Earth Covered Building

[Mudfarmer]

Recently saw a dune covered restroom at the beach. Thought that may be a good idea for a low maintenance storage building built into one of my hilsides. Has anyone done this? I'm thinking of planting a cargo container in a trench and covering it over. Any thoughts on longevity of the metal underground? Wrap it in plastic ahead of backfilling? Pour concrete around it? Your thoughts appreciated.
Mf

 

[Groo]

concrete around it would definitely do it, but that seams a touch much. I think if use some heavy duty foundation sealer, that might be enough too. The real problem would be the wooden floor.

The real reason to do earth covered is to protect it from storms, aesthetics, or the insulation properties. A cargo container would last "forever" sitting out in the open without dirt on top.

 

[Mudfarmer]

concrete around it would definitely do it, but that seams a touch much. I think if use some heavy duty foundation sealer, that might be enough too. The real problem would be the wooden floor.

The real reason to do earth covered is to protect it from storms, aesthetics, or the insulation properties. A cargo container would last "forever" sitting out in the open without dirt on top.

And bullets?
Mf

 

[Groo]

And bullets?
Mf

lets not forget EMP and Nuclear blasts too. No good against Zombies though. They already have practice digging out of their graves:confused2:

I'll admit, getting the equipment shed shot up by jerks is a concern.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

The other advantage of subterranian construction is the temperature regulating properties of the dirt... I.e. root cellar.

 

[brin]

You might want to buy a plastic roll used to line the soil in crawl spaces....I forgot what mil thickness it is ..but it heavy stuff and comes in wide rolls...12 ft or more and is not real expensive...then take construction adhesive and apply that to the cargo container and drape the plastic roll over it ..you could do the sides and put it down underneath the container as well...that would have to last longer than you...just make sure to seal all the seams with duct tape or some method...

 

[bcp]

Think big!

Buy a fleet of old school buses and bury them in concrete.

From:
Ark Two Nuclear Survival Fallout Shelter Introduction Page

 

[Mudfarmer]

Think big!

Buy a fleet of old school buses and bury them in concrete.

From:
Ark Two Nuclear Survival Fallout Shelter Introduction Page

Hmmm, about what I had in mind!!
Mf

 

[smiley]

This is also posted over at; http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/243753-root-cellar-building-plans-experience.html and there's other good discussion on the subject at; http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/241591-bomb-shelter-tornado-shelter.html
If you haven't already done so, check out the Bomb shelter /tornado shelter thread in this forum. Some good ideas there and the simplest is to bury a tank or container.
I mentioned in that thread about building a block inground shelter when we had a mobile home in Fla. The photos below show why we no longer needed that shelter. We built the whole house inground. The reason I mention this is that we used a unique (for houses) construction technique and that is that we used bridge decking for the roof. Bridge decking is nothing more that real heavy duty Galvanized roofing that is laid on bridges, roofs etc and concrete poured on top of it. The advantage of it is that it has it's own structural strength. We put steel I beams 4 ft on center and if I remember correctly at that spacing, would carry about 250 lbs. per sq ft.. about double our planned load. We DID NOT pour concrete on top but simply coated the roof with a roof coating, laid a double layer of 4 mil plastic, 4" of insulation board and covered it with a foot of dirt. As far as we know, this house built in 1984-85 was the first time it had ever been done this way and it's still there as good as the day built.

Now after that explanation, I'll get to the point. A friend from Alabama had visited and helped on the house, then went back to Alabama and built a storm shelter/root cellar using the decking for not only the roof but walls as well. He dug into a small bank, framed it with PT lumber, and put the decking on the outside of the walls and roof then used the excavated material to finish mounding it up. It was only about 4 ft wide and maybe 8-10 ft long but with proper design could be done larger. The decking at that time was only about double the price of steel roofing.
It wouldn't work well in a real wet area, but a cheap easy way to consider and one person can do it alone.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

To me the major disadvantage of a house in ground like that would be the lack of windows. I need natural light.

 

[smiley]

To me the major disadvantage of a house in ground like that would be the lack of windows. I need natural light.

Actually it had the best natural lighting of any house I've ever owned. If you notice, The entire south side is windows and the porch is only 6 ft wide, designed to allow direct sunlight in when the sun was low in the winter and then cut it off in early March. All habitable rooms ran the full 24 ft width of the house and had 2 large windows in front. Only the baths and utility rooms behind the bedrooms had no windows. The only heat was a gas brick type heater that we might turn on a half dozen evenings per winter when we'd have several days of cold damp weather. It also was very quiet, easy to heat and cool and no storm worries. One night we knew it was storming because of the thunder and lightning and a 40-50 ft pine tree came down on the right front corner and we slept through it. A tornado had come up the driveway and flattened over 40 of those pines. we had an awful mess to clean up. Finally had the fire dept come and burn them.
We loved that house and wish we could have one like it where we are now, but at 6.5 ft above sea level, I don't think it'd work.

 

[bruce1955]

Put one in 7 years ago, no problems yet. I aluminum cool sealed the exterior and laid 6" of gravel under it for drainage. I finally framed out the inside and poured 6" of concrete on top and then a foot of soil. It stays cool and is a great root cellar. I did put in a small de-humidifier this year which makes it even nicer. After the concrete dried for a few days I removed the interior framing and painted everything bright white marine enamel.

 

[nue2farm]

Iplayfarmer, I understand your wanting natural light. One way of getting it is to install "solar tubes" in areas you want natural light. Just an idea. Have fun and stay safe....

 

[ron45]

The other advantage of subterranian construction is the temperature regulating properties of the dirt... I.e. root cellar.

You got that right. Some folks build houses that way. Add some south facing glazing and you have free heat that stays put. But you have to plan for that in order not to have too much glair from the south side. There are ways to keep the heat from leaving at night.

Ron

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Iplayfarmer, I understand your wanting natural light. One way of getting it is to install "solar tubes" in areas you want natural light. Just an idea. Have fun and stay safe....

I've heard of those solar tubes. Does anyone have first hand experience? It seems to me like something that works great in the store, but after a few years installed the reflective inner surface will get dust or corrosion on it and not work as well.

 

[ron45]

I've heard of those solar tubes. Does anyone have first hand experience? It seems to me like something that works great in the store, but after a few years installed the reflective inner surface will get dust or corrosion on it and not work as well.

In a word Astonishing. A friend had one in a bathroom. The part you saw was maybe a foot or less in diameter and it filled the room with light. I'm pretty sure they are sealed. So the shouldn't get dimmer over time.

Ron