building on clay base

[yogamime]

Dear all,
I'm taking the class in March and I know I'm not supposed to buy land before then, but there's a great piece of land in the perfect location for me and my family. It is in SW Ohio, which has a ton of clay. So my question is, can you build a log cabin on clay soil? I know you generally don't build "on" the soil, you build on risers 12-18 inches above, but will clay based soil work? I feel like the answer is 'yes' but I would love to hear from an experienced home builder. Thank you.

Gautham

[rckclmbr428]

Not all soils are created equal, a soil engineer can tell you what kind of clay it is, and what the psi load capability of it is, and then it's just math figuring out the footers

[BoFuller]

We have clay here also. My soils engineer said I had to dig through it, which ended up being 4 feet. I would have considered a full basement if I knew that. By the way, I'm originally from Ohio and am very use to that clay.