Quick Wofati Question

I've been taking a look at the $50 and under book, and I'd love to eventually build a wofati house on my land.  I do have a question that I can't seem to find the answer to, though.

I read through both the original designs and the flatland designs, and I much prefer the original, hill-inset design, but I'm not sure my land is hilly enough.  Does anyone have a rough estimate of what angle of incline is needed for this design?

Thanks!

well something to keep in mind is that you can create a small hill, starting from ground level up. or by digging down, what comes out of the hole can go back in the backfill around the edges to build up a hill. this will take many many many truckloads and sessions of earth moving, or even importing sand/gravel/earth

I know I don't have enough topography to do any earth-sheltered building without bringing in dirt. My land slopes 5 feet of elevation over 1000 feet of distance.

You may have to bring in dirt to make a hillish area, but if you have 1000 feet of distance on your land, you have enough space to dig a pond and make the spoil into a hill.

Glenn Herbert wrote:You may have to bring in dirt to make a hillish area, but if you have 1000 feet of distance on your land, you have enough space to dig a pond and make the spoil into a hill.

That's partly what I have been doing. I'm finishing up an on-grade root cellar/basement that is bermed with a mix of on-site diggings and boulders along with trucked in gravel and sand.
My longer term goal though, is to build a small earth-covered home, so there may be another pond necessary.
Whenever I see topography in my travels, I'm imagining how much easier my goals would be with just one nice little hill on my land.

Okay, I've done some digging (ha) and found the state surveyor's topography map.  I do have some areas that slope about 25 feet over 1000 feet, but not very many, with most of my slopes being around 10-15 feet over 1000.  I guess that means bringing in dirt or digging a pond, then?

Jay Baker wrote:Okay, I've done some digging (ha) and found the state surveyor's topography map.  I do have some areas that slope about 25 feet over 1000 feet, but not very many, with most of my slopes being around 10-15 feet over 1000.  I guess that means bringing in dirt or digging a pond, then?

That sounds encouraging. If you can find a decent sized little bump where you want to build that'll make the job a lot easier. Is there access for a dump truck to your desired build area? That would be good too.