Underground House Review

Hi! I'm so excited in the concept of the underground house and think i can relatively easily execute this project. But I'm wanting to hear from someone besides the author who has had success with it. There should be a lot of you right?! The design is so simple.

So if anyone can give a testimonial that would be great before i commit, and maybe one unexpected challenge they had. I'm planning on doing concrete pillars coming 6" out of the ground to set the posts on.

Building code stuff I don't THINK will be a problem, my house is on a non municipal road in a town of 72, we never have inspectors.. Anyone just do it blind and never have an authority figure wag their finger about it? sometimes better to stay low key right? I already have a house and this would be a backup.

anyway thanks for sending me pictures or links to whatever you all have done so I can feel like this is for real. I looked up underground houses in MN and found nothing like the designs here.

What author are you referring to?  What design?

Will your underground house be like a basement or more like something built into a cliff?

Wofati or earth berm?

From cave dwellers of ancient times, up to some modern houses underground .......   Which design are you aspiring to  build ?

Similar to Anne Miller, more details needed. Here's two thoughts I had just in response to the OP:

1. If code inspections aren't really a thing where you live, that's great because you have more freedom to build in a way that suits your needs, less pressure, etc., but remember that code exists for a reason. There are hundreds of years of safety and building wisdom baked into code. Sure, you can find examples of egregious unnecessary oversteps in code, but most of it is time-tested and hard-earned knowledge. If it were me I would still try to meet or exceed code wherever possible. Besides, one day your locale may become more strict about code compliance and then if you need to do a permitted renovation or something, your existing house might not be grandfathered in, and bringing old stuff up to code is always more of a pain (and more expensive) than doing it right the first time.

2. Building below grade is always harder than building above-ground. Underground you are in darkness, if you want access anywhere you must excavate there, and water will be pressing against your walls with enough force to topple reinforced concrete. Exterior foundation walls are a perennial failure point because you have to excavate further out from them, build the walls, then backfill, and the backfill will never be as compacted as virgin soil, so it will have a tendency to sink over time and create a kind of ditch around the edge of the house, where water will collect and seep down and push against the walls and cause related problems. Personally I would not build below grade unless 1) I had access to a bunch of free or steeply discounted excavating equipment and experienced excavating labor, and/or 2) I had absolutely no choice and needed to build below grade.

There is a critical difference between "underground" and "earth bermed". The latter involves building at grade, then putting dry dirt against the walls and on the roof, then adding an "umbrella" - an impermeable layer or layers that stops any water from getting to the dirt by the roof and walls - and then putting another layer of dirt on top of the umbrella and planting into it to help make sure it stays where it's been put.

In Earth Bermed buildings, the goal is to keep water from ever getting near the walls, so both the house stays dry, and the issue Ned Harr states, "water will be pressing against your walls with enough force to topple reinforced concrete." Most dirt responds to water by expanding. If that water then freezes, water being weird stuff, actually expands even more, causing even more pressure. This is why water tanks intended for above ground use, must not be buried, but you can buy special "underground" tanks that have a different shape and usually a corrugated effect to their walls (and are much more expensive/liter of water).

Yes, there are examples - some very ancient - of genuine underground homes that worked. Unfortunately, much of the knowledge required to do so effectively has been lost. Choosing the exact right spot - right type of dirt, right slope, safe depth - was part of that special knowledge. Climate is everything and we're currently in a period of significant climate unrest and shifting. Storms are getting bigger and more common. Personally, many codes are behind the times, and are a valuable guide of how to get started, I would aim higher than what they state.

There are many forms of underground housing as mentioned, each has benefits and issues.
Can you be clearer about your plans?
Or is it open ended?