Customer Reviews

The Complete Book Of Underground Houses: How To Build A Low Cost Home

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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 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

If you like underground houses, then you should appreciate the images and plans here. However, the 'how-to' part is very general so unless you know your house building, this book will not help you much in the practical issues of home creation. It will give you ideas and suggestions that you can then use to find a good contractor and keep your eyes on the company you hire. It is very difficult to find books about underground or even earth beamed houses now, which is sad because they can be very energy effecient and lovely. This is a good start and Rob Roy is well-known for his work and his workshops on home building.

Once again Rob Roy has succeded in producing a quality how to book! This book gives clear concise intructions for every phase of building an underground house. This book covers everything from ground breaking (even a few tips on ground aquiring) to earth sheltering! Foundations, walls, roof and support structure, hvac, waterproofing, insulation, everything! It is accurate, well written, anecdotal and user friendly! I have every confidence that anyone interested in the subject of underground housing will benefit greatly from the ownership of this book. Buy the book and start digging!

the book had some good points. I was very dissapointed though. in the description, it describes the two differnt types of underground houses, an earth sheltered house and one that is truly underground. I purchased for the info on truly underground homes, however there wasnt an example of any one building one or how to do so, just the earth sheltered house the author built. If your looking for completly underground, this isnt the book for you. For example the earth sheltered house the author describes in detail wouldnt have the same isues with ventilation that truly underground would have. The summary was misleading and for the price I wouldnt have bought it.

The book gives great details and ideas on building an earth sheltered home from site prep to actual construction. Some of the information is a little out of date but none the less this is a great book and i would recomend it to anyone intrested in earth sheltered or earth bermed homes.

This book came to me in perfect condition and ready for me to read. The content of the book is not only interesting but an easy read. I really felt like the author was talking to me and trying to make me understand the concepts of building an underground house, which I really liked since it feels personable. Even if you don't want to read it cover to cover, it is quite a good reference book to go to when getting more serious about your building plans. This book not only provides informative insight but also gives pictures and models of the plans the author writes about. All in all, I am excited to have this book in my mini library to simply take off the shelf to study on my leisure. Two thumbs up!

There is lots of good stuff on building underground in this book, but whoever designed some of the homes shown inside has no taste when it comes to architecture, so unfortunately I can see a few people being turned off by some the photos, and deciding not to build underground. There are more in depth books on building underground, so don't just use this one book to build your underground home with.