In the previous two segments, we put dirt over the shotcrete and then added our waterproof insulating umbrella. In this segment, we put an additional layer of dirt over our umbrella, then plant grass and work on the retaining walls.
For your viewing pleasure, here is the timelapse video…
Video
Lessons learned
As always, not everything makes it into the videos. One part that didn’t quite make it was adding the layer of blocks along the top edge of the wall above the back door. That wall is an ICF wall, basically 6 inches of reinforced concrete poured between two sides of insulation. We put a good amount of blue max waterproofing on the top edge and then I made sure that the billboard vinyls (17 mill reinforced) also overlapped the edge and I mortared 3 layers (about 12 inches) of block along the top edge to hold it all in place… I thought this would be good enough. However, water finds a way… It was able to get between the ICFs and the concrete and run down the inside of my wall all winter… I’ll need to tear those blocks off and put in some continuous metal flashing at some point.
When we started laying it out, I assumed that the experts would know what to do. Of course, they were pretty uncomfortable with my not having a detailed plan, but were nice enough to work with me. So, the first lesson learned was that I really should have come with a plan and not put that on the contractor. As it turned out, I really didn’t bring enough blocks to for that back wall. Some sort of math problem. So that was my second mistake. The compromise solution was to turn the blocks side ways and lean them back against the hill… I know this is not ideal and I already expect a lot of negative comments on Youtube. I decided the only way to overcome that was to put a lot of concrete and rebar behind the blocks to tie them together and form a continuous dam. This chewed up a bunch of time, but it is over a year (two winters and two springs) later and the wall is so solid that the mortar hasn’t even cracked.
Other tricks up my sleeve
Sherri was concerned that someone would fall off that boulder wall, in fact, she always calls it the “death wall”. She insisted that I put a rail along the top and bottom edge. I wanted that rail to be as slender as possible and decided I could use copper pipe for posts and rails. This isn’t against code if I don’t put a walking path within 6 ft of the rail. When used as the posts, the copper pipe would be much easier than a wooden post to attach to the boulders… Just drill it in. The problem is that it wasn’t really stiff enough. I found that “L type” copper pipe was quite a bit thicker and stronger, but I still wouldn’t want to rely on it. I also found that 1/2 inch L copper fits almost perfectly inside 3/4 inch L copper… This made it more than twice as stiff, especially if I filled the gap with epoxy… So that is what I did. The last problem was that the holes were not drilled perfectly vertical (that is harder to do than you might think), so you see they are a bit off plumb at the start, but later we were able to bend them vertical.
The Gallery
Here are some pics, mostly just old scenes since this wasn’t really a photogenic stage. Enjoy.
These boulders were used to keep the dirt on the roof from spilling around the front… You can also see the billboard vinyls, some carpet, etc.
Walking with the dog
Walking to pick up the camera…
When building a stone wall like this, you often need to spread the stones out as you search for the perfect one. That leads to this sort of messy chaos.
Michael being goofy for the camera before turning it off.
Sometimes we forget to turn off the camera at the end of the day and bring it back into the shop still on… I saw the little red light flash as this pic was taken. I included it so you could see how the shop looks.
The shop, on a clean day (not usually this clean) viewed from the front doors.
Cleaning up the north wall… On this day, I arrived just at sunset, so the first few pics are quite nice.
This guy had seen my stuff on line and also happened to work in Aerospace at one of my customers… He wanted to come check it out and volunteered to help me out to make up for the tour time… That worked for me. He brought his little brother also.
David likes to jump from the death wall… Climbing it is also fun. Hence Sherri likes to call it the death wall.
Our earth-sheltered house design uses an “umbrella” concept to retain the heat and keep things dry. This post covers the first phase, the dirt under the umbrella. Still, it was a big step.
The Video
The Gallery
Often the story is best told with pictures anyway…
This is actually an action shot with the dozer pushing dirt over that edge
Here is the section of wall that fell out. I forgot I had this pic when I did the previous video. I guess I’ll go add it to that section of the blog.
In this scene, Dick couldn’t see where he was dumping so Steve was his eyes… Communication is key.
The shovels were left there to keep the insulation pushed against the wall until the spray glue dried…
Do you think he noticed the bulldozer or is it still a mystery how the line was cut?
I thought the repair was pretty interesting.
A shovel to remind Marty the depth and location of the power lines.
We had layers of insulation behind the boulders, but there was also insulation up against the playroom, etc. We used a lot of insulation.
Michael setting up the camera.
Dick Roe, an original Roe Brother. He seems to operate the excavator like it was an extension of his body. He has clearly spent enough hours in there that it is all muscle memory at this point.
I don’t recall why I was laughing…
Sherri surveying the destruction
At the end of the first day…
They switched fromt he small bucket to the big (wide) bucket, depending on what work they were doing. Like changing the bit in your screw driver.
Lifting the first vertical stone…
Sliding in the key stone
Steve and I put a lot of thought into the placement of each rock so they would interlock nicely. It is hard to see from these pics, but the vertical ones are tilted back and tucked behind the flat ones. They are also tucked behind the concrete wall. I later came back and used mortar betwen all the rocks and drilled and pegged them together with #5 rebar, etc. It has been about a year and I don’t see any cracks in any of the mortar yet.
The excavator is sitting on a ramp made by the bulldozer so it could reach high enough to place the dirt.
This is the view out our playroom window.
Steve (working for Roe Brothers as the man on the ground) was very helpful and fun to be around.
Shovels are for fine tuning the dirt placement
We had them dump dirt in thru the skylights so we wouldn’t have to take it in with wheelbarrows. We needed it for making stucco and to bring the floor height up from the footing depth to 6 inches below final floor depth.
Color is funny in this pic, but this is the dirt spilling out from between the dormers on the south side. Like sand thru an hour glass.
Pushing dirt up the north side of the bedrooms
After the dozer tore up the ground, I went and did some rock picking
How it all looks from half way down the hill
The insulation was placed and waiting to get to work on the umbrella.
End of day two.
End of the 2nd day and the guys are packing up to leave
The center section of the house still has no roof
This hill is pretty steep here, but hopefully will be improved with the other two layers
Just a look at the terrain at the end of the day
Michael at the end going to pick up the camera after the last scene.
Here are a few new links to look at. There have actually been a few in Houzz lately, but I lost the specific links… Maybe I will find them again another time.
Kentfield House from Houzz.com
Messy Nessy Blogs about offbeat and unique things, including Earth Sheltered Homes. Here are two articles that were shared recently on the Malcolm Wells Yahoo group, but I think you can find more on the site if you dig around a bit..
This first one is about Englands abandoned Rock Houses. It appears that these homes were abandoned after hundreds of years of continuous use due to shutdown of the local industry. Many believe this underground villiage inspired Tolkein to include them in The Hobbit. The very old homes are still in great shape, although some are inhabited by endangered bats.
And this second one is about a hand-dug underground home and garden in California known as the Forestiere Gardens. The owner dug subway tunnels in NY at the end of the 19th century. He found the surface of Fresno to harsh (this was before air conditioning), so he started digging in his spare time. On his own, and without power tools, he dug out an estate of nearly 100 rooms, passageways and courtyards covering 10 acres.
This one is for a partially built earth sheltered home in California… This typical Terra-dome home is more bunker than beauty (to each his own), but the site is still interesting for seeing the construction process. Its also for sale, if you want to live in that area.
