People who have a fine sense of aesthetics and a close connection with the nature tend to move towards the hilly areas to construct their beautiful units and spend the leisure time and holidays there. The trend has been seen getting its space in the Pakistani market as we say people trying to get land in the famous hill stations like Murree, Ayubia, Nathia Gali and many more such beautiful landscapes. However, if you are someone who loves nature and want to shift to a hilly area and get yourself a beautiful residential unit there, then this post is dedicated specially to you. Keep reading through the line to know about the pros and cons of construction on a sloped land.
As many of us will find the natural habitat and landscape of mountains much attractive and lovable, there sure are some advantages and disadvantages that the homeowners should know in advance before constructing on a sloped land.
Advantage or Pros of Sloped Land
There are certain advantages of residing and constructing on a sloped land which is the reason why many people these days tend to move towards the organic and serene environment of the mountains.
Lower Ground Floor
The first advantage that comes up with the sloped land is the availability of options to construct a lower ground floor. The lower ground floor is quite a different thing from the dark and damp basements where the sunlight and fresh air seldom reach. Although you can construct a lower ground floor on the flat lands too, the cost that you’ll have to bear for the construction will be far less low than the flat land.
Apart from that, the benefits of having a lower ground floor are quite a lot, like you get extra covered area, extra accommodation, direct sunlight and fresh air in every room, plus a very fine front elevation of your house.
Serene Environment
The next benefit that comes in the pack of constructing on a sloped land is the natural serene environment. Your house will definitely be surrounded with trees, and hills that will make the environment fresh and the views more beautiful. Apart from that you will have a nice panoramic view from your windows that you can enjoy while sipping your favorite beverage or just coffee.
Natural Light and Air
In addition to these benefits, you are going to get a lot of natural light and air straight into your bedrooms. As the house will be surrounded with the serenity and will definitely have a great exposure to sun, which is in fact impossible to get in the large housing societies in the cities, you are for sure going to enjoy cleaner air and brighter light in your house.
Also, the residents to houses in the sloped lands and hilly areas also enjoy every weather at these houses.
Additional Privacy
Getting a house on a hilly area or you can say a sloped land comes with hidden benefits like you automatically get an additional layer of privacy for your place. This is because of the reason that the house will already be surrounded by the lush green trees all around and also you’ll find that your house is slightly tilted towards them.
Another reason of this will be that unlike the houses residential areas, societies, and complexes yours will not be accompanied by many houses and there is 0.00001 pc chances that the house will face any other house. This breaches the privacy and is the worst thing that you can face, we know.
Disadvantages or Cons of Sloped Land
Although there are many benefits of having your house located on the hilly or sloped land, there for sure are few cons or disadvantages of that too. These disadvantages may often overshadow the advantages, so let’s go and discuss them too.
Construction challenges
Since the construction site, which is on the hilly area, would be outside the proper sphere of the city and it will cost you more in terms of paying the carriage, buying material and hiring labor for the construction. Since constructing within the cities give a leverage to the workers, and the delivery staff, constructing somewhere else engages you in only one project at a time so they will definitely going to charge you more.
Having said that, the accessibility and the type of machinery and equipment that reaches there will also be a challenge for you. As the societies constructed within the cities have a proper master plan and every type of machinery and labor can access the site easily, this is not the case with the hilly areas. You will have to get dedicated equipment for this purpose and definitely the chain driven excavator is going to cost you more as compared with the ordinary one.
Sewer and Drainage Issues
Another challenge that you and the design team is going to face is that the construction of the drainage will not be as simple as it is in the cities. The main purpose of the drainage in a house is to take the water away from the house and it also doesn’t allow the water to flow inwards in the time of monsoon and heavy rainfall.
This can be a challenge but this is not impossible, as in addition to the draftsman that will make the initial draft, you are also going to hire a landscape engineer that will help the designer and provide assistance to prevent the natural water flowing inwards or stopping near the foundation or riser of the elevation.
Chances of Damage are more
The next thing that is challenging in this regard is the maintenance that you will have to do onsite. You can’t just leave the house unattended. If you wish to construct a house in the hilly or sloped land and keep it closed until you visit it once every year, then our sincere advice is that please drop the idea as soon as possible. This is due to the reason that the continuous maintenance chores that you have to conduct on site are more in order to save your property.
The chances of erosion are more likely to happen in the hilly or sloped lands, and that is why you need a strong and efficient elevation plan and pre-construction work in order to avoid such unfavorable situations in the future.
The bottom-line
The natural landscape, serene environment, eco-friendly living, and organic lifestyle is loved by almost everyone but this is not as easy as it may appear. There are certain pros and cons of constructing on a sloped land and everything has to be kept in mind and well-evaluated before practically diving into the project.
