Anyone with knowledge re: borrow pits?

[wifeyandhubs]

A general building question really rather than specifically log homes.

We are going to have to stay in Canada for a few years before heading south of the border to the US of A and have been looking for land for building a home with a view for later resale as per the Skip Plan. As seller finance really only seems to exist in the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia areas (where you would then have to suffer a much lower resale value for the obvious reasons of remoteness/lack of jobs etc) we've been on the lookout for anything elsewhere that is cheap and may be suitable-obviously wanting to understand the implications of the lower price first.

So, we've found this borrow pit out west, owned by the provincial government and up for sale. Seems it was used for the construction of the highway back in 1970-ish. 10 acres, filled in, kind of gone wild and treed over so private. Not really building type trees but it's in a forestry town area anyway. Realtor says just a couple of truckloads of gravel to level things up for house construction.
Obviously we are wondering if there might be any issues with this type of thing before we go any further so if anyone has any knowledge or pointers then it would be very gratefully received!
:)

[Timberwolf]

Never heard of a borrow pit. I'd be concerned with what it was filled in with. Not sure what your budget is, but I'd highly recommend purchasing around the Ottawa, since there is tremendous insulation from economic downturn here, and rural land can be quite inexpensive, while still being within communting distance and near bedroom communities/ammeneties. PM me if you want more details/examples.

Jason.

[wifeyandhubs]

Aha, a Canadian, Good Day! Haha I'm a Brit but I just love those McKenzie brothers...Red Green...Corner Gas...
Actually I had no idea what a borrow pit was until I looked it up, it's a civil engineering term and is just taking whatever material they need from the site rather than trucking it in. Its basically digging up ground to provide fill for elsewhere. I guess it depends on what was dug out and the area it covered. As it's gov owned hopefully correct procedures would have been followed and may be documented somewhere, who knows.
Funny about the Ottawa area, that's the area hubs is trying to escape from lol. Born and bred just the other side of the river from Pembroke, lots of bad memories unfortunately that he would like to leave well behind. We just have a few complications with our situation so are looking at interesting options to see if anything comes off, we would be fine with taking on a site with challenges (I used to live in an area riddled with undocumented mine workings) but want to be fully aware first. I think calling it a pit is a bit misleading too really, it used to be but really it just looks like a regular, lightly wooded parcel of land with a clearing in the middle, def. not the Grand Canyon you expect it to be!
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[loghousenut]

Borrow Pit...

They call it a Borrow Pit because they "borrow" material, usually rock that is easily dug out with a Cat, from a spot that is handy to the road they are building. Some borrow pits can be fairly large areas where a rock crusher was set up and large piles of gravel can remain for decades, but most are relatively small spots dug out of a hillside. You have pulled off the road and parked in a borrow pit more than once thinking it was just a handy parking spot carved out of the bank.

I don't know how they do it in the flatlands, but in the mountains they don't usually have anything to fill in when they are done. Around here the bottom of the pit is level with the roadway. If it was a pit that was dug below grade I would be worried about what was used to fill it in. There could be tons of stumps, old culverts, construction debris, as well as layers of mud and other overburden that was removed from the roadbed because it wouldn't pack right.

How cheap is it and is it situated where it is exactly what you want?

[donjuedo]

Borrow Pit...

I don't know how they do it in the flatlands,

We call them ponds. :-D

[Timberwolf]

Funny about the Ottawa area, that's the area hubs is trying to escape from lol. Born and bred just the other side of the river from Pembroke, lots of bad memories unfortunately that he would like to leave well behind.

LOL, well then. I can see why, my wife's from that area, I think it's as far removed from Ottawa as the moon, but to each their own.

I think you mentioned the east coast... definately an area to consider, close to Halifax is probably a safe bet... wait, on second thought, don't... you might drive the property prices up out there if you build a B&P home, and I dont' want that happening until we get a place bought out there. ;-)

If you like real winters, there's alway North Bay.