Building on a Hillside Video Series | Part 2: Foundations

In part two of our series on how to build a home on a hillside—we tackle the most important step of any new home build: the foundation. In this episode Orange County-based custom home builder—James David Lepak shares the steps that can be taken to protect a new home built on a cliff, slope or in this case a canyon side from erosion, landslides and earthquakes. Be sure to check out our previous episode where we talked about erosion control and grading, and our next installment: Framing on a Hillside.

Home Specs:

1200 square feet
5 acres
45% grade
5 sets of retaining walls
770 linear feet 6 feet high
80 caissons
550 feet of grade beams
90 feet of retaining foundation walls 25 feet high

[Ninjump]

The degree of difficulty is just astounding to me as a new residential builder. You gotta have a well developed team as you say before attempting something like this. Bravo! 👏🏾

[StillAliveAndKicking_]

Impressive. There are videos on YouTube of houses built on a steep hillside with a simple foundation a foot deep. I prefer your approach.

[katehamborg]

Great job on this video! I've always been concerned about homes on the side of a cliff and it's great to know what you can do to keep your home safe.

[angeloc]

This seems affordable. LOL - good video…thanks for sharing!

[AlaBnt]

Very smart and so perfect.this will be good in Africa too.am interested it's for tourists proposes in a village near a river.am so interested

[MSFSUpdate]

What's the price for single family home foundation on hillside about 45 degree angle? home is about 1700 sf

[crazyhawaiian]

How much did the foundation cost? And what was the total construction cost?

[elmedia]

I. The end the foundation will remain, but house will end up at the edge of Arizona!

[almeal]

That's ridiculous bro how much was the whole foundation ?

[kahai]

How expensive is this kind of project? (Just the leveling and retaining wall part)

[maxgodpill]

Good stuff! 🦾 What about building in Hollywood Hills / Birds Street luxury home with a 45 degree gradient / slope? Let’s say we need 60-100 caissons going 50-60 feet deep, 1 acre land (bought for 3M) and 12000 sqft living space, 60 foot infinity pool, massive driveway to park 10-12 cars, deck around 7000sqft, top on the line amenities, flooring and materials, and tennis court built on the leveled slope? What’s the total cost and also average cost per caisson? I’m thinking 8-10M (3M land + 5-7M construction), I’ve heard 20-30K per caisson cost with a good GC, thoughts?

[edwinbab]

In so cal Building on a land for sale how do I know is it worthed nearby there home s built