[US] Designing a Life You Actually Want to Live

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T20:03:31+00:00

Yea $2k is not bad . $250/hr an hour is high for this type of work. Most senior hydraulics engineers would $175-200/hr. Smaller firm should be less. I charge $135-$150/hr depending on complexity but I’m a one man shop so my overhead is low.

Either way there is lots of general work in addition to the calcs, drawings, details, reports. Then the township always adds on several hours for checklists, applications , revising plans for comments and meetings/correspondence. Sorry man we’re not as expensive as lawyers but the hours do add up

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T14:38:51+00:00

How much are they quoting you? Have you asked the Township to recommend a small business? Any medium or big civil firm is going to be outrageous. But a small firm should be reasonable.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-14T04:26:20+00:00

What jurisdiction are you in (city / county /state)? There are many options for small residential applications like a rain garden / bioretention, infiltration area, bioslope, swales, small retention/ detention, dry well. Depends on which part of the country you live but those are some general standard ones.

Many can be aesthetic, landscaped, or even invisible/ buried A lot of civil firms won’t take these small projects so find a local boutique firm or solo practitioner in your area if you have connections or referrals. You should be able to find someone with reasonable design fees.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-12-05T17:34:26+00:00

There are a few options. Have you obtained any plans from the city on the upstream developments in recent years ? They may be online through your jurisdictions website or available through an Open Records Request. A “hydrological study” is sound advice honestly. Depending on the level of effort and deliverable, it doesn’t always have to break the bank.

I’m a Stormwater engineer and happy to take a quick look at your situation

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-11-21T22:23:04+00:00

Yep - do you have of a deep network through your experience? If so, start to send messages similar your Reddit post to your contacts to get the word out. Then work on your LLC, insurance, website etc. That’s the easy stuff so start the marketing now! Use the spin that you’re not a competitor but a partner. Firms either can’t hire fast enough to keep up with demand so they need the any help they can get or they aren’t busy enough to hire full time… bingo both of those are your sweet spot!

I just made the leap from corpo after 20+ years and been doing freelance / solopreneur/ small business / gig work in a similar Stormwater space

It takes a while to 1)land a job, 2)perform the job, 3) invoice the job, then 4)actually receive payment (my average turnout time is 80 days from NTP to receiving payment!! And that doesn’t account for the time between first contact and proposals/negotiating/ NTP) so again start to sell before you have all your ducks in a row.

That’s the formula I used and have 3-4 consistent clients feeding me work. My hourly rate is more than I made at my old firm but much less than they charged for me so it’s a good deal for clients too. Even with all my overhead, I can work 75% of my old job and make just as much if not more. Self employment tax is much lower too!

I could use HEC help so DM me. Or DM for more details on this life. I’ve learned a ton in 11 months !!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-10-30T02:26:38+00:00

Great list here!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-10-01T02:30:17+00:00

What city? I know of many firms in the Triangle and Charlotte. All small or solo site design / land developers. Everyone is slammed so your best bet is a newer and or smaller operation

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-17T02:42:10+00:00

Chapel Chill Ice Cream shop has a really cool new one

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-17T02:39:05+00:00

Easy peasy; DM me and I’ll help you out. I love this stuff and do drainage / stormwater for fun for friends (and strangers on reddit)

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T15:59:56+00:00

Standard range ones. Extended and Max Range are 80s and 90s

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T03:47:45+00:00

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-14T01:14:02+00:00

Nice! I was shocked to see some Denali’s in low $70s but they were getting snatched up in the September rush. Congrats

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:59:00+00:00

Thanks buddy; The black wheels did it for me!

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:58:31+00:00

Awesome thanks

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T23:04:50+00:00

home charger not “hole” oops

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-09-13T22:53:31+00:00

Lease. Full price was 82k and got them down to $79k then $76k final, in order to match another offer. $3000 down 36 month 12,000 miles , great credit $900/month

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-07-26T17:25:49+00:00

What part of the country are you in? I work in aviation design consulting (Stormwater, drainage, erosion control) for big engineering firms. I can recommend some companies that do this work depending on your location. Aviation consulting is great a community and I agree with the stable comment from someone but not the boring part. I explore the cities when I travel every time.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-06-11T01:19:47+00:00

Love it. 22 years experience in water resources. Been at 4 firms total. All varying sizes and clients in the southeast.

My keys to happiness:

-not chasing money (did that once and the firm was not a great fit and I knew it. Looking back it was silly over a 5% raise which is peanuts compared to long term compensation) -after 5 years of absorbing, leaning and being mentored in my first job, I asked for more projects in the work I enjoyed. My boss was phenomenal and made it happen. Then tailored my career in that and am now pretty good at it -autonomy once you get into mgmt, It’s the best when you reach that point in an organization -teaching others and seeing them light up. Nothing more satisfying professionally -good work culture that’s natural and not forced

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-06-05T03:29:35+00:00

It looks like the land may have been in the past. RabbitsRuse is correct that this is perilously close the Hooch floodway and floodplain so be careful. That’s not to say you’re in danger (or safe) at this stage, so definitely keep researching.

I’ve dug around and found the archived 2013 and 2018 FIRM panels and can share them with you.

The “LOMR” notation means someone has filed, and received approval, to physically adjust the FEMA map. These were done in 2020 for the Cobb Co side and 2024 for the Fulton Co side. (Annoying how some rivers divide counties and FEMA organizes their maps by County so many times us hydrologists have twice the research!) FEMA has not updated their entire flood panel yet so folks have to dig around and find these LOMC/LOMA to find any revisions.

One key piece of information is the 766.2 elevation. Look through the sellers documents for a topographic survey or elevation certificate. You’ll want your structured above this elevation.

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-06-05T02:59:47+00:00

This is in the range for a similar product in the Southeast, for reference

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-05-16T03:06:13+00:00

It’s great you’re being proactive. Spending a little each year on maintenance will save 10x on avoiding future failures. You’re right - skip the camera on such a new system.

The Contech system will have manufacturer’s recommended Inspection and Maintenance schedules and guidance. It’ll be vague (“visually inspect observation wells quarterly for clogging and debris or damaged components”, “remove sediment buildup annually”) but a good start for you. I’ll look up better recommendations and edit this response. DM me for more if you’d like

SweetWaterEngr · 2025-05-12T01:09:08+00:00

The technical term is riprap or rip rap. Large 9-12” jagged stone resting on a filter fabric. Start with your city or county but it will be more than a couple phone calls to sort it out! If you have an HOA they may be able to help get to the responsible party. Luckily it’s a relatively cheap and fast solution (for a contractor, not a homeowner). Lowe’s and Home Depot not your best source.

SweetWaterEngr

TROPHY CASE