We have gotten our second estimate or preparing the land for building and it is much more reasonable. Sometimes things just have a way of working out and this newest development is further evidence of that. While we were up logging the land a neighbor of ours stopped down to have a chat. He mentioned the name of an independent contractor, S. E. Rodich Excavations, which did road work for the community and also some side jobs for residents. Well we took his advice and Rodich came back with an estimate that was one third the cost of the first! Needless to say we are going with him. 
We also happened to mention to this same neighbor that we had a lot of trees still to cut down and he mentioned that he was in desperate need of firewood. With more than enough wood on our property we struck up a deal. I recently returned from a fishing trip and visit to the property and was pleased to see that not only were the trees that we needed cut down gone but that a simple cleared driveway had been pushed in to help haul out the lumber. This drive is quite useful for us for moving supplies in and out and general access of the site. Things are looking up!

The following link directs to a builder named Jesse Loving that is creating an earthbag house in Belize. The design involves a central courtyard with a doughnut shaped house surrounding it. This is a truly amazing structure and much more complicated that the design that we are going to build. Also different is the fact that they are using the traditional poly earthbags while we will be using the hyperadobe method with mesh tubing. Still, there is a lot to learn from Jesse's project. The gravel foundation and infill will be the same method that we are going to employ and the straight lintels above the exterior windows will be something that I hope to emulate. Additionally this is a round structure just like our plan, except ours lacks the courtyard. Check it out if you are interested in this building method. His albums are a terrific visualization aid for earthbag construction.

Jesse Loving's Picassa Album

So we got our estimation back from the first excavation company and unfortunately they quadrupled our projections. I won't post their name but I found their prices beyond reason. The following is what we had required:

1. Clear and level a 50' x 50' area (tearing up stumps and moving to the side of the property)
2. Dig a 2' wide x 2' deep foundation trench in a 100' circumference circle
3. Put in a 10' x 20' gravel driveway.
4. Deliver 40 cubic yards of compactable soil and 18 cubic yards of stone.

As I previously wrote the land is rather sloped and that accounts for some of the cost. Also the delivery of that large an amount of soil and stone requires arrangements to be made for the large trucks to move onto the property. Still the cost of those materials was outrageous. Quality soil is generally around $20 - $30 a yard. Their cost was around $70. Stone is somewhere around $40 a yard around here. Their price was close to $122! We did not deal with this company on burying the rear of the cabin in the slope since this initial estimate came back so high. 

Unfortunately this highlights the cost of doing business in remote areas. There are less qualified companies available for labor and the delivery of common building materials can be expensive or impossible. We have another private contractor to get an estimate from on May 7th. We'll see what happens but since he is an individual rather than a company I expect a much cheaper quote. Also we are going to contract the soil and stone separately from the excavation. I post those results.