Home & Design
Swimming pool - Water
Swimming pool - Water

On this property, the pool elevation was raised and a stone wall constructed around it to protect the structure and enhance the water views.

Ask the Pros: Landscape Architecture

Advice on designing the perfect home by the bay

How do you protect a waterfront property from erosion and flooding while preserving its aesthetic appeal?

Protection against erosion and flooding usually starts at the shoreline. One of the options we use to protect a waterfront property is planting a living shoreline with native wetland plants, grasses, shrubs and trees along the tidal waterline. Another option is installing an armored shoreline using riprap stone—made from the rubble of granite, limestone or concrete—to protect against water where there is potential for storm damage and flooding.

When building a waterfront home, it’s important to ensure that the floor elevation of the house is above the 100-year floodplain map that’s been charted for the nearby water system. Because of rising sea levels and the damage caused by Hurricane Isabel in 2003, many jurisdictions have raised the required height of finished-floor elevations. —Steve McHale, McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland


 

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