Jack Banks wrote:Land is located just to the north of Oklahoma City. It can be extremely hot. It's not uncommon for Summer highs to get above 110. It can be dry or very humid, or in between. An average Summer is highs around 100 with lows in the 90s.
The soil here is clay, so it makes going underground risky. Very few people have basements, and many if not most of the ones who do don't recommend it. There are very few companies willing to do basements in this area, and the ones who do take all kinds of special measures, and even then it's controversial.
I'm wondering about straw bale houses. Could a properly built straw bale house stay comfortable in the Summer?
I you are into doing a basement in clay, there is a way to do it. First you needs to consider what is the highest strength form for cement which is what you will need to make it from. The strongest form in existence is a sphere, but of course, who is going to build a spherical basement? so an approximation to a sphere would be a cylinder. A cylinder is a great form of great strength. YOu could do this but if you try it, you need to build it with greater footing because of the clayiness. Another approximation, in fact, incorporated with the second strongest form: a triangle, you can build a six sided hexagon with with internal partitions that create six actual triangles (cut the center parts out and you have a middle room for watching TV or playing chess). This is IMMENSELY strong, cool in summer and easy to heat in winter. Put styrofoam on the OUTSIDE after the cement has cured and fill it back up on the exterior with some gravel and soil. Also, you should paint the exterior with a waterproofing like tar or special painst. Continue with cement above ground as far as you like. It is relatively cheap, basically storm proof and paint it white which reflects heat. Paint the roof white and you will have much cooler inside. follow the other ideas about placing windows on north side, etc,
