Subterranean Concrete Pipe Housing

Hannelore

Hi everyone! My name is Hannelore, and I'm new here.

I've had a dream for a long, long time now.
I want a house. Underground. A few (three to five) of my friends would be willing to help finance it with me, and we would live together.

Now, when I say "underground", I don't mean one of those Earthship-style homes with one wall open to the elements, built into the side of a hill, I mean a home that would only be accessible through a ladder --straight down. The only reasonable way I've been able to imagine this, is using prefabricated large diameter concrete culvert pipes for rooms. Assuming the entirety of the dwelling would be one hundred feet long, ten feet wide, and ten feet high, how much of a cost would I be looking at?

itsreallyconc

welcome,,, we knew you were new, too,,, follow that dream & it'll turn into a nitemare quik,,, 1st, no lender's willing to mortgage such a home; 2nd, your local bldg code may not allow such a structure; 3rd, even bringing in groceries or taking out the garbage'll cause the flow to fade rather quickly; 4th, mold can soon smell like ammonia - you get the picture yet ?

most of these homes're blt w/discretionary funds ( out of the owner's pockets ),,, hope you've got deep ones !

ps - nobody casts rccp ( reinforced cement concrete pipe ) that big - how would you transport it ? ? ?,,, it woujld have to be cast-in-place,,, mucho $$$

jogr

Meeting codes for egress windows, window area, stairways, entry doors, ceiling height and room/hallway sizes would be issues.

If you could overcome the code issues I imagine you could do it for between $500,000 and $1,000,00 if you watch your pennies.

You know it's fun for friends to hang around talking about things they could do together but the reality is that in a very, very short time most of you will find significant others and establish families that will be the focus of your lives. You and your friends are not going to all live together in whatever you build for more than a year or two and then you'll have to unload it on someone else (last guy to leave gets stuck with that job and the bills).

If you'd like to see if living underground is fun you could join the Air Force and try to get asigned to Ballistic Missile duty. Or if living in a long tube sounds like fun you could join the Navy and get assigned to submarine duty. But those are bigger than 10 ft diameter.

nap

why don't you just look into buying one of the old missile silos or other underground facilities the government would like to get rid of?

http://www.missilebases.com/properties

http://www.siloforsale.com/availableproperties.htm

joed

It would be much easier and more practical to dig a big hole and build the concrete house and then cover it over, than using culvert pipes.

__________________
Do not PM with questions that can be asked in a forum. I will not respond.

Wildie

If you wait for awhile, somebody will dig the hole for you, plop you down, and fill it in.
Nothing for you to do!
In the meantime, why not enjoy the sunshine!