Foundation issue resolved--kinda!

Because of the unintended deep cut for the pad, I opted to raise the house 4' by building on a crawl space. Although I am not a fan of crawl spaces, this option provided me with the opportunity to take advantage of the beautiful pastoral and mountain views at the back of the property. The foundation contractor automatically assumed that I wanted a vented crawl space--I definitely did not. There is a lot of research that shows that vented crawl spaces do not perform as intended. Here is a link to Advanced Energy's website about crawl spaces: http://www.crawlspaces.org A vented crawl space is a cheaper option and overall a bad idea. Personally, every crawl space that I have been in (in the southeast), and is at least 2 years old, I have found signs of mold and or mildew. There are two ways that I know of to do a closed crawl: 1) a sealed crawl and 2) a conditioned crawl. Because my HVAC system was already designed, I decided not to alter the design and drop a supply vent into the crawl to create a conditioned crawl. Instead I will seal the crawl floor and walls with a heavy duty poly vapor barrier and spray foam under the sub floor. Once the house is completely dried in, I plan to dehumidify the crawl space prior to laying the vapor barrier and insulating the floor. I also plan to monitor the moisture level in the crawl space to avoid potential mold and mildew issues.

As I mentioned in my first post, the original plan was to do a fully insulated slab and acid stain the concrete (as the finished floor) at the end of the project. The concrete was going to provide thermal mass to absorb the radiant heat in the winter months that would be coming through the southern facing windows using Cardinal 179 glass. Because I am now building on a crawl space, this changes the thermal mass equation. I decided to reduce the amount of southern window glazing, but still kept the Cardinal 179 glass. I also estimate that changing to a crawl space has increased the budget by about $4,000.00. Most of this additional cost is associated with substituting the stained concrete with a different flooring option. I haven't decided what the flooring will be, but as of now, I am leaning towards cork. I know someone who could help me to build earthen blocks (using clay from the job site) to serve as the finished floor, but due to time constraints and much less market appeal, I will stick with a more conventional option.

Pad and septic are done, BUT!

Lot #8 was perfectly orientated to take advantage of southern exposure and include some passive solar design. The goal was to build the home on a fully insulated concrete slab and then acid stain the slab at the end of the project. I ordered special glass (Cardinal 179) for the south facing windows to allow much more solar heat gain in the winter, but still having a low U-Value. The original excavator (who had to be fired for not showing up to work 3 times in a row) and the eventual excavator both told me the house would sit about 2-5 feet below the back fence line depending on where the county layed out where the septic tank and drain fields would be located. Because of the septic layout, the house needed to be pushed back much closer to the back of the lot than was originally intended. With the pad moved further back, my expectation was that the house slab would only be about 2' below the back fence and still allow the home to take advantage of the views of the pasture and mountains behind the house. To my surprise, and I do take some of the blame for just trusting in the excavators experience, the pad was more like 5-6' below the back fence. I am 6'1" tall and as you can see in the picture this was an obvious concern moving forward.

The pad for the home is done, BUT!

My orginal design called for a fully insulated slab on grade finished by acid staining the concrete. I orientated the house as close to solar south as possible to take advantage of the sun's free heat (passive solar design) and free light. I ordered special glass for the south facing windows (Cardinal 179 glass) to allow a much higher percentage of radiant heat to pass through to the living space. I was told by the original excavator (he had to be fired for not showing up 3 different times) and the actual excavator, that my concrete pad would sit about 3-4 ft below the back fence line which overlooks a pasture and some views of the mountains. After the county decided where to locate the septic system, the house had to be moved much closer to the back of the lot than what was originally intented. I was then told by the excavator that the pad would now only sit about 2 1/2 feet below the back fence line. Well as you can see in this picture (I am 6'1" tall) that the pad sits closer to 5-6 ft below the back fence line. As a demonstration home as well as my personal home, this mistake in estimating changed how the entire footprint of the house would be built. This is one of many learning experiences for me and I strongly suggest that everyone building on any site (sloping or not) pays very close attention to how the home will ultimately sit on the lot.

One very positive outcome was the reaction from the builders about this situation. The builders were willing to take on the extra work without charging extra for the additional labor.