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The Art of Custom

The Art of Custom

Construction Begins! Dig Into the Groundbreaking & Foundation Process

Jul 14, 2026 · 30 min · 12 segments

In this episode, Kim and Melody talk to Craig Johnson - the Director of Construction for Hibbs in Park City, UT! Craig brings his extensive background with the unique challenges of mountain…

In this episode, Kim and Melody talk to Craig Johnson - the Director of Construction for Hibbs in Park City, UT! Craig brings his extensive background with the unique challenges of mountain foundations while Kim shares insights from the Park City and St Louis markets. It’s one of the first visible milestones in the process, so join us and as dig deep into the first milestone of the custom building process.

In this episode, Kim and Melody talk to Craig Johnson - the Director of Construction for Hibbs in Park City, UT! Craig brings his extensive background with the unique challenges of mountain…

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Speakers: Kim HibbsHostCraig JohnsonGuestMelodyHost

Top entities: Park City×16 St. Charles County St. Louis×15 House Reddit×3

Show signals: SuitabilitySafeBiasNot politicalAudience≈4k followers

Park City vs. St. Louis Soil Conditions4:45 – 7:04

M

MelodyHost

4:45

And St. Louis is a little, not a little bit, but a lot different-

4:48

[laughs]

M

MelodyHost

4:49

... market, right? So, yeah.

4:50

It is.

4:50

It is.

4:50

We, we, we occasionally have to deal with rock, but certainly not like the Park City market.

4:55

We did have a home probably about six, seven years ago in St. Charles County where we ended up blasting that foundation because of the rock that we ran into.

5:04

But generally, in the St. Louis market, we're running into clay or plastic soil, is, is kind of the terminology we use here.

5:11

It seems like it's in about 50% of the builds here.

5:15

And if you run into it, you have to over-excavate, come back in, backfill with rock, and prepare for your footings and foundation.

5:22

Because if you build on that clay, if it, if it gets wet, it expands.

5:25

If it c- if it dries out, it contracts.

5:27

And it can really play havoc with your foundations.

5:29

But different parts of the country have, have different issues.

5:32

For example, down in Texas and Florida, they don't even build basements down there.

5:35

They have their own issues and all.

5:37

So every part of the country, Craig is right.

5:39

What you wanna make sure is you're, you're talking with your builder before the project begins, and talk to them about what are some of the unexpecteds that could come up during the excavation phase.

5:50

Here in St. Louis, we have our excavator put together a mitigation plan.

5:54

And again, most of it here is related to clay or plastic soil.

5:58

We know what the remedy is.

5:59

We have to over-excavate two feet.

6:01

We have to haul it.

6:01

We have to dump it.

6:02

We have to compact rock.

Park CityCityCity in Utah
96%16 mentions
St. Charles CountyPlaceUS county in Missouri
89%1 mention
St. LouisCityCity in Missouri
82%15 mentions
HouseEntitySite listing category
75%1 mention
RedditSoftware ApplicationWebsite
68%3 mentions
MissouriAdministrative AreaUS state
61%2 mentions
UtahAdministrative AreaUS state
54%13 mentions
FloridaAdministrative AreaUS state
43%2 mentions
TexasAdministrative AreaUS state
43%2 mentions
Wasatch CountyPlaceCounty in Utah
32%3 mentions
InstagramSoftware ApplicationSocial networking service
25%2 mentions
Wasatch BackPlaceRegion in Utah
18%2 mentions
Summit CountyAdministrative AreaCounty in Utah
11%1 mention
PodcastEntity
4%2 mentions

ConstructionReal Estate
Site PreparationReal Estate > Construction
BudgetingReal Estate > Construction > Project Management
ExcavationReal Estate > Construction
Project ManagementReal Estate > Construction
FoundationReal Estate > Construction > Excavation
Soil ConditionsReal Estate > Construction > Excavation > Foundation
Building PhasesReal Estate > Construction
Excavation PhaseReal Estate > Construction > Building Phases
Client CommunicationReal Estate > Construction > Building Phases > Excavation Phase
Foundation TypesReal Estate > Construction
WaterproofingReal Estate > Construction > Foundation Types
Thermal InsulationReal Estate > Construction > Foundation Types > Waterproofing
SurveyingReal Estate > Construction > Site Preparation
Building RegulationsReal Estate > Construction > Site Preparation > Surveying
Contingency PlanningReal Estate > Construction > Project Management > Budgeting
Real Estate

Park City vs. St. Louis Soil Conditions4:45 – 7:04

M

MelodyHost

4:45

And St. Louis is a little, not a little bit, but a lot different-

4:48

[laughs]

M

MelodyHost

4:49

... market, right? So, yeah.

4:50

It is.

4:50

It is.

4:50

We, we, we occasionally have to deal with rock, but certainly not like the Park City market.

4:55

We did have a home probably about six, seven years ago in St. Charles County where we ended up blasting that foundation because of the rock that we ran into.

5:04

But generally, in the St. Louis market, we're running into clay or plastic soil, is, is kind of the terminology we use here.

5:11

It seems like it's in about 50% of the builds here.

5:15

And if you run into it, you have to over-excavate, come back in, backfill with rock, and prepare for your footings and foundation.

5:22

Because if you build on that clay, if it, if it gets wet, it expands.

5:25

If it c- if it dries out, it contracts.

5:27

And it can really play havoc with your foundations.

5:29

But different parts of the country have, have different issues.

5:32

For example, down in Texas and Florida, they don't even build basements down there.

5:35

They have their own issues and all.

5:37

So every part of the country, Craig is right.

5:39

What you wanna make sure is you're, you're talking with your builder before the project begins, and talk to them about what are some of the unexpecteds that could come up during the excavation phase.

5:50

Here in St. Louis, we have our excavator put together a mitigation plan.

5:54

And again, most of it here is related to clay or plastic soil.

5:58

We know what the remedy is.

5:59

We have to over-excavate two feet.

6:01

We have to haul it.

6:01

We have to dump it.

6:02

We have to compact rock.

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