Why We BUILT our UNDERGROUND Home ABOVE GROUND

Everything happens for a reason and today we are answering the question "Why did we build our underground dome home above ground?"
PS The flooding was so bad that our county declared a state of emergency!
PSS Those boots in the mud are the best boots EVER!! See our affiliate link below :-)
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✅ TIDEWE Rubber Boots (THE BEST!)
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▬ ABOUT US ▬
We are Rich & Kathie, a retired couple building our dream home: A SUPER ENERGY EFFICIENT OFF GRID earth sheltered home in the Adirondacks!
The house will be covered with about 30" of soil which helps to maintain an internal temperature between 45 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit in winter & summer respectively. This means that in the winter we will only need minimal heat that we plan to provide with a small wood burning stove and we shouldn't need any air conditioning in the summer at all!
With inflation right now, the energy efficiency of this house is a HUGE Plus! But, it also means that we have a super tight budget that is getting tighter by the day. For this reason we DIY everything we reasonably can and find creative ways to save money such as repurposing.
Please subscribe and join us to see how we manage the challenges of staying in budget and exactly how energy efficient this house actually is when it is done!
We appreciate all your support :-)
#undergroundhouse #undergroundhome #flooding
*A Note About Affiliates: This video and description may contain affiliate links to various products. If you click through and make a purchase, we will receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay in any way and we thank you in advance for your support :-)

Пікірлер: 44

  • @RCAFpolarexpress
    @RCAFpolarexpress7 ай бұрын

    Keep Up Your OUTSTANDING work 👍👍😇😇👌👌You Are The BEST HSUBAND AND WIFE TEAM WORK Cheers 🍻🍻

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Thanks my friend! We really appreciate that😁 merry Christmas!

  • @mariannecurl7091
    @mariannecurl70917 ай бұрын

    I was thinking of you two when I heard all the rain upstate NY got.Thank goodness the house and you are ok. Nothing that can't be fixed. Merry Christmas from Baldwin, LI.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Thanks! And we feel fortunate it can easily be fixed. Much better than being flooded 😊merry Christmas in Baldwin! We are originally from bay shore!

  • @mariannecurl7091

    @mariannecurl7091

    7 ай бұрын

    Yes, I know your from Bay Shore. I envy you two for moving off crowed LI. I love your videos and seeing your channel grow.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Awe! Thanks so much!

  • @hansmuller9121
    @hansmuller91217 ай бұрын

    Hello you two, you did everything right with your house, these little setbacks like the mudslide aren't that bad. Apparently you have so much water that you can build a pond on a piece of the house as your next project. That would definitely look good and catching a few fish would be even more fun. We wish you a Merry Christmas and many greetings from the rainy Berlin

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Thank you. We definitely tried our best and feel as though everything can easily be fixed. A pond might be fun too! Merry Christmas to you in Berlin!

  • @aovoonthefarmsouthernillin3687
    @aovoonthefarmsouthernillin36877 ай бұрын

    I have the same door mat. You have good taste. I hope you guys stay safe.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Thanks 😊

  • @deborahwhite2339
    @deborahwhite23397 ай бұрын

    Omg! At the very least the rain shows you where the drainage deficiencies are. Crazy darn weather. Have a great Xmas and New Year. 🙂👍👍🇨🇦🌲🎅🎁

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    thanks! Merry Christmas to you too!

  • @CyberDocUSA
    @CyberDocUSA7 ай бұрын

    Just got home from work and was wondering why I hadn't received any notifications from yooz guys and here you are with a new one. Like #200. Wishing you both, and your family, a very Merry Christmas. Much love.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Merry Christmas to you too! ❤️😊

  • @keppypaul
    @keppypaul7 ай бұрын

    Us too we made sure the seam of the shell and foundation were way above the perimeter drain. We used tons of gravel to cover the perimeter drains and made sure the waterproofing went way past the perimeter drains and far below. We also found some erosion problems on top and were forced to put 3" perforated drain covered by 1.5' of gravel. Two areas we were not able to be on site for the build was the pit on the west end where the contractor over filled the same pit with non draining earth materials (clay and caliche). He explained we needed it to drain over the wall and not perk into the materials. The wall at the north inside end of the west porch has a crack in it and I suspect that since I was not there to supervise rebar size that corners were cut. We drilled 6 each 1.75 drains in the block wall and replaced all the materials with drainage gravel to the top sloped to the drilled holes in the block retaining wall. We also put drainage pipe at the level of the drilled holes and vertically to the surface. So far so good. Still waiting on our old home to sell. Getting a little impatient but you kind of have to expect it with the high interest rates and holidays. Possibly around tax filing time will be better. We started using the small propane heater since the home with outside temperatures around 38 at night and 35 all day today it was rather cool inside at 68 without running some heat. With that heater on low 24/7 we get 6 to 7 days out of a 20# propane tank. But we really don't need to run it except at night and we stay 71 to 72 all night and all day. When cloudy and in the mid 20s we run it on low all day and night and it stays about 71 in the bedroom and living room. We are selling our little tractor and getting a new one at 0% for 84 moths. My wife wants A backhoe on the new 40HP cab tractor. I'm not sure about that but our 28HP open cab shuttle shift is a pain for grading our 1.5 mile driveway. All the shifting for that and loader work is killing my left knee. Not to mention its cold in the winter and blazing hot in the summer sun at 100+ in the shade. We shall see on the backhoe since we are on an an all rock mountain side but we still need to do our permanent water supply line, electric supply line and the septic lines. We may be able to make that backhoe attachment work for us on a lot of that not to mention it would be a welcome earth moving option.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Wow. I really hope the house sells soon! About the clay and caliche filled pit… did you leave it or dig it back out and fill with gravel? Also, we may have to add more drainage pipe on the roof but time will tell. After we build the roofs on the parapet walls we will be adding more dirt so we will see. We’ve been down as low as 8 degrees outside and our dome will basically drop to about 63 overnight with no heat on. We’re using the little wood stove all day and keeping the inside temp about 70. We’re very comfortable. With minimal effort so far. We also purchased our tractor at zero percent for 84 months. We have 3.5 years left. We have no regrets at all. The backhoe is definitely useful. We use it as much as we do the bucket. The forks are definitely worth it too. Only thing we still need is a York rake.

  • @keppypaul

    @keppypaul

    7 ай бұрын

    @@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid We removed and replaced all the materials to about a 6' depth and filled with drainage gravel sloped to the scuppers in the wall. We also installed the drainage pipe at that 6' depth to compliment our scuppers we drilled into the wall at that same depth as it were. We have had pallet forks for many many years and could not even contemplate not having them at this point. We are much older now and use the pallet forks to mimic our more youthful years for productivity. I at this point want to consider a land plane. Seems to be a faster and simpler way to smooth things out on a gravel driveway. We have neighbors who do not know how to or when not to drive on the steepest parts of the mostly clay and gravel portion of the driveway so maintenance with more efficiency is our goal at this point. Most of our areas that need to be trenched are comprised of loose fill materials and have large rocks mixed in. We opted for the hydraulic thumb grab attachment to remove those large rocks from the trenches and remove them from harms way. But that is yet another piece of equipment that I need to learn and try to use efficiently. We are both on a journey but know not where or when it will end LOL.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    6 ай бұрын

    A hydraulic thumb is great!!! Wish we could have gotten one but it wasn’t available at the time. And never heard of a land plane, going to look into that. Thanks 😁👍

  • @keppypaul

    @keppypaul

    6 ай бұрын

    @@CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid We plan to get this one kzread.info/dash/bejne/lYNlmMujk8XIY9Y.html&pp=ygUPRUEgbGFuZCBsZXZlbGVy kzread.info/dash/bejne/mmSZrsSPn8awgrg.html&pp=ygUPRUEgbGFuZCBsZXZlbGVy

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    6 ай бұрын

    @@keppypaul we only just saw this! Thanks so much for sharing

  • @laruedouglas7972
    @laruedouglas79727 ай бұрын

    Hope you have a very Merry Christmas with your family 🎄🎁🎄.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!

  • @SundryTalesOfConstance79WESTY
    @SundryTalesOfConstance79WESTY7 ай бұрын

    Nooice! 😎 STOC

  • @garypic4083
    @garypic40837 ай бұрын

    That alot of water, hope you get a handle on it. I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year you looking forward to more videos

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    It was a lot! It did so much damage around town. We actually feel fortunate we can easily fix ours! Merry Christmas and happy new year!

  • @gracelomas9548
    @gracelomas95487 ай бұрын

    Give your selfs credit bless

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Thank you. We feel very blessed 😊

  • @Viper6-MotoVlogger
    @Viper6-MotoVlogger7 ай бұрын

    It’s going to take a bit to fine tune all the drainage issues, but it will be fine once you funnel the excess water where it needs to go.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    thank you! We are looking forward to getting that fine tuning done this spring 😁

  • @oxford821
    @oxford8217 ай бұрын

    It seems roof soil on top of a “membrane” will always wash out? Once the rain water seeps through the soil to the membrane wouldn’t it create a waterway to wash out the soil from underneath?

  • @psterdactyl7253

    @psterdactyl7253

    7 ай бұрын

    Correct. This method of construction will result in constant washouts and erosion. It simply won't work...unless the roof is flat with good perimeter drainage water diversion. it might be sustainable with a soil depth well below the frost and water filtration line and I didn't see this was the case (48+"?). A layer of clay on the bottom might also have provides some protection. I believe the existing construction essentially has a layer of topsoil on it which is simply going to be prone to washouts.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    The wicking material actually has two parts. The bottom is like a plastic tray sort of like an egg carton but only about a quarter inch high so water can run (wick) through it downslope. Over that is a felt (attached to the plastic ) to keep the soil out so the water can safely wick away. The slope is steep but it is less than the angle of repose. That said, this was freshly constructed and the soil was very loose. It hadn’t had time to compact or get a strong root system established before the winter. With the amount of rain we had in such a short time, the loose dirt and a weak root system that was not fully established we feel fortunate it wasn’t worse. It can be easily repaired and once we have the clover growing really well with a nice root system holding everything in place we shouldn’t have too many problems in the future. ***we have several videos sharing the burial process (multiple layers involved so the frost depth is a non issue) and all the erosion methods we put in place to manage water. There shouldn’t be any problems in the future barring unforeseen extreme weather. And clay is extremely slippery when wet so would not be a viable solution on a slope.

  • @justincabrera6865
    @justincabrera68657 ай бұрын

    Yay 🎉

  • @bobmarshall7570
    @bobmarshall75707 ай бұрын

    I guess this is what mud season (April/May) will look like? Mother Nature is a BI$@*!! Still amazed at how many rock/boulders came out of your immediate area!

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    This was a lot of water. I don’t remember it running this strongly off the mountain in the spring so hopefully not as bad. And yes, we’re shocked at the amount of rocks too!! Lol merry Christmas!

  • @CrustyAbsconder
    @CrustyAbsconder7 ай бұрын

    You should try to bottle some of that water and sell it.

  • @CrustyAbsconder

    @CrustyAbsconder

    7 ай бұрын

    You may need to build some very sturdy retaining-walls in certain places, too

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    We actually said that we should sell the water too😂 but yes, retaining walls will be built in many places. Merry Christmas!

  • @SeniorHiker77
    @SeniorHiker777 ай бұрын

    Sorry, but that was funny. Stuck in the mud, and you recorded it, even funnier.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Don’t be sorry! We’re laughing right along with you😂 merry Christmas!

  • @lorencolt
    @lorencolt7 ай бұрын

    A new home defense system MUD.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    😂 not a bad idea!

  • @CyberDocUSA
    @CyberDocUSA7 ай бұрын

    F-it, Ima just build an ark.

  • @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    @CreatingASimplerLifeOffGrid

    7 ай бұрын

    Seriously not a bad idea😂