Barndominium Builders in Conway, SC

Barndominium builders who work around Conway learn to read the river first. Conway is the county seat of Horry County, with 24,849 residents in 2020, up from 17,103 in 2010. Downtown sits on the west bank of the Waccamaw River where it meets Kingston Lake, at an elevation of just 16 feet and about 14 miles from the ocean. The Waccamaw runs south from here to the Pee Dee and on to Winyah Bay at Georgetown.

The town grew from a 1732 settlement under Royal Governor Robert Johnson's township plan, placed on a bluff above the Waccamaw. It was Kingston, then Conwayborough, and became Conway in 1883. When Horry County was created in 1801, its courthouse went here, and the county's building permit office is still in Conway at 1301 2nd Avenue.

What the Waccamaw Has Done

Two recent storms set the tone for any land near the river. In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew pushed the Waccamaw at Conway past a record that had stood since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. Two years later, Hurricane Florence beat that: on September 26, 2018, the river crested at 22.1 feet in Conway. Overflow from the Waccamaw flooded almost 1,000 homes and businesses, homes near SC 905 took about 5 feet of water, and the western Horry community of Dongola was cut off for 10 days.

So before buying around Conway we look at:

• The flood zone on the current map and whether a pre-construction elevation certificate will be required
• How the parcel sat in 2016 and 2018, if neighbors or records show it
• Road access during high water, not just the lot itself
• Pad height, culverts and where water leaves the site

Horry County's Plan Set

For a new home in unincorporated Horry County, the county asks for sealed engineering under the 2021 IRC, a wind design summary sheet, floor plans, elevations, two site plans and an energy sheet. Digital submittals go in by email with the land PIN, lot number and subdivision before the paper set comes to the office. Plans with a fixed stair must show upper-floor square footage. Review takes 7 to 10 working days, and longer when flood plain review is needed.

Statewide, the 2021 South Carolina Residential Code has been mandatory since January 1, 2023, and the energy code is the 2009 IECC. A barndominium is reviewed as a house under both.

Septic on Rural Conway Land

Before Horry County releases the permit, it needs a sewer receipt or a final DHEC septic approval. SCDES requires a septic permit for any home without public or community sewer, and the county cannot issue a building permit without it. Low, flat land near the river can be hard to perc. Soils such as the USDA Lynchburg series, common on coastal plain flats, are somewhat poorly drained with a seasonal high water table 6 to 18 inches down from November to April, which narrows where a drain field can go.

Bays and Swamps

Horry County earned the nickname the Independent Republic because rivers and swamps kept its residents isolated. It is also bay country: the county's Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve is one of the places SCDNR uses to show Carolina bays in LiDAR. Bays are shallow oval depressions that collect rainwater, and many were drained or partly filled long ago. A level field that used to be a bay can still hold water after heavy rain.

Climate

Conway's 1991 to 2020 normals show 55.21 inches of precipitation over about 101 days a year, a July average high of 90.8 degrees F and a January average high of 58.1. Records are 106 and 4 degrees F.

Own land around Conway, Aynor or the Waccamaw? Call (803) 784-7083 or

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