wofati

Hi, I am designing a wofati-type small house. I have some very basic beginner building skills, so I'm keeping it as simple as possible. The ground it will be on is slightly sloped, the question is, should I hire a backhoe to dig out/level where the house spot will be? I know it is not supposed to be an underground house, but I will need to do some digging to have a level spot- advice on how to go about this? I could have the dirt pushed into a pile to later put over the top of the house when I have it built. The concern is that if I do level the spot, it could create a low spot at the uphill side where water could pool- just trying to understand this.

I plan to sink in some poles with concrete to provide structural stability to the (heavy duty) pallets I plan to use as walls. I am considering a half-octagon shape with a flat wall against the uphill side, but it may be smarter to just build a rectangle since I am a beginner.

Welcome Julia I see this is your first post.  I encourage new posters to click on their name in the upper right corner and edit their profile to fill in there location and other details that you will se on the side under the posters name. This avoids having to ask for this information when it is relevant to answering a question.

The W in wofati Stands for Wheaton and his design is on the level with dirt piled on top. Although some of the first ideas was on a hillside with a greenhouse space between the hillside and the house which is an idea I liked.  Without a space in-between care must be given to drainage and moisture barrier.

An early consideration is where the dirt comes from and what equipment will be used to handle it.  As a beginning builder a primary question is how to design a structure and build it to hold up to the weight of the dirt against and above the structure.  So I would ask about that before the detail of building into a hill or mounded separate from the hillside.

A secondary question is , what are you hoping to create and why?
Usage can cause variations in the design.
Since you seem concerned about water do you plan living in it?
Photos help us too, so we have a better understanding of the ground,
Information about soil types helps also.

Structure will be posts, 2X6's and 2X4's for the roof supports. I am wanting it to be either underground or dirt-covered because I am sensitive to EMFs and live in a very remote valley with no nearby cell towers for this reason, as I have serious neurological symptoms when I get near any strong electromagnetic field. I will be living in the structure, and I am okay with it being small because it's just me and I will still be using my nearby camper as a kitchen/office, so the structure will mainly be for sleeping.

I do have a picture of the spot, it doesn't show it real well because it is primarily a picture of my goat, but you can kind of get the idea. The posts can come out (space was originally going to be a garden). Soil type is sandy with a little clay (Colorado red rock desert).