Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #464380 in Books
• Published on: 1994-12-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 148 pages

From Booklist
According to Roy, underground or "earth-sheltered" houses are unexpectedly livable. Judging by his book's attractive pictures, that's easy to believe. The house he bases his point-by-point guide on is indeed a showplace. Its homey touches are just that, though, and Roy's main concern is creating such a house, from drawing up the plans to surveying the site to the actual building. Roy's instruction is insightful and comprehensive; for example, he writes that he has poured the four-inch cement floor over the waste plumbing in all the houses he has built and has had no trouble yet, but he also suggests another strategy for those leery of not being able to get at the pipes in an emergency. Throughout, he covers construction and installation details that are extremely important for nonprofessionals brave enough to undertake building their own homes. Mike Tribby

Customer Reviews

Not as "underground" as I'd hoped
Based on the title and editorial reviews, I was expecting details on building a house which was entirely underground except maybe some skylights and an entrance from above. Rather the book focuses almost exclusively on earth-sheltered houses. That is, buildings surrounded by dirt on two or three sides.

It does provide useful information (and good pictures) for earth sheltered housing as well as a walk through of step-by-step construction of such a house.

The case studies are worth the price
I want to build an underground house. The book is more about mixed underground/earthwood (using stump-like cuts of logs and mortar) construction than strictly underground housing. The homes would not work as bomb shelters; but I don't think that was the intent. Rather, these are low cost (possibly mortgage free), Earth-friendly homes. The author has a website with more information. As a Southerner I was pleased that he included two case studies from the Deep South. One thing I decided after reading his book is that fire ants make a heavier ceiling material desirable because these infernal little beasts can actually chew through materials used in some Northern underground houses.

The title is inaccurate but the book has good content.
The secondary title is much more accurate: "How to Build a Low-Cost Home." The author has great experience constructing earth-sheltered homes. This means digging a hole on flat property, building a box in the hole and piling dirt up against the walls. Mr. Roy gives detailed examples of how a sod roof should be constructed, and what problems to watch out for. In this way, it is like an episode of "This Old House" because you get to see the intimate details of the building construction. The book certainly lives up to the "low-cost" title, because the properties developed in the book were completed by young middle-class owners who could not afford to take out bank loans and mortgages. The author has built many earth-sheltered homes of this sort and even teaches others how to do it professionally. On that note, the book comes from a smart and well-qualified author. Just don't be fooled by the title given by the publishing company