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<div><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42);">On Friday, April 27, 2018, 4:29:32 p.m.</span><br></div><div id="ydp92b9580yahoo_quoted_6072575254" class="ydp92b9580yahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;"><div><div dir="ltr"> Art Ludwig-Oasis Design <<a href="mailto:oasis@oasisdesign.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">oasis@oasisdesign.net</a>> wrote:</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><snip></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">> We?re looking to build without over excavating and compacting</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">> The quality of the soil is astonishing; it is perfect for growing things and </div><div dir="ltr">> we don?t want to mess it up. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I'm neither a soil engineer nor in California and I suspect that my mind is probably more constipated than it is open but my (knee) jerk reaction to this query was to say</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> "Don't (build on that site)", </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> ... as the best way to not mess up the astonishing soil -- (speaking as one who built his home on the exposed Canadian Shield bedrock portion of the site and brought in hundreds of tri-axle loads of clay fill and organic matter to build up a soil overburden in which to plant large caliper rescued trees, shrubbery, flower & vegetable garden etc. , which perhaps goes a long way to explaining my lust for good dirt). </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">But "not building" would likely not be an option in this case since someone probably paid a $bazillion$ for the property with an eye to building a home on it.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The second (elbow ?) reaction was to say</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> "What about doing an earth sheltered or underground design ?" </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> ... which would seem to make a lot of sense in Khalifohnia where the landscape has been known to burst into flames and/or shake & jump around so much that above-grade buildings can fly apart and/or collapse. </div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">And I suspect that taking advantage of the infinite thermal mass of the earth wouldn't hurt to keep space cooling requirements to a minimum.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">I also wondered if the CA Building Code would allow for the structure to be built like a chicken coop , where the chickens' shelter sits on skis like a Qamutiq (aka "dogsled" en anglais) and can be dragged to a new spot every now and then, leaving a patch of newly-fertilised soil behind.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">But enough of this MooseHugger sticking his ignorant-about-building-in-California nose where it doesn't belong.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Thengya. Thengyallverramuch.</div><div dir="ltr">Stronzo di Nord.</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div>
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