"Mark Hopkins" wrote in
:

Thats more $$ than I have in my whole shop! Is there some reason why
you must have such a beefy footing?

John lives in Northern California earthquake country, as well as in an area
with somewhat expansive soils. Codes take that into account. Even when
we're not trying to overengineer things, new construction, actually
inspected, tends to cost more.

Next time you get to the Bay Area, check out what passes for a $1M house.

Patriarch