Significant creek bank erosion issue potentially threatening house.

Significant creek bank erosion issue potentially threatening house.

Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes

Not really a DIY task, but not sure where to post so I stuck it here. moderators please move it to appropriate forum if there is one more appropriate.

We have a property that is on a heavily wooded 2 acre lot with a seasonal creek, seasonal as in when it rains, the creek has water.   The house sits very close to the creek, maybe 12' or so on one back corner.  A deck off the house goes to within a few feet of the creek bank.

The creek wall is 10' to 12' foot high off the back of the house.

On the other side, the creek back slops gently up into the woods, so no concerns on that side.  The creek turns a little right at about the corner of the house and right at the turn area there is significant undercutting of the rock.  The first picture below shows what the creek wall looks like approaching the rear of the house,  the second picture shows the undercutting of the rock wall at the creek level, the third picture gives you a better idea of where the house and deck are in relation to the creek wall.

We've owned the property a little over 3 years.  I didn't even consider the creek as an issue when we bought the place.   We probably paid not much more than land value for it, and it included a 2100+ sqr ft log cabin home and a 1800 sqr ft shop (insulated metal building, very well built).  The log home had been neglected for many years, livable, but with issues.  We fixed up the home and our son and his family lived there for 3 years.  He recently moved on and we have moved into it.  

We were down in the creek area cleaning up debris a month or so ago and that's when it hit me that erosion could be a problem.

We have bids from a couple companies that specialize in erosion control such as this to shore up the wall.  They both propose what they call a 'bag wall', which is basically special concrete bags stacked up to form a wall.  A footer is cut into the creek bed, and rebar is used to keep the bags in place.  The area behind the wall would be filled with gravel and it would have drains to allow any moisture that gets behind the wall to escape.   The concrete bags are perforated and over time they erode away and you are left with a concrete block wall.  These bids have come in at $42K and $52K.  Both companies say this type erosion is common here (North Dallas Area) and bag walls are a permanent solution.

FYI - house was built in '84, shop in '04. 

Has anyone had any experience with an erosion issue such as this, and if so, how did you address it?

Thank You,

Kevin

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Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
Originally posted by @Roy N.:
Originally posted by @Hattie Dizmond:

white rock = local colloquialism  (aka...chalk, as in "Chalk Hill" in Cedar Hill) translation...Slate  ;-0

 Interesting ... here slate & shale are grey - brown, but gypsum & limestone both appear like the bank in the photos above.

You know...I was having a really, really, really bad night!  Slate & Shale are gray & brown here too.  I meant to type limestone.

I think I'm going to take a weekend off from RE.  As much as I love it, it has eaten my lunch (and breakfast & dinner) this week.  I have a deal that I've busted my a@@ on that now looks like it isn't going to close, even though the seller is ready to sign.  Now, since everything I going to type is going to sound like whining, I'm going to go have some cheese, before Brandon Turner shows up and tells me to do that!!!!!!!!

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  • Investor · Douglasville, GA · Member since 2014 · 313 posts · 181 votes
    11y

    Thanks for sharing this whole process with the community.  I passed on a house that had a creek encroaching on the back deck.  not as big a drop as yours,  but enough to scare me away.  If I run into a similar issue,  I might just get an estimate for Shotcrete, and build it into my offer.

  • Philly Burbs, PA · Member since 2015 · 338 posts · 133 votes
    11y

    At the current rate of erosion, how long do you think it will be before it threatens the house? Maybe you could build a deck that bridges the creek.

  • Philly Burbs, PA · Member since 2015 · 338 posts · 133 votes
    11y

    OOps must have missed a page, Wall looks good

  • Real Estate Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2016 · 1 post · 0 votes
    10y

    Kevin,

    Any chance you could provide the contact information for the contractors you used? I need to have the same thing done.

    Thank you in advance!

  • Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
    10y

    @Russell Winter - Send you a PM with contractor info.

  • Dallas, TX · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    @Kevin C. Thank you so much for posting this information. I just sent you an invite to connect. Hoping to get the same info of the companies you used as we are in the exact same situation.

  • Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
    7y

    @Davin DiFulco - Will look up the contact info for the companies I used and forward to you.   For reference, can you post some pictures of the erosion issue you're dealing with?

  • Dallas, TX · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    @Kevin C. Here are a few pictures... Not the best, but will have more soon.

  • Investor · McKinney, TX · Member since 2009 · 405 posts · 160 votes
    7y

    Yes sir, you certainly have a similar situation.   From the pictures it looks like your house is a bit further from the creek than ours was, allowing you more time to hopefully find a cost effective option to address the issue.   The biggest concern we had was where the creek made a bend near the corner of our house, the rock of the creek wall was being severely undercut by erosion (a point that was only about 12' from the corner of our house).      I've forwarded you all the contacts we used for our project.  Best of luck with this and please post back what you end up doing.

  • Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Not the same but we experienced Lake Erosion that took about 25 ft of shoreline. No cost Permits were issued overnight & we had a breakwater wall of 3-5ton rocks embedded in the foreshore. After 2 winters & summers of high water it has held up.

    We took a nice tax deduction for catastrophic loss which was allowed so hope you guys take it as well.

  • Dallas, TX · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    @Pat L. Interesting. What did that wall cost you? Also, is the catastrophic loss based on the land lost? Or something else. Thanks for all the help everyone!

  • Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    $15k & we deducted the entire cost of reclamation. All our neighbors had the same contractor so I bet he could retire after that year.

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