Am I going overkill on my house pad height?

The height is not arbitrary…it should be based on BFE.

If you are trying to get a “LOMA” (LOMR-F), your grade adjacent to the slab will need to be above BFE.

Remember, your slab will be approximately 12” above since they will set your form with a 2x12. This also does not account for any drop brick ledges or decorative slab features.

Nobody ever regrets being higher in LA. Flood zone doesn’t mean crap.

What’s the front elevation view of the house look like?

Raised porch? Drop brick ledge? Front facing garage?

Different styles look better on various layouts, especially when you include landscaping and other accents.

Having some slope away from the foundation is beneficial for multiple reasons, so having some pad elevation is required. If your existing grade is well above BFE, the pad elevation really depends on what’s needed for the front elevation. With a high pad and very little drop features in the front, depending on how you slope the yard, your house will look like it’s on a dirt pedestal.

I’ve never heard someone say they wish they wouldn’t have went so high. I was going 2 ft and I’m well into flood zone x. With more elevation it’s not just flooding, you can do more with grading your yard to drain if you choose, you can have higher flower beds without creating a spot for water to collect behind them. To me it’s cheap insurance and I would definitely do it

Go 3 to make sure

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Starting a build on my house and originally I wanted to go 2ft up on my house pad. I have had a few saying 1ft is plenty. I know it’s preference but am I just wasting money going a whole foot higher?
Lake Charles area
Flood zone x

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i went up about 2' and im in LC in X. i have a faux raised front porch. I honestly wish i went higher but i also had to dig down about 1' on most of it, up to 2' in some spots, to get down to good clay to build up off of.

in the end the height is more about look you are going for once above base flood and atleast 1' above the road.

Important thing if looking for best results, get down to good clay, pack it correctly and get a compaction test performed.

If you can afford it, go high. Floods are just going to get worse and more often.

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So after Fill sand, my pad would sit right at about 22" above un disturbed ground if I did an 18" pad correct? Not sure if that is something I should be counting as pad height or not.

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so you are looking at this wrong

#1) make sure at a minimum you scrape the ground and remove the grass and atleast 4-6" of top soil. do not just build on top. Best practice is remove the soil until you get to clay, but prolly be fine either way

#2) decide the elvation above the road based on the house design you have. Make sure you account for stairs and how they are designed. Take into consideration you are going to want drainage so look to put about 3" of slope for every 10' of your yard. 2" is minimum.

#3) based off #1 & #2 add the 60/40 clay mix until you get to the height you are wanting.


so lets say you want your house to ist 2' above the current yard for stairs on the porch and your yard is 60' away from the road.

6*3"=18" + 24"= 42" above the curb of the road.

just an example as i dont know your layout and understand that is Top of concrete, not top of house pad.

2'

Re-read the post “ very minimum “

Which means go at least one foot above the nearest road. The OP can go as high as they want
The OP is responsible to research what the highest water level has been and factor that into the how high decision.

once you get above a couple feet you are better off putting the house on piers