Customer Reviews

The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read through the first chapter on Amazon and was absolutely sold on the idea. Subterranean housing is vastly more ecologically compatible than surface dwellings; it can even be environmentally regenerative. But the book's last chapter was a crushing blow; the designs and methods Oehler suggests are not compliant with the Uniform Building Codes.

If you do your best to play by the rules in life, this book will have to be set aside. It's thought-provoking reading, to be sure -- not to be missed. But before you can set out into the wilderness and build yourself an inexpensive answer to today's housing problems, you'll need to socially-engineer a way around civilization's permit/inspector traps. The author proposes a few far-fetched possibilities, e.g. getting a code variance, getting an underground code amendment. Basically, the only real options are: either move to an area with NO building codes (Oehler himself admits there are almost none left), or hide your construction -- and this entails forgoing utility hook-ups, since meter readers apparently double as spies for the housing board, looking for unauthorized renovation/building projects.

Being an outlaw is not my cup of tea. Nor does it suit the mainstream. So perhaps this book's main function, after showing us how inexpensive housing can be, is to wake us up to a harsh reality. Housing boards, composed largely of members of the building professions, "have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. In other words they are not likely to take a cheerful view of any system which cuts the cost of building from 70% to 90%." The reason houses are so expensive is: the law REQUIRES them to be, and the law is assiduously enforced by the very contractors building those houses. What we need is a uniform building code flexibly oriented around safety and good construction standards, NOT the maximization of revenue to entrenched special interests.

I built the $50 and up underground cabin about 8 years ago. I could not believe it would actually work but figured I was not out much if if didn't.

Well, I'm still here and so is the cabin.

Problems - a few. The need to learn about and stand up for your God Given Rights to provide shelter for your family? Yes. It is necessary. I prefer to fly under the radar, not flaunt it, post $5000 per day land use fees for trespassing officials and the like as well as use Mikes ideas and stay away from the power company. We are totally off grid and don't even notice when the local grid goes down several times per year.

Following Mike's information and related videos tell you most of what you need to know to be successful. The farther you stray from his guidance, the more problems you may have.

He now recommends EPDM as a membrane and it is a very good choice, but.... good ol' polyethylene will get you by if you can't afford it. I recommend the post on a couple inches of concrete with a steel pin in the center with a plastic vapor barrier under it. Pier size as needed. I agree that you don't want the preservatives in your living space, but the charred post in plastic did not work for me. Those rotted in a few years but the posts on pins as mentioned show no deterioration.

If there is any chance that moisture may be a problem, I recommend the French drain option also to help remove moisture that may get in.

Expand the umbrella part of the membrane ten feet or so past the house perimeter if possible for a drier shelter.

[...]

I hope yours is successful too.

I first purchased this book about twenty years ago, then lent out my copy and have been without it for five years or more. Having recently bought a new copy, I have just finished re-reading it once again. I find the author's ideas to be intelligent, logical, and revolutionary.

His personality comes through strongly as he is a man who is not afraid to state his opinions. I find this book to be an interesting read for this reason alone, but strongly recommend it on the basis of the building system he outlines. He explains to the reader, in simple, easily comprehensible language, just how to go about building a warm in winter, cool in summer, low cost home, that is easy on both the eye and the environment.

A huge advantage is that a person living in such a home doesn't have to look at neighbor's homes, and, for their own part, is residing in a home that blends in with the surrounding countryside. If, by good fortune or good planning, one lives on enough acreage that viewing a neighbor's house is not an issue, there is still the benefit of having the home tucked away out of sight, part of the earth around it.

Having never been the type to build a "impressive" home, I am more intersted in staying out of sight and being left alone. I enjoy the woods and wildlife. Mike Oehler shows us how to build a home that lets me do just that.

This book is excellent. I've wanted a copy for years, but now-a-days, it's very hard to find. I recommend it to everyone, provided you keep in mind the circumstances of rural Idaho. One person noted with horror the keeping of loaded guns (can be seen in the background of one of the photos). Don't forget Idaho
is bear country. And there is a bit of editorializing, but rural folk do that; you get used to it.

I don't fully agree with the earth flooring, unless you were really trying to economize. Rather, I like the idea of laying down plywood under the carpeting, but not nailing it down - it's still moveable if you need to reach your piping, and it can move with the house if it shifts, but there's less settling than carpet/earth. I can't believe carpet/earth doesn't become lumpy eventually.

The one thing missing (maybe it'd be better in another book), is a biography of Mike. How did he come by his acreage in Idaho. Did he spend all his money on land and have none for a house? How did he survive all these years, farming/hunting? A person still need cash for taxes and such. His books and his lecturing brings in a little money; does he do anything else? I'd be interested in knowing how to start a lecture circuit, or self publish a book. I think there's an audience for this kind of practical information.

I bought this book in 1978 and was absolutley facinated and somewhat skeptical. These homes are everything the author claims. (Built one in 1980-81) The biggest problem was with inspectors as Mike said. With very little mechanicle skills you can have a practical, spacious and livable home. Looking forward to Mikes next publication!

I was amazed by this book. Not only does it provide plenty of details, but it is easy for anyone to understand.

Some other reviews comment on some of Mike's opinions. You have to remember, the world of the 70's was a lot different from today. No Political Correct bull! It was common for national magazines to get off on the ranting of the turbulent times. This doesn't distract from the book though, and I personally think it adds a bit of character to the book.

If you have ever thought of building an underground house, or getting away from the commercialism in modern society, this is the book for you. This is a must for the homesteader's library.

If I could ask for other things in this book, it would be a bigger description of the newer building methods in the update section. Also, some more three dement ional drawings of the inside of the houses. You can figure out what's going on but sometimes you have to study the perspective drawings and pictures a bit. I agree with another reviewer, a biography would be nice.

Great book, you will not be disappointed!

I liked the book, and learned several things about unanticipated details. In Texas and other southern regions, though, Mr Ohler's self-imposed restriction of "No Concrete" is unproductive. I am still looking for the "perfect" underground home book.

This book is phenomenally wise, useful, easy to read, and plain inspiring. I picked it up this morning intending to get back to it tonight and ended up not putting it down at all.

I have bought and read a number of underground building books as well as log cabin books, and would sort them into three categories:

A Expensive log homes for the really rich

B Moderate earth-covered (not quite underground) homes for the middle

C This book, for those who truly want to integrate innovation and low cost with deep Earth comfort and resilience and all the good stuff that goes with it.

This book, in short, is in a class of its own. Most will notice that it was first offered in 1978. As the USA goes through a major financial crisis that proves nothing has changed--Wall Street and the two "parties" it has bought down to their lost souls are still here, still looting the commonwealth--this book proves that it is timeless.

There is indeed a great deal of land across this great country where one can still afford to "dig in," and this could not be a better time to be thinking about renting what you have now in the close in fragile areas, and setting up alternative housing with adjacent land for a basic Life Garden.

As I went through each chapter I found the list of materials, the prices, the diagrams, and the text all coherent, concise, and totally "on target." Black and white photographs throughout, and a handful of color photographs in the middle, round the book out.

The book ends by discreetly recommending a tape series on design as the key element for success, and one that professional architects generally overlook (as we are all learning, the "experts" in finance and other areas are really "credentialed" but NOT experts).

I LIKE THIS BOOK. As an afterthought, it is recommended by just about every major alternative living, green energy, and sanity outpost (Vermont, Oregon, Washington State) reviewer. This book is a "good deal" and inspiring to boot.

Mike is an original thinker/curmudgeon. Everyone interested in building with natural materials should study his ideas. His DVD set is more complete than this book and incorporates 25 years of experience building this way. Get them both. The only other natural material, owner-builder books of this profundity are: Ken Kern's "The owner built home" and the gorgeous treatise on building with cob, "The hand-sculpted house." Most people would do well to combine techniques and materials to fit your site, materials available and tastes.

Mike Oehler has created a visionary style of underground architecture that is unparalled to any before him in this timeless book. Recently I met Mike and we discussed the advantages to living underground and also the problems. Mike has now lived underground in his self made house for over twenty years. He is a brillant man that lives a simple life in a very much confused world. He is currently writing a book on the approaching millennium problem and how to survive it. I am looking forward to the publishing of that book and hope to see more from Mike. This book is definately worth every penny even if you never plan on building underground, I don't but love the book.