My typical first house is on top of an indestructible boulder.

Just start by putting a bench by the rock and putting a floor section up high and build around it. Put in corner posts for the roof and you have an early house no one can touch.

Until I summon the electric elk anyway ha ha.

A nice set up really since if you get the bench up against a good rock the roof of the house covers under it for the bench. Also the top of the rock can be used as a fire spot inside for sleep/cooking.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2660632173

As far as hoe use it can be bad. There are "seams" and leveling across them can really get wonky. In the end I avoid use and work with terrain as much as possible. If I flatten anything it is typically for crops or setting up the kiln/forges if needed... and when I do that I try to do it in as few clicks as possible. I found over clicking one area just makes it worse.