Underground houses?

[ThatPurpleGuy]

For a long time a dream of mine has been to live in an underground house, or in the very least have a garage or something underground. I live in Australia and am fascinated when people, most from the U.S, talk about basements. You guys probably take these for granted but our houses here don't have these and I would just love a sanctuary like that.

I have actually looked around on the net and these do exist, but they are always built by greenies and enviro wack-jobs all in the name of "being green" and all that stuff..I couldn't care less about that. Underground has SILENCE and I have the ability to block out all outdoor noise OR I can have my surround blaring without disturbing anyone. Are there actually coventional type houses (you know ones that don't just function when the sun shines or the wind blows)built underground? I imagine initially it would be expensive but the maintainence would be pretty minimal. No weather pounding it over the years. No heating or cooling costs...Im actually surprised they aren't more common or known about.

For the record, I am not a hermit but I love my own space. I am extremely succepptable to low-frequency noise and living in suburbia, there is alot this. If it isn't some clown with his sub-woofer piercing through me, its the sound a a loud engine or even low flying aircraft. Apart from excessively loud music I accept that other noise is part of life that has to be dealt with. I just find it tough and living underground (or at least having an escape) would pretty much solve my problem.

edit for the narcs. I swear there is the "I could/couldn't care less" guy on every forum

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Cool story bro.

I made an underground house in Minecraft the other day. Then I tried to build a fireplace and the whole thing burnt down. I lol'd.

 

[Lieju]

I'd love to live underground, or at least have a basement. Houses here in Finland usually don't have basements, except apartment complexes, as the buildings are usually built directly on hard rock.

 

[Tekkawarrior]

First of all, can you afford your own house?
Also what do you want from us? help to find something similar or
just discuss where we wanna live in general.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

I'd love to live underground, or at least have a basement. Houses here in Finland usually don't have basements, except apartment complexes, as the buildings are usually built directly on hard rock.

Here I was thinking basement had to do with cold climate..Tbh I don't really know what basements are for. Im sure someone here could enlighten.

If I had a choice of place to live in the world apart from Aus, I would love to live in a scandinavian country, even though you don't have basements

 

[nunqual]

Basements are usually for storage for things like the water heater and breaker panel, or sometimes just for random things you have no use for, but they sometimes evolve into a hangout spot or den. I really don't know that much, I don't have one, even though I live in the U.S.

 

[Wadders]

Firstly, and I cannot stress this enough, you couldn't care less, not could care less.

Secondly, cellars are pretty cool if you dont mind dark and cold and feeling slightly like some sort of caveman. I dont like the idea of a whole house underground though, it would just be so dark and claustrophobic.

 

[thedoclc]

Basements in the US are not universal at all. When I was living in Texas, the soil was too rocky and the land too cheap to justify digging down, so most houses had a Texas cellar (which is like an easily accessible mini-attic.) In New York, where land is incredibly pricey and the soil easily turned, basements are in pretty much every house. It depends on local custom, land prices, soil quality, and sometimes whether or not you want a cellar if you live in tornado country.

I'm sure for the right price, there's a contractor willing to dig down for you in Australia. I have no idea what your zoning laws are like, though.

Good luck with the condition.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

Basements in the US are not universal at all. When I was living in Texas, the soil was too rocky and the land too cheap to justify digging down, so most houses had a Texas cellar (which is like an easily accessible mini-attic. In New York, where land is incredibly pricey and the soil easily turned, basements are in pretty much every house. It depends on local custom, land prices, soil quality, and sometimes whether or not you want a cellar if you live in tornado country.

I'm sure for the right price, there's a contractor willing to dig down for you in Australia. I have no idea what your zoning laws are like, though.

Good luck with the condition.

hahaha its not a condition. I don't think anyway. I just think living underground would just be a very peaceful existance.

 

[Infernostrider]

this is actually a pretty interesting idea... might have to look into this myself too

 

[xmbts]

Well I wouldn't take my basement for granted if it wasn't so flooded and infested with spiders all the time. But I saw some thing on a guy who lives in a decommissioned missile silo which looked pretty awesome.

 

[Layz92]

I believe they are used as disaster shelters and are probably a carryover of root and wine cellars. I am Australian though, so I might be wrong. You might want to having a look at Coober Pedy in Australia or maybe even visiting there. Unforgiving climate but most of the residents do live in mined out houses. The place is famous for it.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

I believe they are used as disaster shelters and are probably a carryover of root and wine cellars. I am Australian though, so I might be wrong. You might want to having a look at Coober Pedy in Australia or maybe even visiting there. Unforgiving climate but most of the residents do live in mined out houses. The place is famous for it.

Yeah, I know about it. In South Australia in the middle of nowhere. They are the more 'uncoventional' or 'gimmicky' type house that come up when you do a search. Even though they are able to be lived in, they don't live with all the amenities. I want to see an average type house, in a city or surrounding area where I could still have internet and all that. Just think of a normal house with no windows.

Come to think of it, you could actually create your own windows by having some sort of image or video represent an outdoor setting of your choosing. You could have rainy, stormy weather or even snow. The possibilities could be endless.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I'm a hobbit. I'd build a hole for you, but I'm afraid I'm in the midst of my 5th breakfast.

 

[Lieju]

Here I was thinking basement had to do with cold climate..Tbh I don't really know what basements are for. Im sure someone here could enlighten.

It depends a lot on what kind of ground you are building whether or not making a basement is easy, and the hard rock is covered by only a few meters of soil in most places here in Finland, except for where the last ice age formed ridges of sand and rocks.

But if the building is large, they often dig a basement, since they can sell the gravel, but when making a small house, it's usually not worth it.

In the olden times, basements were also places where you'd keep stuff you wanted to keep cold.

 

[Gilhelmi]

Build it.

1. save money on heating and cooling. I do not care about the hippies, you can buy more games with that money.
2. storm protection. Oh, your neighbors are hiding in the closet? HA, we are still playing our games.
3. It is very quiet. Oh yes, the silence is glorious.

If you have the time and the money, build underground.

 

[ThatPurpleGuy]

Build it.

1. save money on heating and cooling. I do not care about the hippies, you can buy more games with that money.
2. storm protection. Oh, your neighbors are hiding in the closet? HA, we are still playing our games.
3. It is very quiet. Oh yes, the silence is glorious.

If you have the time and the money, build underground.

You sound like you speak from experience. Although weather isn't really a factor here I can see some places like in the U.S where you guys get tornadoes so why isn't this more common?? Is expense a factor? I also guess that soil or ground type is a big factor as mentioned above...The impression I get here is that these tornadoes are a pretty common occurance in the same areas over and over, yet I keep seeing the same flimsy timber houses demolished to pieces. Underground houses would make this a non issue.

I am renting now and do save quite a bit as I live on my own. I have just never seen these(in suburban form anyway)built anywhere. If possible, this is something I could truly works towards.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

I just love that he said the underground house was "a dream of mine"

 

[smithy_2045]

One little thing.

Wouldn't living underground be worse for low-frequency noise?

 

[Gilhelmi]

Build it.

1. save money on heating and cooling. I do not care about the hippies, you can buy more games with that money.
2. storm protection. Oh, your neighbors are hiding in the closet? HA, we are still playing our games.
3. It is very quiet. Oh yes, the silence is glorious.

If you have the time and the money, build underground.

You sound like you speak from experience. Although weather isn't really a factor here I can see some places like in the U.S where you guys get tornadoes so why isn't this more common?? Is expense a factor? I also guess that soil or ground type is a big factor as mentioned above...The impression I get here is that these tornadoes are a pretty common occurrence in the same areas over and over, yet I keep seeing the same flimsy timber houses demolished to pieces. Underground houses would make this a non issue.

I am renting now and do save quite a bit as I live on my own. I have just never seen these(in suburban form anyway)built anywhere. If possible, this is something I could truly works towards.

Ya I do. I live in tornado ally, and while we are only on the edge (mostly protected by the shadow of the Rockies) we get 2 or 3 tornado warnings a year. Living in the basement, I do not worry about leaving one ear open for the weather radio.