{"id":54780,"date":"2010-01-22T04:43:37","date_gmt":"2010-01-22T12:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.findlandauctionsonline.com\/?p=54780"},"modified":"2010-01-22T04:43:37","modified_gmt":"2010-01-22T12:43:37","slug":"6-tips-on-selecting-a-building-site-for-your-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findland.com\/articles\/6-tips-on-selecting-a-building-site-for-your-home\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Tips on Selecting a Building Site for Your Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This post is a quick guide to a very practical issue that could be discussed in much greater detail – and has been.\u00a0 After you win your online land auction or whatever type of property you’ve purchased, you may be looking to build yourself a cabin, lodge, hut, lean-to, or something of that nature.\u00a0 I’m sure you have a number of great ideas in your head of what the materials will be, and the layout for the floor plan, and all the other details all the way down to the trim work.\u00a0 But you’re forgetting one thing:\u00a0 Where the hell you’re putting your house on your land.\u00a0 So here’s a few tips to keep in mind when selecting the site for your building:<\/p>\n

1. Don’t Build in a Valley<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a number of great and enticing sites in valleys that you could build a home.\u00a0 The soil is usually fertile and good for plants and crops.\u00a0 However, water tends to head towards valleys, and where there is much water, there is dampness, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.\u00a0 Also worth noting is that valleys may be colder in the wintertime in small or deep valleys compared to the surrounding land.<\/p>\n

2. Don’t Build on Top of a Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s probably going to be tempting to build your home at the top of a hill.\u00a0 The view is amazing, there’s horizon in all directions, and you can easily take scope of the land beneath you.\u00a0 It’s quite easy to feel like a king in your new castle.\u00a0 However, you’ll face a few difficulties which you should consider.\u00a0 First, getting materials to the top of a hill will be difficult.\u00a0 Modern machinery has solved this problem to a degree, but can your material distributor’s flatbed get to your building site to drop off plywood, beams, cement, and more?\u00a0 During the building process, you’ll need a lot more room than just the footprint of the home.\u00a0 After the home is built, are you going to be able to get water to the site without hiring the Army CORPS to design the network of pumps necessary get *really* weak pressure to your shower?\u00a0 And on cold windy nights, will your home be naturally protected from the elements?\u00a0 When you take your daily walk through your land and property, are you going to forever dread the 400 foot climb to get back to the porch?\u00a0 These are serious considerations that affect your enjoyment of you property and even the marketability of the property down the road.\u00a0\u00a0 Take some time to get this right<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

3. Southern Exposure is Just SMART<\/strong><\/p>\n

Southern exposure, if you haven’t heard the term before, is the way the sun is angled to the South as it passes through the sky each day (but only in the Northern Hemisphere).\u00a0 By utilizing a few basic passive solar techniques, an architect or builder can build a very efficiently heated and cooled home simply by taking advantage of the how high the sun is during winter and summer.\u00a0 Here’s a good explanation of proper home orientation to utilize Southern exposure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Set Your Home Away from the Road<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you enjoy the sound of the neighbor’s 17-year old son ripping past your bedroom window in the $600 off-roading 4-Runner they got him for his birthday?\u00a0 How about at 1AM?\u00a0 I didn’t think so. You bought this place for at least a degree of privacy, both visually and acoustically.\u00a0 Make sure you take advantage of it.<\/p>\n

5. Plan Your Entry Drive<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of locating your home away from the road involves a lengthy drive way.\u00a0 A quick tip?\u00a0 Don’t draw a straight line from the property entrance to you garage.\u00a0 Take a page from the Beatle’s and make it a long and winding road.\u00a0 It’s more aesthetically pleasing for a number of reasons, and it will ease your headache when you find out there’s a 5 ton boulder in the middle of your pencil-straight driveway.<\/p>\n

6. Don’t Build on Bad Soil<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a trickier topic to delve into on your own, but hiring a knowledgeable builder to help with all of the above can certainly help you avoid building on bad soil, as well.\u00a0 If the soil is wet?\u00a0 Better find out if it’s like that often.\u00a0 The drier the better, in fact.<\/p>\n

So Where Should I Build?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, it’s pretty simple.\u00a0 If you cut out all of the above no-nos, you’re left with this:\u00a0 Build on a middle elevation on your property, not too low but not rising above the natural protection of the trees and earth, on a dry piece of land, with good Southern exposure, and plenty of space around the building site to make building easier, as well as make room for outbuildings, gardens, and other future projects.\u00a0 Furthermore, consult an architect with knowledge of passive solar heating or study up on the topic yourself, and you’ll be a lot better off.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading for Choosing Where to Put Your Home:<\/strong>
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