If you were building from scratch....

[Root Cause]

Just some background info. to pick your brains and my questions are mainly regarding drainage and fire breaks.

I am clearing for a home and storage building in the mountains of NC.
The area is on a 10° slope.
The land is covered in oak, maple, and pine trees. The mountain laurels are thick making it difficult to find a path to walk.
The ground cover is 2-4 inches thick with pine needles, leaves, and tree bark. There is nothing else and little erosion.
I have cleared about 1/4 acre so far down to the stumps.

So here are some questions and hope you with experience will point me in the right direction.

- I have a ton of undergrowth and treetops pushed off to the side and a 15 hp chipper. Is there any value to wood chips or do I push it all downhill and out of sight?
- Will a rise/run/bench provide adequate drainage or is a retaining wall the way to go?
- I love the shade in summer but thinking I need sunlight to keep mold from doing damage. Is there a rule of thumb as to how far to cut back the woods for sunlight, firebreak etc.
- Do I need to remove all the pine needle/groundcover as a firebreak or will it just make erosion worse?

I appreciate anyone who has some ideas. I will only get one shot at this.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I wouldn't even hazard a guess. Your soil and climate are completely different from where I live. Make friends with contractors and established neighbors in your area, and pick their brains for what works.

Those stumps gotta come out, so pile the slash where you can use it as fire starter for the stumps.

Drainage is huge. Pick a house site where the water goes somewhere else. Don't forget foundation drainage. My first home was dug into a hillside. Two months later it started raining, and a 6 gpm spring appeared in the middle of the house site. I had quite a time dewatering that mess.

 

[oosik]

I do a whole lot of chipping almost every spring. Thinning my stands of young pines. I've spread the chips on my driveway. Works well for dust control. I have a mile long gravel driveway.

After three years of spreading chips - quite a bit of the driveway is "chipped". This will all be well and good - until we get some REAL winter snow and I have to plow the driveway.

Then it will be - "chips to the ditches".

 

[Diggin It]

Is there a rule of thumb as to how far to cut back the woods for sunlight, firebreak etc.

I would want 100' from any structure ... minimum.

 

[3Ts]

Shade/ sunlight/ firebreak/ erosion. What you end up doing will be a compromise.

For a firebreak you'll need either mineral soil so there is nothing to burn or keep things moist so it won't burn. If you use mineral soil, you'll have problems with erosion since there's nothing to soak up the rain. The more duff, the less erosion, the more there is to burn. A lawn is usually a good compromise for this. You'll also want to clear the trees back far enough so that if one falls, it doesn't fall on the house. Our trees are 40' tall and we've cleared a little more than that down to bare soil and tilled in compost and grow grass in that area. Also watch out for foundation plants - same thing. They can burn too, so keep them moist and under control. Also, keep in mind burning embers float in the air during a fire and can fall most anywhere and start a new fire. The more distance you have for a fire break the better, but then you don't really want to turn your place into a completely cleared lot either.

As for mold & mildew, I don't know. I have that problem whether it is in the sun or shade, and the sun gets really hot here in the summer. I have the Hardie plank siding and mildew resistant paint and still get mildew. I suspect that the dust collects in the gain embossed in the Hardie planks and is what the mildew grows on since it washes right off.

How much land do you have? A 15hp chipper sounds kinda small for dealing with very many trees.

 

[oosik]

I was thinking the same about that 15 hp chipper. Probably limited to 3" material. I have a Wallenstein BX62S that is PTO driven. I upgraded from my first chipper - Wally BX42S - when I got the new Kubota.

I could have gone bigger than the BX62S but I had one of those moments of brilliance. The BX62S will chip up to 6" material. There is NO WAY in God's green earth that I can drag anything bigger than a 6" pine.

So when I thin my pine stands - 6" or smaller. AND hopefully - not too many that are 6".

 

[jeff9366]

I am clearing for a home and storage building in the mountains of NC.

- I love the shade in summer but thinking I need sunlight to keep mold from doing damage. Is there a rule of thumb as to how far to cut back the woods for sunlight, firebreak etc.

Mold and mildew will be a problem primarily on the north and east exposures of your home. Do not plan a screened in porch on the north side.

If your tractor will be stored inside, plan for concrete floor 6" thick, not 4" thick. Plan one door tall enough so tractor can move in/out with the ROPS up.

 

[dodge man]

I’ve paid good money to have trees cut down that are close to my house, too close for me to cut down with my logging skills. We bought it this way but you have a chance to make it so that won’t happen to you. You don’t have to clear cut everything within a 1/4 mile but I’d cut down anything close, the above listed 100 feet would be plenty.

 

[ponytug]

This is our local fire prevention checklist here. The big one not really on the list are what the exterior of the house is. A friend used concrete siding boards. Not at all flammable and from about two feet indistinguishable from raw lumber. I would plan larger roof overhangs to keep rain off of the house, no gutters, and gravel around the house for drainage. I would also seriously consider metal roofing, and a simple (e.g. four simple roof planes, no dormers) roof, with as few roof penetrations as possible.

If you do large overhangs, you will get more shade inside the house for cooler temperatures in the summertime. Outside, I would cut down trees that are within 100' of the house, or their height, whichever is larger, and I would be generous, knowing that trees grow and are easiest to remove when there isn't a house there.

If you do clear to mineral soil, you can add landscape fabric and gravel to prevent dust and erosion. Where you are, I am not sure that I would bother. I am not a fan of shrubs around houses in woods; they collect leaves, small mammals, and tend to increase mold/mildew issues on the house.

Swales / ditches are ok. If it were me, I would look upslope and plan for that 17" in twenty four hour rainfall event. E.g. a second or third swale higher up slope to divert water before it gets to your house swale. I wouldn't plan on a bench being enough.

I would move the branches / chips / pine needles farther away if it were me, but fire is much more of a concern here. If you have a lot, it might be easiest to hire someone to chip it all with a monster chipper, or just pile it up and let nature do its thing. Where you are, I would move it a ways away and compost it to bring back in a few years to add to the soil.

I would rent an excavator or dozer to pull the stumps and dump/bury them somewhere well down hill.

Photos?

All the best,

Peter

 

[Diggin It]

If you do large overhangs, you will get more shade inside the house for cooler temperatures in the summertime.

I'm doing that now and should have done it 20 years ago during other projects. I'm adding 6-8 feet of 'awning' for lack of a better term. Not only will it shade windows and keep direct sunlight from shining in and bleaching things, it will help direct and keep water away from the foundation and allow me to have windows open when it's raining. I'm not sure what's going to happen as far as wasps, but I've already have at least one bird take up residence. I don't mind the bird so much since they eat bugs.