Low Cost Underground House Workshop and Survival Shelter [repost]

Nothing we know of comes remotely close to matching the wealth of knowledge found in this six-hour three-DVD set. The design course taught in DVD two is worth hundreds of times the cost of the set in the increased light, views and air. It will benefit your subterranean home, and the resale value will skyrocket.

If you are convinced you want to build below surface, need more information to make up your mind or your mates mind you need this set. It is valuable to owner/builders, architects, contractors and self-designers alike.

Instructor mike oehler has taught at architecture departments at colleges and universities across the U.S., Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Having the material down pat he is able to anticipate your confusion and questions. And unlike the live workshops, the videos allow you to study the material repeatedly and to share it with friends and family.

DVD 1: Construction

The Post/Shoring/Polyethylene (PSP) method of building underground with the warmth and charm of wood is explained in the first DVD. A layer of plastic which protects the wood from the damp of the earth is the secret. The original structure built by this method as an experiment in 1971 for $50 is still in use. Instructor Mike Oehler lived in it for 30 years. He is now working on the stunning PSP earth-integrated Ridge House with its thirty-mile views.

This DVD winds up with a slide presentation showing construction and completion of a number of underground homes built by this method. Construction costs can be as low as 1/10th the cost of normal construction – sometimes even less.

DVD 2: DESIGN

This is the heart of the workshop. Using chalk board scale models he has hauled for years to universities across North America and Europe, Oehler teaches his revolutionary methods of underground design. Rejecting the four common methods (the foolish four: skylights, atriums, vertical window wells and the incredibly poor first thought design) he teaches instead twelve methods which guarantee light, views and air from any and all directions of the compass in each and every underground room. No more airless dark, basement-like underground buildings! Mike is fond of saying "An underground house has no more in common with a basement than a penthouse apartment has with a hot, dark, dusty attic."

You will actually design five underground homes during the screening of this DVD using the downloaded copyrighted design kit. These hands-on exercises drill the methods home and are actually fun! Upon completion this course you will have a better concept of underground design than the vast majority of practicing architects today.

This DVD winds up when Mike takes you on a personal tour of the four underground or earth sheltered houses on his land. You see real life applications of Up Hill Patios, Hollywood Wings, the Royer Foyer, Basic Designs and more.

DVD 3 SHELTER

This third DVD teaches how to build a shelter for pennies on the dollar. It can take your family and friends through nuclear fallout, raging fires, hurricanes, tornadoes and even earthquakes. If surrounding above-ground structures have been destroyed, it may be lived in and used as the starting point for an underground house. In normal times the shelter may be used as a root cellar, workshop, spare bedroom, kids play house or tool shed. The cost of a 12x12 shelter should run from $100 to $1500 depending on how many recycled materials you use and how much of the work you do yourself. Included are comprehensive shelter diagrams without additional cost.

The second part of this DVD teaches how to design and build a wonderfully effective earth-sheltered greenhouse. The prototype of this, invented and built by Mike Oehler on his 40 acres in mountainous North Idaho, just 30 miles south of the Canadian boarder, was in service for a quarter century. This greenhouse took tomatoes into the second week in December and hardies like kale and cabbage clear through the winter year after year without any source of heat other than the sun and that which is trapped in the earth.

The greenhouse is resistant to the ravages of moles, rabbits, deer, gophers and most other plant predators. This greenhouse can even collect its own irrigation water. A 10x30 unit should cost between $200 and $3000 depending upon materials and labor.

The third part of the shelter DVD continues with a slide-show of the of the underground structures on Mike’s land. It includes astonishing effective earth-sheltered greenhouse.

You can watch other useful Homebuilding videos:

Tiling Floors - by Michael Byrne

Tiling Walls - by Michael Byrne

B&Qtiles - Lessons on Tiling

Tiling Projects 1-2-3

Tiling Countertops with Michael Byrne

Drywall: Hanging and Taping on DVD

Framing Roofs with Larry Haun

Framing Floors & Stairs (with Larry Haun)

Basic Stairbuilding DVD with Scott Schuttner

Installing Doors and Windows (with Tom Law)

BBC Design Rules

Framing Walls with Larry Haun - Fine Homebuilding DVD Workshop

Installing Trim with Craig Savage - Fine Homebuilding DVD Workshop

Installing Kitchen Cabinets and Countertops: with Tom Law

Building Decks with Scott Schutter - Fine Homebuilding DVD Workshop

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Wiring - 5th Edition

Concrete Countertops DIY featuring Fu-Tung Cheng

How-To Guide to Ceramic Tile with Dean Johnson

The How-To Guide to Building a Monolithic Concrete Slab Foundation

That's How We Build a House

BRICKFORM - Coloured Concrete Construction Source

Building Green

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Kitchens

Taunton - Installing Kitchen Cabinets Made Simple

HomeTime: How-To Guide to Landscaping

HomeTime: How-To Guide to Faux Finishing

Building with Awareness: The Construction of a Hybrid Home

Black & Decker The Complet...y & Stonework (DVD + Book)

Energy Efficient Housing Series R-2000

The Best of Ask This Old House... Household Projects Done Right

Build a Deck with Rick Arnold

Roundwood Timber Framing: Building Naturally Using Local Resources

The How-To Guide to Building with Straw Bales, Post and Beam Infill

El barro, Las manos, La casa

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Masonry & Stonework

The How-To Guide to Plastering with Natural Hydraulic Lime

Kitchen and Bath Laminate Countertops 101 with Douglas Smith

Building with Logs: A Complete...g - by Allan Mackie, 9 DVD-set

and my other last: Repair-posts