Underground House~ want your opinion

LakeTahoe said:
COOL!!! I gotta come and VISIT! :giggle:

Sound like a great house to live in! AWESOME! Make sure ya get plenty of pictures! :)

So have a happy moving to a new home!
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Lake Tahoe..
err, Rebelgirl mentioned ME... not for everyone.. LOL
I recommend read it again "ga" who is.. it's me!
:giggle:
 
Thanks, Reba, for the expanded explanation of lowcountry.

Rebel, congrats to you! Hmmm, do you know what material the actual roof is made of? I would imagine it is cast concrete and then the dirt placed on top. You mentioned windows which is good and critical. When you go thru the house, get an over-all feeling for it. Some earth-bermed homes, depending on design CAN be depressing, give you that closed in feeling. It should be airy and bright (bright colored paints, lighting, etc). Also critical is the eaves in front. If it was done right 20 years ago, a measurement should have been taken then to determine how far out the eaves should be for your immediate area. The result of this measurement/engineering to determine how far the eaves jut out will be based on the sun. You want the eaves to block out the high summer sun but not so far out that the eaves block out the low winter sun when you want heat gain, yadda, yadda, yadda. Some of these homes can be really air-tight but the house needs to re-fresh the air several times a day for safety. If the balance was struck right 20 years ago, you might be able to toast some bread and the house is warm, lol! You should have really low utility bills. Maybe ask to see the history of the utility bills for a year or two.

I better stop here, lol. U just do/feel/determine what is right for you and your family by touring the place and ask a few critical questions. Best regards in this new venture!!
 
i don't know too much about "underground houses"... but i lived in a basement apt and so did my sister... NO LIGHTS... AND ALSO OUR FOOD GOT MOLDY VERY FAST! :ugh: and also it is VERY BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH... because you "breath" in the "basement air" that is moldy and all that...

i got sick a few times from it... it is NOT WORTH IT... but if this house is checked throughly, built very well to prevent mold, etc... then go for it!!!

lastly, do you "care" about sunlight? cuz i do... i must have LOTS OF LIGHT/SUNLIGHT or i get depressed...

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK on your first new home though!!! :thumb:
 
Tousi said:
Thanks, Reba, for the expanded explanation of lowcountry.

Rebel, congrats to you! Hmmm, do you know what material the actual roof is made of? I would imagine it is cast concrete and then the dirt placed on top. You mentioned windows which is good and critical. When you go thru the house, get an over-all feeling for it. Some earth-bermed homes, depending on design CAN be depressing, give you that closed in feeling. It should be airy and bright (bright colored paints, lighting, etc). Also critical is the eaves in front. If it was done right 20 years ago, a measurement should have been taken then to determine how far out the eaves should be for your immediate area. The result of this measurement/engineering to determine how far the eaves jut out will be based on the sun. You want the eaves to block out the high summer sun but not so far out that the eaves block out the low winter sun when you want heat gain, yadda, yadda, yadda. Some of these homes can be really air-tight but the house needs to re-fresh the air several times a day for safety. If the balance was struck right 20 years ago, you might be able to toast some bread and the house is warm, lol! You should have really low utility bills. Maybe ask to see the history of the utility bills for a year or two.

I better stop here, lol. U just do/feel/determine what is right for you and your family by touring the place and ask a few critical questions. Best regards in this new venture!!
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I think the house has enough air to breathe and there are 4 front windows that we'll be able to look out and the lighting too.


the inside does have some bright colors in there which i hate. but its bright colors though.

the utility bill is very low as what I was told.

and thank you !
 
Rebel, sorry, I should have asked this question first.....just for my own curiosity: Is this an earth-bermed home...meaning the roof is covered with dirt/grass, etc? OR is it a basement home, meaning the entire roof is exposed and is about 6-8 feet above the ground with a front door where you go up some stairs to the door and then go down stairs to enter the home below? Reason I ask this is when I was 2 yrs old, we lived in a basement home(my second description above) for a very short time.

Either way, congrats again.....
 
FeistyChick said:
i don't know too much about "underground houses"... but i lived in a basement apt and so did my sister... NO LIGHTS... AND ALSO OUR FOOD GOT MOLDY VERY FAST! :ugh: and also it is VERY BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH... because you "breath" in the "basement air" that is moldy and all that...

i got sick a few times from it... it is NOT WORTH IT... but if this house is checked throughly, built very well to prevent mold, etc... then go for it!!!

lastly, do you "care" about sunlight? cuz i do... i must have LOTS OF LIGHT/SUNLIGHT or i get depressed...

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK on your first new home though!!! :thumb:
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well I've said several times in here that we do have 4 windows and a side door where it can breathe in and out the kitchen is near the window. the house is not fully underground.. its like half way.. so i think it will be okay.. i love sunlights but i also love living in the woods. living in the woods has always been my thing so i didn't get much lights. where we're moving too is the same thing.. woods, underground and some sun plus windows. I believe it'll work out!
 
Tousi said:
Rebel, sorry, I should have asked this question first.....just for my own curiosity: Is this an earth-bermed home...meaning the roof is covered with dirt/grass, etc? OR is it a basement home, meaning the entire roof is exposed and is about 6-8 feet above the ground with a front door where you go up some stairs to the door and then go down stairs to enter the home below? Reason I ask this is when I was 2 yrs old, we lived in a basement home(my second description above) for a very short time.

Either way, congrats again.....
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its more of a basement home the entire roof shows but the back bedrooms are under the ground our driveway is down hill to the house i'm going to take some pictures today. I'm suppose to meet them this afternoon so you guys will see what i'm talking about. ;)
 
Feistychick, the absence of windows, etc like you mentioned is not necessarily the main culprit regarding the problems. It is most likely due to poor design, especially venting for air exchange........but I know what you mean about the feeling of confinement, etcx but those problems are all easily overcome by proper engineering and design.

Rebel, oh, in the woods? Cool, that's something I can definitely relate to! So I'm guessing you will be outside the city limits and will run the home either totally electric or have propane or both??
 
RebelGirl said:
well I've said several times in here that we do have 4 windows and a side door where it can breathe in and out the kitchen is near the window. the house is not fully underground.. its like half way.. so i think it will be okay.. i love sunlights but i also love living in the woods. living in the woods has always been my thing so i didn't get much lights. where we're moving too is the same thing.. woods, underground and some sun plus windows. I believe it'll work out!
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Yeah it will work out great :hug: , I live in a wooden area my backyard looks like a forest LOL, but love the shade in the back and front yard...IF I need to lay out in the sun, I can lay out on my drive-way while you lay on top of your roof.. :D
 
FeistyChick said:
i don't know too much about "underground houses"... but i lived in a basement apt and so did my sister... NO LIGHTS... AND ALSO OUR FOOD GOT MOLDY VERY FAST! :ugh: and also it is VERY BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH... because you "breath" in the "basement air" that is moldy and all that...

i got sick a few times from it... it is NOT WORTH IT... but if this house is checked throughly, built very well to prevent mold, etc... then go for it!!!

lastly, do you "care" about sunlight? cuz i do... i must have LOTS OF LIGHT/SUNLIGHT or i get depressed...

CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK on your first new home though!!! :thumb:
Click to expand...


:confused: Every houses with basement are common here in Germany. I own the house with basement. I put vegetables in small storage room of 4 rooms basement... homemade jams, vegetables, fruits, drink, etc keep cool longer in the basement. The room must be dark and keep foods longer and health. We have fresh air on the wall between outside and inside to fresh air the basement. We would get warn from health department about basement but they didn´t.
 
RebelGirl said:
its more of a basement home the entire roof shows but the back bedrooms are under the ground our driveway is down hill to the house i'm going to take some pictures today. I'm suppose to meet them this afternoon so you guys will see what i'm talking about. ;)
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I cannnoottt wait to see pictures... :thumb:
 
FeistyChick said:
.....but i lived in a basement apt and so did my sister... NO LIGHTS... AND ALSO OUR FOOD GOT MOLDY VERY FAST! :ugh: and also it is VERY BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH... because you "breath" in the "basement air" that is moldy and all that...

i got sick a few times from it.....
Click to expand...


Really? I used to live in a basement apartment b4 too, and I had no problems with our food becoming moldy fast, even we didn't have enough sunlight in our basement apartment, we did have a couple of windows through, The only molds plms we had was in the bathroom, cause the air filter wasn't working at that time...It's common when there's too much hot steam in the bathroom can cause the wall to get wet and become moldy....I wash it with bleach and had no problem afterwards and we didn't get sick at all either....
 
Leibling, I see you were puzzled about basements in homes. Not all homes have basements. Take California, for example......except for some older homes, there are almost no basements in homes in most of California. Why is this? Because of the earthquake factor, simply and briefly put.....
 
Tousi said:
Leibling, I see you were puzzled about basements in homes. Not all homes have basements. Take California, for example......except for some older homes, there are almost no basements in homes in most of California. Why is this? Because of the earthquake factor, simply and briefly put.....
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True. When we lived in San Diego and Lancaster, CA, we had no basements.

We also had no basements in Pensacola, FL, and of course, none here in the Charleston, SC, area. :(
 
Reba said:
True. When we lived in San Diego and Lancaster, CA, we had no basements.

We also had no basements in Pensacola, FL, and of course, none here in the Charleston, SC, area. :(
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Oh, yeah, Leibling, and areas with high water tables, too. I'm sure there's some of this in some places in Germany and therefore, those homes would not have basements.
 
:nods: my house doesn't have any basement either, so you 2 are correct, there are many houses that do not have basements either....
 
Tousi said:
Oh, yeah, Leibling, and areas with high water tables, too. I'm sure there's some of this in some places in Germany and therefore, those homes would not have basements.
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High Germans demand house/apartment with basement. Basement must be include. I would say almost all houses or appartment have basement including. You feel free to visit google to find out yourself what German house is if you like to if the link, I provide is not enough. Air-raid shelter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .We rented one bedroom in 6 block apartment for 3 years before bought a land to build our house. We (6 tenants) each have own basement.
 
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