Earth-Sheltered Houses: How to Build an Affordable Underground Home (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series, 4)

Let me start by saying this was an excellent book. Well written, to the point, detailed descriptions of what he has done and gives the knowledge to build your own. However, there were a couple things I would have liked more info on. The book could greatly benefit from giving more designs and or blueprints. This is more a guide to teach you how to design your own house rather than instructions on how to build already designed homes. I also feel like it could benefit from a guide section where you simply fill in the numbers you measure to calculate load, etc. It gives you the formulas you need in the apendix, but you will need to know how to do algebra. Having an easy plan/worksheets to assist your build would have been very helpful and cut down on my time (former math tutor) spent calculating my load.

The majority of info in this book applies also to houses which are partly subterranean or even above grade. Lots of information about foundations, floors, walls, roof construction and green roofs. Note that the earth sheltered houses in this book are in general not tucked away in a hill side or something. They're integrated in the landscape, in the soil, but there's not a huge earth load on top of them.The calculations in the book are very helpful when considering timber dimensions, roof load and much more. Don't be alarmed: it's only a small part of the book and if you're really not into numbers, just skip these parts.The writer is highly experienced, having build two houses. He shares his findings and faults with you, which is definitely very valuable. You may be put off somewhat by the extensive use of concrete and synthetic insulation, especially when you prefer natural materials, like me. Still, the book offers inspiration and information and often other, more ecologically sound materials can be used in stead of the concrete and Styrofoam.

Great book for information..but cover & 3 center pages are the only color. All other pics are very old school black & white. So if you are looking for info…go for it! If you are looking for color photos..skip it…

I bought this book to learn about low cost, state of the art, earth-bermed technology. The book delivers on this promise. Anybody considering going this route should take advantage of the author's school of hard knocks expertise. The method described for creating a very strong concrete block wall were especially useful. The sod roof is something I'll have to think about for a while as you give up a lot by going this route in terms of the open airy feel that can be achieved with post and beam construction techniques. Still, what he says (structurally) has merit, though from an environmental point of view it strikes me as a bit "out there". The writing is excellent. The technical details are all there to duplicate what he's done. At the same time he keeps it interesting and the reader engaged. Good stuff.

Really fascinating read, with great comments by the author. Rob Roy even details the mistakes he made building his own Earth Sheltered Houses. Loads of folks may discount this type of housing, thinking that they won't want to be buried before their time! However, the author shows how even excavating as little as thirty inches depth will typically provide enough soil for berming against the three non-south facing walls (assuming building in the Northern Hemisphere), and six inches to cover the roof. The perhaps less obvious benefits (other than saving up to 80% on energy bills) are the protection offered from extreme weather and even earthquake damage. Plus an Earth Sheltered House will be much quieter than a normal surface dwelling.

Everything one needs to know to create an earth-sheltered home, all in one book! The only thing it doesn't cover is working with the building codes and permit process if one wants to have such. From design, to site prep, foundation, floor, external walls, timber-framing, waterproofing, insulation, drainage, living roofs, exterior finishes, and interior features, it covers it ALL! It even goes into the livability and function of such homes. And as a publication of Mother Earth News, it provides a wealth of resources for sourcing materials needed as well. One book - it's all in here!

This book is well written and has a lot of nice glossy pictures to go along with the explainations. The book explains all the aspects of how to build an under ground house. Which is a great concept unless you live in California and have to deal with Title 24 of the building codes which make this type of house just about impossible to build here. Nevertheless I would highly suggest this book for any buildiers library for the chapters on foundations, timber framing .and other aspects of building as they can still be applied to an above ground home as well.

While the author offer a great deal of information on the subject much of this is useful only from an academic standpoint and not so much from a do it yourself one. I love the ideas this thing has given me but I can't help but feel I'd be getting more out of this if I were already a professional contractor. The author has a habit of bogging the text down with too much technical jargon, this might be great for a text book to a class on the subject now that I think about it.It has given me plenty of practical and useful questions to ask both myself and the professional I'll be hiring for the job. Overall not too shabby but not too great either.

I loved how this book gave you practical details and insights that you do not normally get from a technical book. It gave you details about his learning curve from mistakes as he built the various properties. Very well written and worth a read if you want to build your own earth shelter home.

I had rented a bunch of books about earth-sheltered house. It didn't take long to see this one standed above the rest. I barely browsed through and proceeded to order the book. If you're serious about building your own earh-sheltered house, you need to own this book. It covers the process in details, offering various alternatives. However, two of the technics used in this books are only overlooked, as you need to purchase other books that covers the technics in details (cordwood massonery and timberwood framing).Great book. It changed my initial plan a lot. Now I'm leaning toward using the same technics Rob Roy used.

Came quick, author is great!

My personal interest is in building a hobbit style building and I found the construction details within this book very instructive.

If you're considering building an earth sheltered home this is a great book to get your mind thinking. It's not enough to start creating designs or construction specs but it's a good starting point to dig deeper or get you on the same page with an architect experienced in this method of construction.