There are about two feet of topsoil to be removed from the site and replaced with crushed rock in order to create a finished building pad. If you recall, we knew about this extra topsoil and the fill that would be required to displace it from the geotech (scroll back and watch this if you have not) at the beginning, so we were able to allow for that in our budget.
The pad must be checked for density a number of times during the filling and compacting process – this ensures that the home will not settle as the building process unfolds. When you see cracked slabs and walls in a finished home, chances are this step was either omitted or not performed correctly. It takes time, effort and money to do this correctly but it is critical to the quality of the finished product.
