Anyone live on a River?

[tommyt654]

My wife and I are contemplating purchasing a home on a local river here in Ga. Nice 3/4 to 1 acre lot goes down to the river and gets me a place to move the tools out of the 2 storage units I,ve been using as a shop for the past 9 mo,s as it has an unfinished full basement. I checked with the local USGS and while it is on a floodplain(I kinda figured) they said that where the home was had never flooded due to it being so close to the dam. My biggest concern as he put it would be the dam bustin or really excessive rains(possible I guess), which in that case we,d be gone anyways as the town we live in is below the dam. Its a beautiful river used for a lot of canoeing a rafting but I have never lived on one and would appreciate any input as to what to look for with regards to the property, The homes fine and only a few yrs old and nice with hardwoods floors, granite countertops ,and upgraded kitchen etc. Once again any input would be appreciated, Thanks,Tommy

[Hoover]

Find out if flood insurance is available for your house. If it is, it would help you sleep better at night.

[tommyt654]

Yes its available $119 a yr, That not an issue, Just want someone who has some experience livin on a river, what to look for, skeeters,beavers,snakes that kind of stuff. I can handle the pest (probably everything cept the skeeters), but anything else that we may need to adapt to. Its not a done deal yet, but very interested and curious thats all.

[lago]

I live on a river, or at least it was a river until they made a lake out of it. It is now Lake Travis, NW of Austin.

We have a waterfront lot and are definitely in the floodplain. We had to build a 3 story house due to FEMA requirements.

Our biggest problem living close to the water is spiders. I don't know if that would be true where you want to live. I finally found a spray that would control them but there are some outside areas that are too far to clean & spray.

Other than that, life is great next to the water.
Ken

[Uncle Cracker]

I don't any more, but I used to...

The noise from boats, particularly bass fisherman early in the morning, takes getting used to.

Skeeters will not be a problem if the water moves, but stagnant river branches (dead rivers) or swampy areas can be nirvana for 'em.

Gators on the lawn can be a problem, however, and if you are a dog owner, you may lose one from time to time. A lot depends on ease of access to/from the water, and how much cover exists in and around it.

[tommyt654]

I,ll get some bullfrogs and turtles for that. One other thing we,ve been to the home 3 times now 1st just to see the home and the 2nd time when they were releasing water at the dam. From the basement door out to the river is around 250-275 feet and a drop in grade of about 15 ft, then at the riverbank at the release time the level rises about 3-4 ft maybe which leaves a drop off the bank of about 15ft till you hit water, So, I,m inclined to think it would take a lot of rainwater to flood this home and worse case would be the tools getting damaged since they will be in the basement, but the riverlife is what I,m interested in , I,m thinkin about getting a small powered canoe that I can handle easily enough by myself and doing a lot of fishing as I was told there are a lot of striped bass in the river(never fished it yet).

[bigstick509]

+1 on the spider issue, back in the 70's I had a house on a tributary to Lake St. Clair. Spraying once or twice a season seemed to control the spider problem to a acceptable level. The plus side was it was a great house and very relaxing experience. We used to have a family of ducks that would come up to the front door and peck to get our attention so they could get feed.

[tommyt654]

I,ve always lived near the water, Chesapeake Bay, French Broad River, Carolina Beach, Tampa Bay and this is lookin like a very sweet deal due to the economy its well within our range, Heck theres a home up here 2 br fully furnished on Corp of eng. prop lease with security gates and docks etc for $39,000 on Lake Allatoona we looked at as well but you have a yearly lease that the corp can break anytime they want from what I understand(it rarely happens) but you can,t build so that still leaves me payin rent and working out of 2 storage units(no likey). Still appreciate any other experiences I mean I,ve lived on the water before in a houseboat during college but you can guess what that was like I probably missed most of the experience that I could appreciate now.

[LinuxRandal]

Houseboat with basement?

I'd like to see pictures of this house. How long and what are the stilts made of? They have to be pretty massive, to support a house, WITH basement ON a river.

Now BY a river (riverfront), would be a different story.

[woodturner]

I checked with the local USGS and while it is on a floodplain(I kinda figured) they said that where the home was had never flooded due to it being so close to the dam.

I lived in Phoenix AZ some years ago. The house we bought was in the 100 year flood plain. They explained that means it floods once every 100 years, but that we were unlikely to see any flooding at all.

We lived there 1.5 years. In that time we had TWO "hundred year floods".

I'm just sayin'.......

[Cochese]

Which river, Tommy?

[JimD]

I've never lived on a river, but I work with a guy who has a cabin on a creek a couple hundred feet off the Alleghany in the Pittsburgh area. I've been to the cabin since we used to use it for outings for the group. His biggest complaint was geese. Their droppings are about like a small dog's and it was hard to find a place to step that was not on their droppings. Quite a mess. His back yard would flood a time or two a year but the cabin did not. I don't know if this is an issue in GA or not. There is not much you can do about geese. He tried scaring them off with M80s and it would only work for a few minutes (but was fun).

Jim

[atgcpaul]

There is not much you can do about geese. He tried scaring them off with M80s and it would only work for a few minutes (but was fun).

Jim

In the office park where I work, there's a service called Get the Flock Out. This guy drives around in his truck with a kayak on top and his border collie in the back. He basically chases the geese away so it's someone else's problem except for his customers. Very effective. I don't even see the dog anymore. I think the presence of just that truck is enough.

We walk across the lawn to grab lunch across the street. It used to be a big green slimy minefield. Not anymore for at least 2 years now. Maybe get a dog and let him play.

[capncarl]

I lived 29 yrs on a Ga. river, rather a tributary to the Flint River. We had flood insurance, and needed it. Every year or so we would have water in the yard, sometimes in the garage, under the house, in the car, everywhere. It was the biggest pia that I would never wish on anyone. It made the property unsellabe. After resolving to have to live there forever we remodeled the house and made it into our retirement house the water came up to the bottom of the windows. We remodeled it again and sold/gave it to someone for cheap rental property. This guy dropped the insurance and it flooded again, now it is boarded up. My advice...... if it is near water and would EVER flood, for what ever reason, stay away. A long way away. It is not worth the trouble.
capncarl

[herb fellows]

I've never lived on a river, but I work with a guy who has a cabin on a creek a couple hundred feet off the Alleghany in the Pittsburgh area. I've been to the cabin since we used to use it for outings for the group. His biggest complaint was geese. Their droppings are about like a small dog's and it was hard to find a place to step that was not on their droppings. Quite a mess. His back yard would flood a time or two a year but the cabin did not. I don't know if this is an issue in GA or not. There is not much you can do about geese. He tried scaring them off with M80s and it would only work for a few minutes (but was fun).

Jim

Actually, a good border collie will do the job. They had hundreds of geese at a retirement community my mil lived in, now the only way new residents know this used to be a problem is by word of mouth. Effective, and fun to watch until the geese get the hint!