Building a house on a Hill? Any advice, warnings etc?

[manager]

I'm obtaining 2 lots of moderately sloped land in Maracas Valley.

It's not a cliff or anything, but i'm pretty shure I'll need a a retaining wall at the bottom. The road (entry to land) is at the bottom of the hill.

I've already seen that building a two story mid range house on flat land averages around $500 per sq foot. Looking at 1000sq per floor.

How much more do I need to cater for building on a moderate slope like this? The reason I'm asking is that I honestly feel I can't trust contractors because I just got two completely different answers from two experiences builders. One said, slope is small ting, just cater about 200k for the retaining wall and u good to go. The other spoke at length about going deeper with the foundation and told me estimate $750/sqft minimum + about 200k for retaining wall.

So the estimated cost from them are:
Contractor A - $700k ($500 x 1000 + 200k)
Contractor B - $950k ($750 x 1000 + 200k)

The land is about 100ft from the road to top of the hill and about 20ft in difference in height from the highest to lowest point.

So how much should i cater for construction? The soil is rocky and I don't have worry about landslides here.

[MG Man]

first thing you need to do is hire a qualified civil engineer to advise you

[rfari]

structural guy

[manager]

should have probably stated both contractors are Structual Engineers, both have seen topographical surveys of land and both a giving different advice.

[MG Man]

hmm.............google?

[manager]

lol....not like i tried.

But mainly I just want to know from 2nrs first hand, what was their experience constructing a home on a hill.

[MG Man]

put septic system downhill ;p

[Rory Phoulorie]

What is a "moderate" slope? Can you calculate the average slope (in degrees) from the topographical drawing? You said that the land is 100 ft. away from the road and there is a 20 ft. difference in elevation. Is the slope 5H : 1V (for every 5ft. horizontal distance you go vertical 1ft.)? If it is, then that is not a steep slope. The only thing that the slope would affect is the cost to construct the foundation. Once you are out of the ground, the cost to construct the remaining part of the house should be the same as if it was on level ground.

Why don't you have to worry about landslides? Can you see the bedding planes in the "rock"? Is the rock fractured or jointed? Is it solid rock?

Kindest Regards,

Rory Phoulorie, R.Eng.

[rfari]

its not a good idea to just try to eye-ball the property and put a construction cost to it. you should get a good designer that has a registered structural guy on the team to design ur foundation and retaining wall for you and tie it in with the design for ur home. i can't stress it enough but ensure that whoever is doing ur design, will be doing the chasing with the relevant authorities. more than likely you have to link with tunapuna/piarco regional corp, town & country, ministry of works (yup, for the retaining wall). its not that straightforward sorry

[foss]

just put down a lil shed, wait for a landslide... then run to the government for a handout (HDC house)

easy.

[crazybalhead]

Use a magnetic levitation system to float the house ABOVE the land.

You can use an energy device similar to the one Mr. T Stark uses. I'll see if I can find his number for you.

[[X]~Outlaw]

Day after day,
Alone on a hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Well on the way,
Head in a cloud,
The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud
But nobody ever hears him,
or the sound he appears to make,
and he never seems to notice,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

And nobody seems to like him,
they can tell what he wants to do,
and he never shows his feelings,

But the fool on the hill,
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh, ooh,
Round and round and round.

And he never listens to them,
He knows that they're the fools
They don't like him,

The fool on the hill
Sees the sun going down,
And the eyes in his head,
See the world spinning 'round.

Ooh,
Round and round and round

[Chimera]

with the end of the world rapidly approaching, this should be a logical option.



build IN the hill.

my fee for my advice is $10,000

thanks

[Rory Phoulorie]

Further to what rfari said, you should get your hands on the TTBS Small Building Code. This is written to help the average homeowner/builder design a structure capable of withstanding our climatic and seismic conditions.

[partsman]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

[Ignorant Ignis]

put septic system downhill ;p

[illumin@ti]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

[crazybalhead]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

[Ignorant Ignis]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

tuner really have some talented mofo's

[Bizzare]

[redmanjp]

wit all d landslide i hear bout on d news i never building ah house on ah hill

[jm3]

lol what about the houses in maraval at the bottom of the hills getting screwed when it rains

[MG Man]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

significent

[foss]

[Humes]

with the end of the world rapidly approaching, this should be a logical option.



build IN the hill.

my fee for my advice is $10,000

thanks

[Corn Bird]

1. drainage needs to be good; soil in the northern range is clay and metamorphic rocks formed from clay; see

http://www.thecropperfoundation.org/pubs/NRAssessRep/NRA_annex1-2.pdf

without good drainage the soil becomes waterlogged and this can put stress on retaining walls

http://www.allanblockblog.com/index.php/did-you-know-most-retaining-wall-failures-are-due-to-poor-water-management/


2. while lawns are nice they trap water; consider paving the majority of your property in order to get good runoff

3. the topsoil will flow downhill over the years; consider the shape of the land and the corresponding flow of soil when aligning the house; better the house runs parallel (if possible) to flow of soil than perpendicular to it

4. another possibility is terracing -- two or three smaller retaining walls rather than one large retaining wall

[dtopshottas]

What is a "moderate" slope? Can you calculate the average slope (in degrees) from the topographical drawing? You said that the land is 100 ft. away from the road and there is a 20 ft. difference in elevation. Is the slope 5H : 1V (for every 5ft. horizontal distance you go vertical 1ft.)? If it is, then that is not a steep slope. The only thing that the slope would affect is the cost to construct the foundation. Once you are out of the ground, the cost to construct the remaining part of the house should be the same as if it was on level ground.

Why don't you have to worry about landslides? Can you see the bedding planes in the "rock"? Is the rock fractured or jointed? Is it solid rock?

Kindest Regards,

Rory Phoulorie, R.Eng.

What is your number/email? I need a retaining wall for my house...

[rage666]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

lol.....

[crazybalhead]

be on the look out for 2 individuals , a boy and a girl . They will say they want some water , then pretend to fall , the boy first then the girl. The boy will claim head injuries .

significent

Good solid advice.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

op,I woda sell the land, you don't want to be one of those people bawling for gov't assistance on the tv because a landslide fork up yuh house