eco garage.

[carsounds_dan]

I've been talking to the girlfriends father, and he said that he wants to build me a workshop in the side of a hill on his land.. I'm not going to say no, but until I see earth moving I'm not getting my hopes up.
The plan would be to have the building completely underground other than the main doors in and a door for an office like room along side. Building would be 30' deep and enough room for two ramps in the centre and a car either side of the two ramps, with room to walk around... so probably looking at a 30' by 60/70' space by the time the office is incorporated.
It would all start by taking a "slice" out of the land, which would allow the building to be built, and then the earth put ontop and around to make it blend in to the surrounding hill.
I plan to have a lifting beam installed all around the interior of the workshop so a block and tackle can be used to help move large objects, and a mesamine floor at one end for extra storage. The workshop will hopefully be headed using electronic storage heaters as the insulation offered by the surrounding earth will hopefully keep it relatively warm, warm water will be supplied by piping burried in the hill which gets heated by the sun (I'm not going to shower there so doesn't need to get real hot).
We've done some crisp packet sketches, and he seems happy about it.. so lets hope I get it built some time... what are your thoughts and/or recomendations.

Dan

 

[HOTFR8]

Sounds to me your building what we in Australia call a Terra dome.
I like the idea. Temperature inside should be constant all year round.
I would like to do something like that myself if I could find a suitable location.

I also recall some one posting about a Fire Station built this way here on this forum.

These links may give you some ideas.

http://dcnonl.com/article/20051028300

http://www.domehome.ca/daily_article.pdf

http://earthshelternews.com/Archives/ESN April 2008.pdf

 

[Bib Overalls]

Sounds interesting. Can you post images of the drawings for us. I, for one, would like to take a gander.

 

[PAToyota]

Sounds like a good start to the planning. I've long considered how neat it would be to have a little garage built back into a hill so that you only saw this little structure on the outside but it was merely the entrance to a much bigger shop under the hill.

 

[Old61]

Sounds like a plan is coming together. A better plan would be to do it on your own land. You don't mention how old you are but I am assuming pretty young. RUN it's a trap! J/K maybe...

 

[carsounds_dan]

well my own land would be nice, but this relationship is going to be alright I hope, marage preposal coming up.
I can't get any good pictures of the drawings, I'll scan them at work in the week.

 

[Kevin54]

but this relationship is going to be alright I hope,

That's what every divorced guy said when he first got married.

 

[toadjammer]

Maybe it is payment for marrying his daughter, a modern day "dowry" Make sure he builds it before you tie the knot so he isn't just dangling the carrot.

 

[carsounds_dan]

lmao, nah we're cool. Her dad brought me my first motorbike as a gift and has already given me and the misses a house so I doubt he's gunna get too up tight.
I've been playing about with the idea some more as I've been offered 10 insulated 40' shipping containers... they're 8' wide, 8'6" tall though...
I might use a couple as underground storage, they'll hold the weight, be watertight and pretty secure as-well... can't knock em for what works out at $500 a piece.

 

[sammerdog]

.....10 insulated 40' shipping containers... they're 8' wide, 8'6" tall though...
I might use a couple as underground storage, they'll hold the weight, be watertight and pretty secure as-well... can't knock em for what works out at $500 a piece.

fwiw - them rascals are steel. Yes, they'll hold up decently for awhile, but eventually can and will fail from rust. A few guys up in our neck of the woods are using them for storage, but to maximize their longevity are setting them up on railroad ties to get them up off the ground, then they build up a gravel ramp to them.

Like an old truck body, dry, lockable storage, and the tax man can't gig you on them, because they're not permanent structures. Some townships frown on them, but if they're not visible from the road, they make great storage.

 

[Kevin54]

http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/...wdailyg.aspx?cp-documentid=18681851&GT1=45002

 

[matt_i]

I'm going to recommend against this despite the cool concept of a "bunker" or "cave".

Two reasons really.

1. Cost. I think by the time you make the walls and ceiling structural (and not talking framed structures, but structures that hold up the ceiling of a *mine* and keep you from getting squished like a grape by tons and tons of dirt above) then the costs are going to go cubic on you.

2. Moisture. It's already the bane of the rest of us who have shops above ground, and trying to keep your structure sealed is going to be a war to start with. It doesn't do any good that gravity is helping.

That said, I would not do this homebrew without an expert of some sort, at least in the design phase.

 

[kbs2244]

First, do not use containers under ground.
Their strength is in their corner posts and the floor.
The walls and top will collapse inward under any kind of pressure.
When they buried them in Afghanistan they built sandbag walls around the hole to hold back the dirt. And they built a lattice work of “I” beams bridging the tops to hold the weight of any dirt on top.

Second, do some research on underground building books from the 1970’s.
It was a fad back then and a lot of books were written.
As I recall, the most reasonable compromise of cost vs. performance was to cut into the south facing slope of a hill, use poured concrete walls on three sides (like a foundation), regular construction on the South wall, and regular but well insulated gable roof.
Pay lots of attention to drainage.
Drain pipes around the base of the wall, good gutters, and slope away form the building on all three sides.
If the hill continues up from the hole, dig diverting swales above and around it.