Soil

[Cougr67]

Found a piece of land I am interested in. It is a half acre on the side of a hill at about 7K ft. There is a flat area to build on that was cut out of the side of the hill several years ago. I don't know why it was never built on.  When is it advisable to get a "soil evaluation"? Before I buy ? after? Only when required to by building department? From what I have been told it can be quite expensive but also important. 

Also, what type of information will I receive? Will it just be the type of soil, compaction etc or will it also include advice on foundation type and setbacks from slopes?

Here is a couple of pictures




Thanks!!

[Redoverfarm]

Was the land ever timbered?  It might have been a log landing at one time. 

[MushCreek]

Usually, the first 'soil' test you want is a perk (percolation) test to see if you can put in a septic system. I wouldn't buy land that doesn't perk unless there is city sewer available. Other reasons to test soils would be to make sure the hillside is stable, and to test if its a good soil for a foundation. Different soils have different load bearing characteristics, and thus determine what you need for a footing.

We paid for a perk test prior to buying our land, figuring a few hundred dollars wasted would be better than having major obstacles to building. The perk test was actually a septic permit, which we were able to use when we actually put in the septic system.

[Cougr67]

MushCreek:
I was planning on the Perc test before buying the property. The owner said he had already performed one some years ago but doesn't have documentation to show, so I will do another one.

The "ballpark" figure I got from a local soils engineer company is $1600-1800.  That isn't a ton of money to prevent buying a property that isn't what I want but on the other hand it is a ton of money to spend on land that I don't even own.  Throw in a survey and a perc test and the price of the property just went up 25%...... if I buy it.

[jsahara24]

You can make an offer contingent on getting an approved perc.  Reduce your offer to cover your costs or even better ask them to do it for you. 

That price sounds a little high but I am from PA so local prices may vary.

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[UK4X4]

You can build on just about anything !-------but the cost and design changes with the issues at hand.

My county demanded a site specific soil test in order to get a building permit
- basicly matched with the free on line line as far as soils etc went.

Cost was about 1200usd---300 for the tractor and dig and the rest for the report

the report covered what I had and the best foundations for the plot, covering in my case know local issues with the spring run off and foundation movement


Looking at your pics the soils look to be good and well drained, no obvious quagmire or clay, can't really see how much of the plot is cut in and how much is spoils, ie you want the foundation on the undisturbed portion

I would not worry about a soil test prior to purchase, but thats just me, a chat to people in the neighborhood would be well worth it, get a bit of history and see what others have used as foundations.

On my local area about 70% of the properties had movement issues, I discounted each and every one of those foundation designs !

Free soil report is here- press the green button !

http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm

[Squirl]

In NY an engineer to test the soil for percolation and load bearing was $500.  IIRC, I also had to hire a back hoe for $200.  The engineer would put the $500 towards the cost to design a septic system if it passed.

I had a contingency in my contract to pass "approval for a conventional gravity fed septic system.".   I was told, I was told "it perked once many years ago" on many properties.  Test standards have gone up.  It could have passed back when people buried an old car as a cesspool.

[Cougr67]

This is what i got from the Websoilsurvey

MdF—Mirabal-Dandrea complex, 20 to 60 percent slopes
"Map Unit Setting

    Elevation: 6,000 to 8,000 feet
    Mean annual precipitation: 18 to 25 inches
    Mean annual air temperature: 41 to 45 degrees F
    Frost-free period: 130 to 150 days

Map Unit Composition

    Mirabal and similar soils: 55 percent
    Dandrea and similar soils: 35 percent"

and a lot of other things that I don't understand

There was a lot of gold mining in the area way 100+ years ago and some locals have warned me that there may be a lot of tailings from the nearby shaft. The property owner claims the hillside was untouched soil before he had the area leveled but I have no reason to believe him over the other locals. I guess the only way to know for sure is to shell out the money to an engineer.
I will be on the property tomorrow and plan on doing a little digging just to get an idea what is there. i don't expect that to tell me a lot but I am interested.  Anything specific I should be looking for?