Before you invest thousands in architectural plans for that dream addition, covered patio, or backyard ADU, there's a critical pair of restrictions you need to understand: lot coverage requirements and impervious surface limitations. These two rules work together to limit not just how much you can build, but also how much of your property can be paved or covered—and most homeowners don't discover them until it's devastatingly late in the design process.

In Episode 36 of The Awakened Homeowner podcast, Bill Reid continues the Understanding Design Limitations series by exposing how lot coverage and impervious coverage can shrink your buildable area by 40-60%. Using real-world examples, including a homeowner who discovered their 6,000 square foot lot could only accommodate 2,400 square feet of buildings and paved surfaces, Bill reveals exactly what counts toward each restriction and why existing structures like sheds and old patios might be blocking your future plans.

This episode goes beyond just explaining the restrictions—Bill provides the environmental context for why these rules exist (stormwater management, groundwater recharge, watershed protection), strategic solutions like permeable pavers that can recover 50% of your impervious coverage credits, and a complete action plan for researching your property's specific limits before you waste money on design plans that won't pass city review.

🎯 In This Episode You'll Discover:

✅ The exact definition of lot coverage and how it's calculated as percentage of your total lot

✅ What structures count toward lot coverage (houses, garages, sheds, covered patios—more than you think)

✅ The critical "overhang gotcha" that cost one homeowner $15,000 in redesign

✅ How impervious coverage differs from lot coverage (spoiler: it's more restrictive)

✅ Why driveways, walkways, and uncovered patios count toward impervious limits

✅ Real calculation showing 6,000 sq ft lot → 2,400 sq ft actual buildable (60% reduction)

✅ The compounding effect when lot coverage and impervious coverage work together

✅ Environmental reasons cities enforce these limits (not just bureaucracy)

✅ Permeable paver solutions that can recover 50% of impervious coverage credits

✅ How to inventory existing structures before planning additions

✅ Strategic design approaches: multi-story vs. sprawling footprints

✅ Common mistakes that trigger expensive redesign late in the process

✅ Complete action plan for contacting your planning department

✅ Why you should research these limits BEFORE buying property

✅ The questions to ask that reveal your actual building potential

📍 KEY TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction: The Restrictions Lurking in Your Backyard

01:55 - What Is Lot Coverage? Definition and Core Concepts

04:30 - Calculating Lot Coverage: Percentage of Total Lot

08:30 - What Counts Toward Lot Coverage Requirements

11:15 - Primary Residence Footprint Calculations

14:20 - The Overhang Gotcha: Covered Patios and Eaves

18:45 - Impervious Coverage Explained: Beyond Buildings

22:00 - What Counts as Impervious Surface

25:10 - Real-World Example: The Compounding Effect

28:30 - When Both Limits Apply Simultaneously

31:40 - Why These Rules Exist: Environmental Context

34:20 - Stormwater Management and Groundwater Recharge

37:15 - Permeable Solutions: Design Strategies That Work

40:30 - Pervious Concrete, Permeable Pavers, Gravel Systems

44:00 - Action Plan: Researching Your Property Limits

48:30 - Common Mistakes Homeowners Make

51:20 - Strategic Design Approaches to Maximize Potential

54:00 - Key Takeaways and Series Preview

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

📖 The Awakened Homeowner Book

• Amazon:

You can check out the companion video here REAL PROPERTY EASEMENT EXAMPLES: How a 2-Acre Lot Lost Half Its Buildable Area

https://youtu.be/WTJLeb2OGGM

When you purchase property for your dream home, what you see is definitely not what you get. Property easements home building restrictions are legally binding rights that allow others—utility companies, neighbors, government entities, conservation organizations—to use specific portions of your land for designated purposes. You own the property, you pay the taxes, but someone else has legal rights that restrict where and what you can build.

In Episode 35 of The Awakened Homeowner podcast, continuing the Understanding Design Limitations series, Bill Reid reveals how property easements can render entire sections of your lot completely unbuildable. These invisible legal agreements, often granted decades or even centuries ago, automatically transfer when you purchase property—whether you discover them beforehand or not.

The episode features a detailed real-world analysis: a 2-acre Northern California property where easements consumed 6.5% of the lot (5,655 square feet) before any setbacks were applied. Combined with setback requirements, only 68.5% of the original lot remained buildable. Additionally, because this jurisdiction subtracted easement areas from floor area ratio calculations, the allowed home size was reduced by an additional 1,414 square feet—nearly 7% smaller than if the full lot counted.

Bill also references a companion YouTube video showing an actual property survey walkthrough, making these invisible restrictions visible and understandable for visual learners. You can see the video here https://youtu.be/WTJLeb2OGGM

🎯 In This Episode You'll Discover:

✅ What property easements are and why they're fundamentally different from setbacks (contractual vs. regulatory)

✅ The 5 main easement types affecting residential construction:

1. Utility easements (most common—electric, gas, water, sewer, telecom)

2. Access easements (neighbor rights to cross your property)

3. Drainage easements (natural water flow corridors)

4. Conservation easements (environmental/agricultural protection)

5. Prescriptive easements (established through long-term use without permission)

✅ Building restrictions in easement areas: You absolutely cannot construct permanent structures including houses, garages, pools, sheds, retaining walls, or anything with foundations

✅ Floor area ratio impact: Some jurisdictions subtract easement areas from lot size for FAR calculations, dramatically reducing allowed home size

✅ Grading and drainage complications: Easements prevent grade changes and site modifications without permission

✅ Access and privacy concerns: Rights of way crossing your property affect daily living quality

✅ The 6-step due diligence process:

1. Review preliminary title reports (and read actual easement documents)

2. Order professional surveys showing exact easement locations

3. Walk properties observing current use patterns

4. Contact utility companies directly for easement information

5. Consult planning departments about FAR calculation methods

6. Hire architects/consultants to analyze buildable area before purchasing

✅ Real 2-acre property case study: Complete breakdown showing how easements and setbacks combined reduced buildable area to 68.5% of original lot, plus additional FAR reduction impacts

✅ Common homeowner mistakes: Trusting title insurance to cover everything, ignoring "small" easements, waiting until design phase to address restrictions

✅ Negotiation strategies: How discovering easements during due diligence enabled $50,000 price reduction

📍 KEY TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Introduction: The Invisible Property...

When you stand on a piece of land you're considering buying, your perception is almost certainly wrong. Without knowing exactly where property lines fall, you might be admiring your future neighbor's lot while assuming it's yours. Property setback requirements for home building create invisible boundaries that can reduce your buildable area by 40-50%—and Bill Reid calls this episode "The Squeeze" for exactly that reason.

In Episode 34 of The Awakened Homeowner podcast, continuing our Understanding Design Limitations series, Bill reveals how setbacks and easements transform what looks like a spacious lot into a surprisingly tight building envelope. Using two real-world examples—a typical city lot and a complex custom home site in the Sierra Nevada mountains—Bill shows exactly how these invisible rules apply to actual properties.

The custom home site example is particularly eye-opening: a 44,000 square foot parcel (approximately one acre) that shrinks to just 26,000 square feet of buildable area after accounting for a road right-of-way easement, setback requirements, and slope restrictions. That's a 40%+ reduction before a single design decision was made.

🎯 In This Episode You'll Discover:

✅ What property setbacks are and why cities require these mandatory distances from property lines ✅ The critical difference between setbacks and easements—they're legally different beasts entirely ✅ Why different floors of your home often have different setback requirements ✅ The dangerous assumption that homes are parallel to property lines (they often aren't) ✅ The "invisible box" concept that deceives almost every land buyer ✅ Real site analysis showing how 44,000 sq ft becomes 26,000 sq ft buildable ✅ How slope restrictions add another layer of reduction to your buildable area ✅ Complete due diligence checklist for protecting yourself before purchasing property ✅ Why professional surveys ($3,000-5,000) save thousands in redesign costs ✅ How HOAs add restrictions beyond city zoning codes

📍 KEY TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 - Introduction: What You See Is NOT What You Get 03:15 - Two Real-World Site Examples Preview 04:30 - Understanding the Building Envelope Concept 05:15 - What Are Property Setbacks? 07:00 - Why Cities Require Setbacks (Mass, Scale, Character, Fire Safety) 08:15 - Different Setbacks for Different Floors 10:00 - Understanding Easements: The Invisible Restrictions 15:00 - The Invisible Box: Why Property Lines Deceive You 20:00 - Real-World Example #1: Typical City Lot Analysis 25:00 - Real-World Example #2: Custom Home Site (Sierra Nevada) 38:30 - FAR Calculation Spreadsheet Walkthrough 40:00 - Key Takeaways 41:00 - Your Action Plan: Due Diligence Checklist 43:00 - What's Coming Next in the Series 44:00 - Closing & How to Connect

📚 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

📖 The Awakened Homeowner Book

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1MDRPK7

• All Platforms: https://books2read.com/u/bpxj76

📄 The Tale of Two Homeowners (Free Story) See the dramatic difference between an informed homeowner and one who learns the hard way https://the-awakened-homeowner.kit.com/09608e1727

🎧 Related Episodes:

• Episode 33: Floor Area Ratio & Lot Coverage

• Previous episodes in the Understanding Design Limitations series

🔗 CONNECT:

🌐 Website: https://www.theawakenedhomeowner.com/ 📧 Email: wwreid@theawakenedhomeowner.com 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theawakenedhomeowner/ 👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theawakenedhomeowner/ 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAwakenedHomeowner

🔗 LEARN ABOUT THE BUILDQUEST APP: 🌐 Coming Soon: https://www.buildquest.co/

👤 ABOUT YOUR HOST:

Bill Reid is Your Home Building Coach with 35+ years of experience in residential construction. He created The Awakened Homeowner methodology to enlighten, empower, and protect homeowners through their building and remodeling...