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The posted article is good. However, there is one extremely critical component (not mentioned) that one needs to heed.
That is when clearing a spot for the foundation do NOT push dirt on the side of a hill/mountain down the slope in order to build up an area on which to build. Huge mistake!
Instead, always cut back INTO the hill/mountain and carve out the area for the foundation. More solid ground.
The reason for this is twofold: (A) earthquakes will render the least stable soil to slide down the hill first, possibly sending your house down with it (of course, this doesn’t mean the rest of the hill won’t go ahead and collapse anyway, but oh well).
And (B) with the torrential rains in CR I’ve seen way too many structures sliding down the hill without warning once the less compacted soil under the foundation gets soaked by the rains (or washed away by the speed of water traveling around/under the house due to the slope) and it simply becomes literally liquified (seriously!) thereby giving way from the weight of the structure sitting on it.
Nothing is guaranteed, but cutting BACK INTO the hill is always safest. Ain’t tellin’ ya what I heard! -Keith Schnelle
Your insights are excellent, Keith, but let me add one more . . .
The earth that you cut into will surely be more stable than the “buildup” of what’s removed, but that doesn’t mean that it cannot or will not collapse. We have friends whose living room had four feet of dirt in it thanks to the hillside that collapsed behind their house, where the earth had been removed to form a nearly vertical face.
If you’re cutting into a hillside, be sure to have the architect and engineer make a recommendation about a retaining wall. It would be money well spent to have them collaborate with a soils engineer, too. A soils engineer can test the soil and specify the angle of the slope that the excavator should create.
The Article is good for the preparation phase of building a home, but the single most important thing is to be physically present in Costa Rica during the construction phase, in order to personally monitor the progress on a day-to-day basis. If not, deviations from the construction plans are virtually inevitable.
I’d also add that if building on a site as pictured in the article, it’s important to put in concrete ditches surrounding the property. Diverting rain water to the edges of the property will help prevent erosion when building close to the side of a hill.
[quote=”watchdog”]. . . the single most important thing is to be physically present in Costa Rica during the construction phase,[/quote]
This is a great insight. If you’re not here to watch the progress, correctable mistakes will be made, and (equally important) real opportunities will be overlooked and lost.
I actually know of a case where the builder oriented the house in the wrong direction.
Our property is on two levels.
The home is built on a cut into the hill and sits on solld ground but the upper part of the property is built up with subsoil to make about 1/3 acre level and a part of that has gone down the hill.We are in the process of building a retaining wall and will refill that.
It’s pretty easy to tell what is where by seeing the old growth on the original land and younger growth on the built up areas.
David mentions “[i]If you’re not here to watch the progress, correctable mistakes will be made, and (equally important) real opportunities will be overlooked and lost”[/i] and this is certainly right.
Don’t always presume though, that [u]you know better[/u] than local builders, who understand many things that that they do here, we as [i]extranjeros [/i]will [b]never[/b] understand.:roll:
We have met many very talented and knowledgeable people in the construction business here but also some that possibly never played with Lego…:wink:You’re absolutely right, crf. In technical matters, it’s almost always safest to go with proven local methods. What I meant to refer to was more in the vein of design and style opportunities.
As an example, our house is built into the hillside with a deck that extends to the downhill side. Originally, the space under the deck was to have been a carport — convenient for unloading groceries in the rain — but during construction, our architect suggested enclosing that “carport” in glass (cheap and easy) which we did. We gained a lot of additional space at very little cost. Had we not been onsite to discuss this change, we’d have missed the opportunity. And it’s my favorite part of the house.
Similarly, one morning we awoke to part of our bedroom having been completed. There was just one problem. They’d built a solid wall between the bedroom and the bathroom! There was no way in. A quick review of the blueprints revealed the error, but it was one better caught sooner than later, eh?
I know a guy that came back to the states during the construction of his home for his daughters graduation. When he returned to Costa Rica the builder had mis-read part of the plan and he now has a 36″ by 18′ (yes inches and feet) guest bathroom.
If you are over 5’5″ it’s a little rough sitting on the toilet!
The builder did not realize that the hallway to a home office was not supposed to be walled!
😀
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