anyone know a source for smaller homes that are built in coastal flood zones and therefore have to be built up like 7 or 8 ft? or do people just use regular plans and elevate the house?
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coastal ..... just use regular plans and elevate the house?
NO - the coastal storm surge is the killer, design needs to be able to resist surge forces, same with railing, etc. unless designed to be 'tear away'. Lots more complex forces than simply holding up the house. Even in non coastal area, water flow forces can be tremendous.
Ralph W. may chime in, think he has done some of these?
Floor plans can be as simple or complex as you like. If your governed by the IRC, then your structure would have to meet the wind load for your area. Most plans can be adjusted to meet prescriptive design limits.
The foundation design is another animal itself.
Take a look at FEMA 499 and 550 (free downloads)
They have preengineered 4 or 5 foundation types using a 14'x28' module- or multiples of. ie 28'x28' or 42'x28'
These modules are plug and play, and can be used by prescription if you are designing your own residence.
The "Wood Frame Construction Manuel" is also available as a free down load for presriptive design info for the wind load in your area. Coastal areas commonly exceed IRC limits.
It contains
1.prescriptive design requirements
2.shearwall design requirements.
3.Connector and span limits and loads etc.
This is all information that the DIY'er can work with to proceed on his own or educate himself when hiring a design professional or engineer.
Good Luck
Ray
The FEMA Coastal Construction Manual is a great reference for these kinds of projects. I was invited to help out on the last review of it last year and its a great group of guys who put it together. I think they might have it as a free pdf download at their site. If not, its probably not that much to pay for a hard copy.
You will also want to check with your local building dept. as they will often inact special localized regs for such work.