Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House For $5,000

Mmm will be careful here, but firstly great thread Grover s+F

When in a year of ,mmm helping out swampy and the like , who some in the UK may remember from the news, I have lived in such places, and also up some trees for a couple of seasons, we had walkways and everything.Many many many moons ago indeed.

I think many people who have only ever lived in a "House" or even "Caravan" be very surprised even in cold Britain how comfortable and snug you can be with very very little normal creature comforts as long as its dry and safe structurally from wind. Clothes blankets and lots of human closeness can keep you very warm!

As an addition to this thread I thought you may be interested in this ATS story, Ive been there and used to know one or two from Tipee valley but it was over a decade and a half ago now...

Secret eco-village tribe living off the grid in wales






Hopefully with the current realisation that most peoples perceptions of the Security and illusion of the necessity of a traditional Mortgage and Job and home as such, is being challenged and taken away from many by the Banking Crisis/rape more may explore this more natural Human existence.

Njoy

Elf.




[edit on 3-12-2008 by MischeviousElf] Oops sorry grover did not see you link to this one but the pics are good anyhow for anyone who does not look at the links.... Any Ats ers down in South Wales anytime u2u me maybe take a Jaunt back up there... can make a mail or two to first, two to 4 weeks notice please, should be cool contacts of contacts from back in the day.

[edit on 3-12-2008 by MischeviousElf]

reply to post by grover


DUUUUUUUUDE.... I want a house like that... seriously...

I would have to start playing WoW again too and have LAN parties there.

anyway... Thats awesome... great find.

Nature supplies us plenty... This is a great idea for everyone, and for so cheap too!

[edit on 3-12-2008 by Odessy]

Originally posted by St Udio
Dennis Weaver's earthship in 1990, up in CO, made all the rage for this type of thing.

i guess because the buckminister fuller geodesic domes got too hippyish


i'm pagan, so all those tires & aluminum cans would really cause me psyche distress... but the thought of ecohomes is a slight bit better than the McMansions a lot of us detest already

thanks for the post

There was a post on one of the do it yourself sites that had plans on how to make shingles from aluminum cans. This was for a shed/dog house/chicken house type thing though. The guy doing this had his dog house go through a hail storm and to his astonishment the stones bounced off without any denting.

Oh here it is.
Make Shingles and Siding From Aluminum Cans






[edit on 12/3/08 by Jezabels Dream]

These are some interesting houses, but I'm more of an underground bunker man myself.

Originally posted by maus80
There is NO WAY I would use straw as insulation, there is a good reason that insulation is fire retardant. I've also seen what happens to sheets of plastic that are exposed to the elements over the years.

I'm sure better, equally cost effective alternatives could be found for those two things, but other than that I like the idea of cost effective, sustainable housing construction.

My first thought when I hit the straw part was, "Wow, this whole house is a fire hazard!"

Maybe that's not a concern for some people, but regardless, I imagine there are regulations and codes that would prevent this sort of construction from being "legal" (whatever that's worth....)

Also, the title seems misleading to me. Ooh, want a home for five thousand dollars? The land alone would cost tens of thousands, I imagine - where I live you might pay millions for a lot alone (but that's just cuz OC natives are idiots...thanks the gods I'm from Minneapolis.) Anyway, my point is simply that you can't just build off the grid for 5K...land alone is going to cost alot, and that's a huge obstacle for most people. I'd be more than willing to scavenge for parts and work my butt off to build and own my own home but its not gonna happen because I have no place to put it! I mean, you can buy some land, but then you're stuck with a mortgage and that makes you just as much a slave as if you bought a cute little house somewhere.


...OK, I just did search for "cheap rural land" and the first site that popped up listed auction properties for anywhere from 3-10K, with down payments as low as $90. I guess that's not so unreasonable ... I'm city folk so I guess I'm used to higher prices. But still, you gotta take that cost into account if you don't own land yourself already.

Originally posted by grover

Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House For $5,000

greenbuildingelements.com

Cash, that most basic element of our economy, can be in abysmally short supply for new young families scraping by on marginal jobs.

Sustainable housebuilding may not be foremost in their minds.

But one young couple in Wales managing on an annual income of just $10,000 went ahead and built their own cheap home anyway sustainably, mostly out of materials from “a rubbish pile somewhere.”

Sustainable design and construction:

1. Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
2. Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
3. Frame constructed of fallen trees from surrounding woodland
4. Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally very easy to do
5. Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
6. Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
7. Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture compared to cement
8. Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
9. Other items were reclaimed from “a rubbish pile somewhere”: windows, wiring, plumbing

There are just a couple of solar panels - just enough for for lighting, music and computing. It’s a simple life. A skylight in the roof lets in enough natural feeling light, and water is fed by gravity downhill from a nearby spring. There’s a compost toilet. Roof water collects in a pond for gardening.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 3-12-2008 by grover]

these people dont have deed restrictions?

As I understand it straw bales are so densely packed that they are not as flamable as you would think. Besides in straw insulated houses the bales are covered with a frame and sheet rock or paneling just like a regular house.

Ok this is a great thread. Let me tell you something I do agree with someone above who said the kids might get hell in school. But if the banks keep robbing the people the way they do you might just see more and more of these types of places pop up from pissed off people who are sick of the status quo. Props to these guys. I personally could live that lifestyle if I didnt have kids.

There was an episode recently of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel I watched where the host went to a "construction" site where they were building houses out of mud, clay, straw, etc. with the surface layers of the houses coated with a layer of cow $#!t. The site they were at was out in Washington state with it almost being like a small community of them being built.

Edit to add: The episode was either the Turkey Farmer episode or the Bio-Diesel-Man episode. One of the two I believe. The episode I had managed to watch was on around 4:00 pm Central time zone on Thanksgiving.

[edit on 3-12-2008 by spec_ops_wannabe]

I'm really digging these houses.
I went to the LAMMAS website, which is the organization that helped the eco village in Wales conquer the evil corporations trying to charge these peoples and demolish their houses.

Anyway, they say they are building more houses, should have started earlier this year...
check out the basic outer designs... looks sick...




Who wouldnt want to live in a house like that?
And imagine having more than just $5k to spend... this could make for some amazing structures... plus the environmental benefits.

Seriously, living in a place like that, drinking fresh spring water and eating your own organic raw vegetables out of the garden etc... sounds like paradise to me...
The funny thing is that this paradise is so easy to achieve, yet for some reason we are still blinded by all these false taxes,rules, and standards made and set by our own govt, keeping us just out of arms reach of that dream.

I REALLY want to do this but dont have the $$ for land. If someone has land I will build them one if they let me build there also. I definatly have the skills to do this. This is so cool. What are the gov. restrictions? Would they have to know?

Excellent i was looking into bau biologie recently and was thinking to post this subject on here and now you have hehehe cheers.

I wouldn't worry too much about what the kid's peers are gonna say. The way they are today you are gonna have that no matter what your status is. Just look around. You have young people killing themselves over things posted on myspace and the like. I say the further you can distance yourself from that kind of culture, the better.

Originally posted by FoxStriker
Here in America, I would have to buy permits that would equal to 5,000 - 10,000. Doesn't exsist except out in the Desert with the Coyotes.

Surprisingly, there are States where you don't need all the permits. My folks have property in Montana and built their own house out there. Not a single permit was required. I'm sure when you really get away from the coasts things become a LOT easier. The downside to living out there is the property prices and the taxes you'd still be required to pay, but my folks weren't required to have any permits to build their house in 2006.

Originally posted by grover
Found a link to an article on the "lost" village.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

And here is the ATS thread link.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

[edit on 3-12-2008 by grover]

There is a guy here in the US that is into underground housing as well
and he wrote a book called Underground Housing from $50 an up.

Guys name is Mike Oehler.

Underground Housing from $50 and up - Mike Oehler

I have wanted to do this for some time, but I have been a slave
to broadband internet.

My house is paid for and I could sell it for decent money and
end up with a good amount to live on if I did this.

It is also my plan if the world ends up tossing me into a survival
situation due to the world going to hell in a hand basket.

They will never allow this practically and philosophically to go mainstream, because:

- as all of us will become self sufficient in food, energy and housing, there will be no need for us to work and earn traditional money. Therefore we will not pay taxes
- as we will not consume manufactured products, will not buy energy products, government will lose their TAX income - that is the greatest fear of ELITE.
- as we will adopt the sustainable thinking we will not fight each other and there will not be wars - that is unacceptable for certain industries.


If all of us would suddenly do this, the government would find a way to force us out of it and make us work and earn money and pay taxes for them.

What they want us to do is to buy so called "eco-products"

Originally posted by shipovfools
I imagine there are regulations and codes that would prevent this sort of construction from being "legal"

I guess the scheme would have been submitted to the local planning authority in terms of the building being a 'temporary structure' making the process of negotiating the red-tape a whole lot easier and simpler. Also the fact that there are no 'adjoining properties' within the vicinity, and from the description in the OP article, is completely off-grid so avoiding the need to comply with all the building regulations regarding grid-tied utility connection.

There are quite a few similar construction projects in the UK that will be only too happy to take volunteer construction workers, previous experience is often not needed, just a willingness to get stuck in and learn on-the-job

Planning permission was refused twice on no grounds whatsoever.

It's a great idea if you live in a hilly or mountinous area, but where I live the land is as flat as a pancake. I would love to be able to buld something like this, if nothing else, as a work shop, or a root celler. (Where I live was swamp land untl one of FDR's alphabet soup groups drained it to make it easier to farm.)

Couple of things to consider:

Straw as an insulator - be very very aware of the mold problems that occur on moist straw. This limits it's feasibility in areas such as the east.

If you are within any municipal border, be ready to be challenged on your septic design. That alone can be a deal-breaker.

Land is/can be expensive. Expect to double your estimate when you add in access roads, etc.

Enclosed, underground structures are very damp. Keep that in mind.