I'm preparing an Elevation Certificate for a single family residence near a river. The BFE is 119.5 and the lowest adjacent grade at one corner of the foundation is 119.3, so I assume he needs insurance. The grade by his deck supports go as low as 118.8.
The building is Type 8, with a concrete floor for the crawlspace which is at 119.7, slightly above the BFE.
At the outside entrance door to the crawlspace, the owner built a sunken step to allow easier access when crawling into the crawlspace. The sunken step is about 4 feet x 3 feet, outlined with landscaping timbers with crushed stone at the bottom. The elevation of the bottom is 118.6 next to the foundation, lower than any other adjacent grade.
My question is this: should I report the sunken step elevation of 118.6 as the LAG, should I just ignore this sunken step, or should I recommend to the owner that he fill in the sunken step (which he is willing to do - it was dug about 2 years ago, so he would be restoring natural grade - elev 119.3 at this spot). Or is there another way to report this on the certificate that would be better?
My concern is that his flood insurance rate might be higher than warranted due to this sunken step (but I know nothing about how rates are set, so maybe not!).
I would report the sunken step elevation in the comments on page 2 as it not part of the normal adjacent grade around the house.
> Or is there another way to report this on the certificate that would be better?
I would hold the crawl space floor elev for C2a and address the entrance floor under the comments.
My two cents,
Jim Vainna
Ahhh...That makes sense.
I included it in the comments and noted it on a photograph.
Thank you for the replies!