Grade is ground level. It’s the point at which you aren’t below the surface, and aren’t above. It’s a definable point, but also a malleable measure, something that can be changed with the topography and a shovel (or, for more efficient work, a digger). Grade is something you get to define in architecture and landscape design, and something you find when bringing those plans to fruition.
It isn’t arbitrary, though. You don’t get to just pick an elevation and say, “that’s grade,” unless you want to make a lot of problems for yourself. You need to look at how the land is contoured, where water moves, and the composition of the soil. Finding grade, then, is a process of discovering the meeting point between what one has envisioned and the reality of the earth. The two can exist in tension, but the reduction of friction will work in your favor.
Going from a big Mike Mulligan-style pit to a foundation, to a floor we’ll walk on to wash dishes and set the table, and read a book, feels like a surreal transformation. It’s also only the beginning of this process, and that, too, is wild.
2 comments
Thank you for sharing this ‘foundational’ moment. I live in a house built in 1890 and always marvel at how well they sited the house to stay dry (mostly) when there are wetlands and stream nearby. You hear about so many modern homes with water in the basement – one more reminder to work with nature and not against her!
GRADE A—everyone should have to have the experience of building something…it is humbling,
revelatory, and seared into your memories like nothing else. It won’t always go the way you want—
but probably better!! Don’t quit believin’ …My best and enjoy every moment….Dianne