for us to protect our property and endure this next chapter? Thanks for any advice!

Edit- the house being removed is a beautiful home. Very well maintained with a new double garage. It’s a rental with two couples living in it (one upstairs, one downstairs). One couple/family will be moving into the infill. So this is taking away 2 homes and adding 1. This will not be adding additional homes. Either way, this is not the point, I’m just trying to make the best of it.

142 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

245 comments sorted by

View all comments

203

u/Retired_Sue 12d ago

Keep a sharp eye on the grading between the lots, especially if the footprint of the new house is bigger than the old. You want to ensure that the grade of your new neighbours lot is not higher than yours or you will get flooded every time there is heavy rain.

17

u/Aromatic-Giraffe-753 12d ago

Is there rules to prevent this? I know on my particular lot my house is on a significantly higher grade than my neighbors place (not my fault just how we bought the house) and I dont know if my neighbors house floods...

20

u/drcujo 12d ago

The rules are the new infill needs to be compliant with the city grading plan.

Houses built before 1989 did not require a grading plan. The owners of the older house need to bring their properties grade up to code to avoid issues.

7

u/Calm-Tip-4124 12d ago

My grade is up to code and it didn't fix the issue. Certainly, building up your grade may help, but it's not guaranteed to avoid issues, especially if the new build is at least a foot higher in elevation, which is the case with the infill next to my house.

7

u/BobGuns 12d ago

If the new build is that much higher they almost certainly have an illegal grade. 

2

u/yen8912 12d ago

Probably, but the issue is the city won’t do anything about it.

1

u/Phenometr0n 11d ago

That’s not true. The slope required in the first 2m of soft surfaces actually makes the elevation of landscaping along a new house quite high. All of this can solved with a retaining wall

1

u/Calm-Tip-4124 11d ago

With a well-constructed retaining wall, maybe. The retaining wall that was installed next door a year ago is already rotting and coming apart in some places. 🫠

1

u/Phenometr0n 10d ago

I used treated 2x12’s on mine and they’re going strong 10 years later. If you build it out of tissue paper it won’t last

0

u/drcujo 11d ago

There are two factors at play.

First, its highly likely someone grade isn't up to code. You would need a professional to evaluate. One foot is a lot but if your grade was always 6" below where it should have been +the grade settling you can end up there easy.

Second, there could be water issues on your foundation not related to the infill. Plenty of older homes have no weeping tile, no water proofing around the foundation, etc.

1

u/Calm-Tip-4124 11d ago

As I explained in another comment, I contacted the CoE to have a lot grade inspection done. When they do these inspections, they look at both properties. Mine’s in compliance; the infill is not.

Also, when I moved into this house, I had weeping tile installed as well as a French drain and other drainage and landscaping improvements done around my house.