Building a House on a Sloped Parcel of Land - Handmade House TV #31

[@LisaFladager]

I'm thankful for my stairs. They keep me in shape, keep me healthy. I climb three flights of stairs multiple times a day. My heart rate is great, my leg muscles are strong. Sometimes the easy way isn't the best way. Use it or lose it!!

[@mikuspalmis]

Great point. This is how I think as well. Some people are inclined (😉) to take the easy way, to their own detriment and to that of others. My parents are in their early 70s and currently live in an upstairs apartment so they're forced to use the stairs. And while some people might be concerned about this and ready to hurry in and rescue others from any effort, I see how it can keep them in shape and they're forced to be careful which I think keeps the mind sharp as well. If they don't think they can handle it anymore or if one or both lose the ability, well, I'll help em move. But I'll be sure to never give up on em and see to it that they don't take it *too* easy!

[@t.w.4462]

The way you look and talk about your cabin . Love it , makes so much sense. Tks....

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thanks for watching!

[@bxx7666]

A lot more to consider than slope... eg. perspective of the sun, proximity to trees, distance to neighbours, access to utilities/water, power lines blocking your view, composition of the ground (rock vs compact soil), cost analysis of retaining walls, storm water runoff, stability of the hillside, optimal road access/design

[@ganesankpillay3768]

Thank you sir , saved me future headaches

[@guyh.4553]

Something else to consider Noah and it should be heeded in digging into the side. One key point of not building onto the "fill" side but building on the "cut" side is that the ground is naturally compacted. It extremely stable and for the most part, it won't "slip". Very important when building on steeper slopes, wetter climates, and more forested lands.

[@JLitodiaz]

Phenomenal video sir !!

[@dankatz8485]

Great advice.. I'm your new fan!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Awesome! Thank you! Glad to have you here!

[@natemckenzie5358]

VERY insightful comments about the realities of those hated STAIRS...Keep up the good work!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you!, they get us where we want to go... but that part of the journey is seldom pleasurable.

[@twalke0555]

theses drawings are great! -hilarious and really informative

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad you like them!

[@randycrews3432]

we lived in a 3 story beach house for 22 years. Noah is exactly right stairs are tiresome but my wife and I have legs like marathon athletes !

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

I hadn't thought about those stairs being strength trainers! good point! I too have lived in three story homes (two stories with a basement in my case) for the last 25 years... but... I am so thankful that my cars (and all those things I've brought in from them) have been on the central floor! A tip of the hat, and a tinge of jealousy, on living in a beach house!

[@myhriwrites]

Awesome! Wow we gotta figure this all out! Just bought an acre “bowl.” Beautiful but what a challenge! Thx for the heads up!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

You are welcome. All the best with your project!

[@shiyaera]

Thank you. So helpful!

[@stephenlewis4872]

Another great nugget of info this week. Thanks for sharing something I wouldn't have thought anything about

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. For certain... when building a house it's important to put it in the right spot! (they are a beast to move once built!)

[@badapple65]

Geez. Many things I had not thought of. Great video

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you Greg! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@hersheylima5482]

Nicely illustrated

[@shulonvlog1555]

Wow. Nice idea u've change my perspective in building a house in a slope land. Instead im gonna do like this. Tnx

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SnoopCatts]

Those drawings are masterpieces 🥰😅😅

[@alvarivees5456]

God Bless. Excellent discernment.

[@ViolentKisses87]

Thanks for a great video I had already considered building on the downhill and this confirms it.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad it was helpful! You are welcome!

[@juliovelez4496]

A very high valued, interesting and educational video...thank you very much

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you very much for following along!

[@MsPoliteRants]

This is actually really helpful! Never would have thought to build on the downhill. Makes so much sense! Also, I love your drawings. :) Do you have any insight on building a food storage cellar into the hill? I was picturing building on the uphill in WV, into the Appalachians, with a nice natural cold food storage cellar built into the rock. But, after watching this, you have made such a good point about vehicle access and the view that I don’t want to back the house up to a mountain anymore....

[@davidmicheletti6292]

A really nice looking walkout basement. One thing people have to remember is when you dig into a hillside for a basement there can be issues with down slope movement of the soil. I see most of the homes your working on are built on rock. But in Minnesota we often have very sandy soil. That In itself is very fluid when wet. Thus the back wall is at risk of failure. This can be can be over come with proper reinforcements. A good friend wanted my input on building his house on a hillside I pointed out the fine sandy material was going to be a major issue but the contractor said I didn't know what I was talking about and built the basement without any reinforcements. Within two years the wall failed completely and the contractor wouldn't come out to even look at the mess he made. When asked I would if I could help repair the house I refused and told him to get an expert. I did notice that stone was laid directly over plywood without tar paper or other moisture control measures. Is that a common thing in your area? Because of the climatic extremes in our area we are always dealing with either high moisture or low moisture. There doesn't seem to a middle ground for us. As far as your rock work I fine it wonderful. I personally split granite and have done several houses this way. But would love to have limestone stone to work with just one time. Granite doesn't lend itself to fast construction so I limit it use to short walls of not over five feet. In addition I use a very dry 50/50 mix that I pack the split rock in with. We are planning our up coming home. I plan on building a net zero structure. The rock work I have planned will be on the inside and will be used for thermomass heat sink around a wood stove. I used this building method on our first home back in 1976 and it worked fantastic. Even in -30 plus temps the brickwork would hold heat all night long. The dog cats and kids would sit on or next to it all the time. Keep up the fine videos.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Hi David... thank you for the kind words and all the great info! You didn't mention what the basement wall was made of that failed... but I bet it was made of cinder-blocks. Early in my career before I ever started my own business I witnessed a block basement fail when being back-filled... That swore me off of block basement walls and I've used nothing but poured concrete or ICF's (which is also poured concrete). Yeah, no sand here... just clay and rock. This particular frame wall was under a porch, never to get wet. It is pressure treated 3/4 plywood and we put a coat of sealer on it as well. This was my own home and I never had a problem with it. I struggle a lot with products like tar paper... always getting torn by the stone it seems... I have had some luck with high-tec sprayed on rubber type products. Thanks for the compliments about the stone... it's all sandstone salvaged from an old barn ( a lot of them had fossils embedded)

[@davidmicheletti6292]

Handmade Houses with Noah Bradley Yes indeed the wall was concrete block without any reinforcements. On our last home I had our block layer place pilasters every eight feet. These were located on the outside of the foundation wall and were filled with rod and concrete. It worked very well for us. Like you I would prefer ICF walls and will use this for our net zero home foundation. Our last home will be mostly a one level place, with the master bedroom on the main floor. My spouse has some health issues and everything will be built to accommodate her. In as much as this will be my last home I'm planning on redundancy in every part of the house. When I'm gone she will not have to worry about furnace failure of anything like that. There will be two sources of heat plus the fact it's is net zero. During a long winter storm she will be protected completely. I have a shallow well on site already but will also have a deep well for her. The small well will have a small hand pump. As far as the electrical supply I plan on backup generator. That is a project in the planning stages right now. I have several generators and will have a provision for their use. But I'm also thinking about an automatic generator. Again this is for my wife so she will not need to learn about using portable generators. Because there is no basement I do plan on building a ICF storm shelter as a walk in bathroom. If I wrap the outside of the house I prefer tar paper over the newer materials. I've stripped the walls of hundred years old tar paper wall and the wood was like new. The main issues was around window openings where there was leakage. The new window pans should deal with this problem. I have no experience with the newer paint like applied wall sealers so cannot give you any feed back. I have been collecting timbers for ten years now and will need more to be sawn in the near future. I also may use your slab log wall construction in a few places. We are also planning on building a tiny home for our son. Because of his health issues I'll need to build this around his needs. I really love the small size of your homes. He was a biochemist and I want to incorporate a small shop for him to work on small projects. Self esteem is Vidal for him and this house needs his fingerprint on it during construction. Oh one more thing!!! I didn't realize the plywood wall you built was treated. Great way to build! There will no issues in the future with this wall. Not often you see builders take their jobs to the next level. Thank you.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

You have given you home a lot of thought... with some really great innovations... a tip of the hat to you... some really good nuggets of wisdom. Thanks for the compliment about "taking it to the next level". I have over the years looked over so very many old structures seeking to understand why they survived... the one common thread that they all share, regardless of the methods used in building them... they were all over-built. They used the best materials available and they didn't scrimp with it being engineered to just barely "good enough". I used tar paper myself for decades... I think what made me switch to the higher tech materials... was that the quality of the tar paper I was able to get dropped off significantly... at about the same time the newer options got a whole lot better.

[@CliffsideStables]

You are so right...I want the primary living areas on the same level. The "view" should always be unencumbered...no view of our "stuff".

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

I am thankful that I've had a wife who has always kept this old builder in line with regard to his "stuff"... everything in an attractive outbuilding. lol I have been to some folks homes where the house was gorgeous, the view was incredible... but between the house and the view was best described as a salvage yard. Of course that is to be expected during construction...

[@JoshuaCussins]

Great insight 👍

[@ser7ser7i]

Thank you

[@jmonge1]

very good video

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thanks!

[@gomertube]

Great insights, Noah. Thanks.

[@gomertube]

The multi-level home can be very beautiful but all those stairs can really get tiresome. I am trying to avoid having more than a single level in my design.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

It is a HUGE challenge to design a single story home as attractive as multi-level home. Every attempt that I've made when trying to design one has looked like a brick rancher upon completion. I was raised in a brick rancher so I'm not putting them down in anyway. I have had a lot of requesst to build and design single story homes over the years... I mean who really likes stairs?.... but it's a major challenge.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you! I'm glad to hear you found it helpful. (the artwork admittedly could have been better... lol)

[@gomertube]

Hmm. That gets me thinking. I wonder if a dog trot appeals to my eye because it moves two levels to just one while creating an interesting and functional spatial gap ---the dog trot---between the two opposing units? Whereas a balcony breaks the space between units in the vertical dimension the dog trot puts the break in the horizontal. Or something like that. I'll have to ponder this some more. (And your artwork is perfect! Simple is often better).

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

:) thanks for the kind words about my artwork... I have braced myself for a barrage of insults about it... but so far everyone has been very kind... whew!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

There are other benefits to building a home on the downside of our valued level spot of land... One is that we tend to end up with a more attractive home (often many will focus on making the side of the house with the porches attractive and neglect the back... while here we have two sides of the home that we want to be appealing.... heck, if we've gone this far we might as well make the entire home attractive... from all sides!) And another benefit would be soccer ball preservation... how many "out of bounds" balls will be stopped by a house on the downhill side? not to mention arguments about who's turn it is to get it :)

[@ahmedriyadh7520]

Thanks for the easy explanation 👏🏼

[@catchnote2]

extremely helpful video tks

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad it helped! You're welcome!

[@jessicapinto3817]

These are really great tips and love the stick figures 😄

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

LOL, thanks Jessica!

[@NoNopeAndNo]

Excellent

[@laurasmith988]

good one!!! Great tips. I grew up in a 3-story house and I don't want that for my retirement home. I will have multi-level, but everything I need will be on the main floor. I love the home that you featured in this video. I have seen this one before and it's beautiful. One of yours, I presume. Great job.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you Laura. You are correct that is one of the homes that I have built... she has a copper roof, redwood siding, a stone chimney, a timber-frame structure... and a walkout basement on a sloped parcel of land... and parking on the main level of the home, (not where I am standing to take the photo. )

[@richdelgzz]

Our home is built on the downside of the slope. Stairs up to the 3rd floor or down to the basement.

[@miguelpulido558]

Very nice,,

[@Sam-w9des]

how much of a slope is too much of a slope?

[@Lawman212]

Very good advice! I appreciate the video.

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Thank you!

[@toddperry9860]

Great advice!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Glad it was helpful!

[@treylem3]

great great advice. Thank you

[@tlockerk]

With my Mother and Grandmother over 80 and 100 years, I'm certain I'll be minimizing ALL staircases with an eye to the future. Even healthy aging is hard to pull off in a "Familiy Home" if all entries require stairs. Just thinking ahead.

[@trumpdonalds2024]

Totally appreciate this. Great Insight indeed.

[@TheMrslthompson09]

Can you build on a slope parcel of land backs to a creek and doesn't have much front space ?

[@theflangdude]

this was great, but what if i have a up hill slope and the there is no road to the top?

[@bossbabeblue8942]

Idris Abdullah you need to build a driveway.

[@rasalanka6069]

tx dear this so useful. even i am planingto build home in a slope area.

[@profhannigan]

I'm interested in joining the guild, but can't afford the one off payment at the moment. Was happy to see you do a 4 payment plan to spread the load for folks like me but it's $291 more to do it that way. Disappointed that i'm being asked to pay 50% more just because i'm on a budget.

[@inthegarden6556]

Great idea! I love your cabins I wish I could build one like those on my property. Do you design passive solar cabins like the ones you're building?

[@curtissharris8914]

Now days you can buy a nice lift for 10 grand a better one for 20

[@ziggarillo]

Only two flights of stairs

[@sweetkellymay]

5:16..A three story house only has 2 flights of stairs....

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

You are correct! I can build a house... for sure.... but when it comes time to get in front of a camera and speak it's not uncommon for this old man to make my share of word fumblings!

[@1KnowWearMan]

@ 8 minutes in you show a home on beautiful hillside. What state is that in? Thank you!

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

Virginia

[@carrollcorbin123]

All my 45 years of construction I've never seen anyone Place Rock directly onto plywood it will start rotting immediately

[@HandmadeHouseswithNoahBradley]

There is more than meets the eye here... Pressure treated ply which then was double-seal coated to prevent or forestall the rot you describe.

[@maintagodisah3829]

ok.

[@mikebordonaro3123]

I took him 10 minutes to say what he could have said in 2!

[@wittttttt]

7:40 Agree. People are so soft nowadays... ughh...