DIY earth sheltered house

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New here, saw this forum. We're building two earth sheltered homes (small) using the slip form method for us and mother-in-law and will be off-grid. The roof will be a green roof and the two houses will be tied together with a common root cellar and covered patio area. We've come up with the smallest footprint we can and are sharing laundry room and freezer. We're going to try to make it without a traditional well. We have a year round spring fed creek, super-duper water filter tank (OK for filtering creek water) and will capture rain water and store in cisterns. The floors will be earthen, poured adobe and the interior will have no painted surfaces.

We will be building in Southern Missouri as soon as the ground thaws and hope we can find people interested in this type of building to come help.

We're going to start with the root cellar because we'll be living in RV's and want a safe place to get to in case of a storm. Then storage sheds for collecting building materials we find and buy. Next, one of the cisterns and then on with the excavation. We hope to have 4 walls, a roof and floor done for both houses before winter and we can work on interior stuff this winter and keep going till we're done.

I figured we'd save ramp up time by building them at the same time and save a month by letting both floors cure at the same time. The homes are very close together, 14 - 20 feet depending on where you stand. So instead of looking at this as building two houses, we're looking at it as building one 1,500 sq ft house that happens to have a patio in the middle ;-)

[bighammer]

intresting - good luck

[Rich]

It sounds like you're being sensitive to the environment. Just remember one thing - going completely "green" takes commitment. Just because you put solar panels on a roof doesn't mean you don't have to get up there every year and clean them to maximize their potential (I know you didn't say anything about solar - just an example). And just because you have a "super duper water filter tank" doesn't mean you won't have to clean it every 6 months.
I'm not trying to be negative here. I see it all the time though - somebody puts a grass roof on their house and they think they're doing the "green" thing. But they forget to realize they needed to waterproof it so it didn't leak through and destroy a precious heirloom. Being "green" is more than using easily accessible material (dirt) to build a home. Remember, you still need to live in it and you should be comfortable. Do your research.

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Thanks for the input. We've been walking towards the self-sufficient, "greener" lifestyle for about 10 years and know there is more to it than plopping solar panels on a roof. I agree though, many people think that's all there is to it. The cistern was designed so that we can easily get in and clean it and we use our super water filter all the time and clean it regularly.

Though I don't watch much TV, I watched a "green" show when visiting my parents and it made me so mad I had to turn it off. They only promote expensive items to buy and didn't talk at all about the lifestyle changes, the simple things to do or the maintenance. This is our every day life since we both choose to stay at home full time. It's all day sometimes, but it's a joy to do for ourselves and we really enjoy the work.

I'm not going to say we know everything about green roofs, but have read enough books, visited enough underground homes and talked to enough experts to know we need a water proofing layer. I've also collected seeds that are considered local "weeds" and are low growing so that their roots won't grow too deeply just deep enough, they can tend to them selves (I won't have to water) and I can use them for my herbal preparations and food for the family. I've also verified with a green roof expert that these plants are good selections for earthen roofs.

I hope we build this place strong enough so that it can be passed on to my nieces or nephews and I also hope they will come up to stay with us and learn about the gardens and house - hope they take an interest in it.

[bighammer]

I have a hard time peroid with "Green" - Using NRG efficient products is one thing, but taking it to the next level like mentioned has no intrest to me.

[Don_P]

We've had roofs with a buncha rocks on them for years, grass is no big hill to climb. Wrights design of Menona Terrace incorporated a green roof over a half century ago. A house my sister stayed in in Norway came equipped with a goat for the roof. The word green has been stolen by the same folks who appropriated the word "organic", perhaps the word should simply be "thoughtful".

Think back through time as well. The framing, nails, bricks, mortar, energy, interior plaster and renders for a home came from the site or within a very few miles. There were 2 lime kilns and 5 small iron furnaces locally, they were fired using renewable resources from the forest. One thing I could do nowadays is harvest and replant my forest to make charcoal to replace some oil in the current cap and trade scenario. Those renewable energy sources left these mountains denuded a century ago. Green is not always thoughtful.

I've got no problem with thinking people, they help move the herd. Course it could be the herd is about to move onto my pasture again. I do enjoy seeing different approaches.

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We've got an old book, can't remember the name with the oldest black and white photos of grass roofs (i used green because there is green growth on it) with farm animals on top. Love it.

I don't know who stole the word green, I just use words that are appropriate. We're not part of any group other than just humans. The roof is living, it's green - therefore a green roof. We consider ourselves Mindful and intentionally simple. We are going to heat with wood, but with an earth sheltered house with thick walls and good insulation we shouldn't need much. Plus we have a life time supply of dead wood laying around in the woods and what floods have deposited over the years. We'll never have to chop a tree down for heat, plus there will be enough left over on the forest floor for the life there that uses it.