Raised concrete front yard help?

We’re buying a house that has a concrete front yard and I’d like to take out at least a portion of it to create a planting area – but it’s not concrete at grade – our side of the street has houses that are all on these little 22″ platform type things (you have to take two steps up from the sidewalk to get to the level of the front yard). Does anyone have advice about what we’re likely to find if we cut through the concrete? Any reason we shouldn’t do this? Is there a functional reason for what I like to call “our launch pad”? We’re nowhere near a flood zone. Thanks!

mrsbereket

in About Brooklyn 11 years and 8 months ago

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metalwork | 11 years and 8 months ago

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Home inspector is best, I have cut concrete for a few of my customers it all went great. we install tree guards etc. feel free to contact my business. business card below

mrsbereket | 11 years and 8 months ago

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Thank you for the tips!

dorkofwindsor | 11 years and 8 months ago

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I’ll echo what arkady said – many of these “raised” yards that have a retaining wall may experience erosion / force the wall to lean and eventually need to be replaced. I would ask all the neighbors because i am guessing that at one point people replaced those walls and thought “screw it, i’m locking out the water so this never happens again”. If you don’t care, i’d say definitely go for it because those concrete platforms are damn ugly – especially when you see those pvc drains. I know around here nearly everyone has huge planter boxes sitting on top of the concrete, and although that looks much better, it raises the whole landscape and the retaining wall appears too low. For younger people who can afford it, not a big deal, for working class people with kids “back in the day” (who had pateince and funds for very little maintenance) it wasn’t an expense worth undertaking.

shahnandersen

in About Brooklyn 11 years and 8 months ago

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Do you know the legal grade of the property. Is the sidewalk at legal grade or the platform? (I believe the Chief Engineer in the Borough President’s offices keeps this information). Do any of your neighbors have any idea why the platforms are there?

resident2 | 11 years and 8 months ago

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Is it in a Landmark District? Any thing you do to the front needs to go through landmarks, you may be happy with lots of flower tubs rather than going through that process. The other issue is the general lay of the land, without knowing the drainage etc. it is difficult to guess. Does it look like it was original to the original structure of the house? You may be able to get a photo of the front of the house from the Department of Finance archives that may show what was there in the 1930’s. Did you get a home inspection/engineer inspection when you bought the house? Depending on if you used an actual Engineer or just a “Home inspector” ask them for an opinion.

Putnamdenizen | 11 years and 8 months ago

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12 years ago I had my concrete front yard jackhammered up. I left a apron near the house (which extends as far the hatch does). I needed to create soil there from the very impacted clay that was under the concrete. Planted a tree and ground cover. Looks great, no leaks. We’d all be better off if more of those front yards were converted to softscape. They were often covered up as a low-maintenance solution. Go for it!

Arkady | 11 years and 8 months ago

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I’d be leery about it – removing concrete will have an impact on drainage. If you’re on a hill, it may be that ground water seeps down the slope. If other houses on your block have the same configuration it must be for a reason.