Foundations for the Desert

[Marshall]

I have been thinking for many years about building a small cottage out in the middle of nowhere in the Arizona or New Mexico desert.  After all these years of thinking about it, I decided that it wasn't going to happen on its own, so I better get started.  I am going to build the place with my dad's help.  He is an electrician so I know his expertise will definitely come in handy especially since I want the house to be off the grid.  My question for today has to do with the type of foundation to use in a desert environment.  I want to use the cheapest and easiest foundation since I do not have a lot of money, but still want to follow my dream.  I have been researching this topic on the internet, but it seems that most people are posting ideas about building in colder climates with either clay or non-clay soil.  I know the desert soil can sometimes seem pretty loose and not as stable especially during the monsoon season, so I wasn't sure if I could use the pier footings.  These seem the easiest to build and so I was leaning in this direction, but again I wasn't sure this was the best for a house in the deserts of Arizona.  I also read  about a "hillbilly" foundation which entailed digging 20" square holes, 16" deep, filling them in with gravel and then placing pavers and piers.  Any help or advice people could give me would be very much appreciated.  Thank you.

[dug]

I am officially in the middle of nowhere ( NM desert) and am using concrete piers to build my cabin. I am confident that it will prove to be a solid foundation. I lived in Arizona for many years and would not describe the soil there (or here) as loose. Jackhammers or dynamite would seem to be the preferred method of digging, though I did most of mine with a heavy steel digging bar and a lot of sweat.

As far as cost, I'm not sure that a slab might actually be the cheapest. If you stain it your floor is done, but you need to make sure all your ducks are in a row. I wanted to have a little more flexibility with my plumbing and electricity, and did not want a concrete floor (hard on the feet!). Also, in the middle of nowhere you might have a hard time getting big trucks to your property, as I did. I had to hand mix, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me with piers.

[MountainDon]

Soil conditions do change as one moves about, but many of the desert lands I've traveled have been quite solid, formidable at times if you are digging.  That said here where the suburban house is we are located on top of a bunch of sandy dirt. Just don't build in a flood plain. Build on a rise if you can so the water runs away when it rains. Or make a high spot.

You didn't say how big you were going to build. Length, width, height, multiple story?