Expert: Stephen Major (Owner--Major Design Group) - 4/21/2007

Question
Michael:  We're preparing to build a home on a saltwater canal in SW Florida.  
Design (which is finished) is single story, concrete block home with 2-car
garage on 6-block stem wall. Total sq footage is about 3800.  Recently
discovered that we have 3 ft of organic muck 2 to 4 ft below land surface over
most of the bulding site.  Cost estimates for "muck-out", regrade and
compaction are running $40K - $45K.  Do you have any suggestions on
alternative foundation designs that might be cost effective in this type of
circumstance and keep me from having to bust the budget before I get
started?  

Thanks.

Mike  

Answer
Mike,

Have you looked into driven piles with grade beams?  You would need to have an engineer redesign the foundation as well as design the pile scheme.  

Whether it's cost-effective depends on the design, soil conditions, and local costs for this work.

--Steve Major