Well here we go again, Phlosphr wants another project. You guys have helped me and my wife build such things as a medieval longbow, rockwall, cat-proof rooms…I need help with another one.
As a lifelong Tolkien fan I have wanted a hobbit house since I was a little boy. Now in a position to build a small rendition of one, I need to tap into the vast SDMB acumen of handy dopers!
Here’s what I have:
John Deer Digger
Plenty of tools shovels, hoes, wheelbarrow, ropes, chains pullies
Two able bodied workers, possible a third and forth family member.
Here’s what I need
A grassy hill (I have a knoll on my property that has all grass covering it. It’s wheat grass. Roughly 15 acres flat, with a couple small hills closer to the house.)
Advice on how to dig the foundation, do I need a foundation? I am looking at building the HH too be about the size of a large shed. I want the circular door!. How do I build that?
Should I just dig only slightly down, build a frame, put the walls on then cover it all with earth then seed it? or Should I dig down into the earth and create an underground lair of sorts… I’d like windows if possible, as well.
Any suggestions? I’ll include pics as I go…
**MODS is this in the right forum? Not sure if it was a MPSIMS or IMHO?
[sub]I should know this by now[/sub]
All I can say is that the hard part will be getting the little hobbit contractors to actually show up!
Also, be careful with those grassy knolls.
For cutting the door, you should be able to make a passable one by scribing the outline with a tack, a pencil and a piece of string. Then you could either straight-cut it to a square or rough it out with a jigsaw (or perhaps a reciprocating saw), followed by rounding it off with a grinder.
Well I’m certainly not worried the grassy knoll’s going to attack me. What did you mean…Did I get wooshed?
I was thinking about using 2X6’s for the door, cut to make a circle. each edge rounded a little more. Or I guess I could buy a flat sheet of plywood and use my reciprocating saw with it.
First you need a hole in the ground. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat.
Besides, you knew someone else must have tried it http://www.stormbear.com/bagend2/
Perhaps you should hire out ‘The Great Escape’ , mind you it’s usually on the telly twice a week. I am not suggesting that you use baggy trousers instead of wheelbarrows, I am thinking more of using struts and stuff around the door and the hole as you dig to avoid cave-in.
In all seriousness, if you’re simply going for a small shed like building why not dig into the hill and mound earth up around it. You can work out deep-set windows as the dirt reaches those points. Otherwise you’ll be stuck digging out of the hill to make them. This link http://www.earthship.org/bld/index.php seems to deal with earthen homes and might help.
I know of several underground houses that have been built, and they’ve all created a hill instead of digging into one. They all started on a flat spot, built the structure with poured-in-place reinforced concrete, and then used fill dirt to build the hill over the top. All of these houses were only partially covered, having large windows exposed on the south side, but the strategy would probably work for you and be easier than excavating a house in an existing hill (depending on your soil). This kind of house isn’t exactly common, but it’s not terribly rare either. I’m sure you can find DIY or architectural books with construction details.
As for your round door, it seems like this wouldn’t be too hard. You could either build it up from planks like you describe or cut it from plywood if you can get a sheet large enough. The major design issue will be the hinges, but you can look at the design of porthole hinges and circular bulkhead seals from ships to see how the design might work. The actual hinges used in those applications are likely to be too bulky, but they’ll give you an idea of the best attachment points and position of the hinge pin in relation to the edge of the door.
Why couldn’t you go ahead and build the hobbitt hole you want, then cover it with dirt? I know there are magazines out there for “Earth Homes” but I haven’t seen any in a while. I goggled and did find this. Best of luck to you, I am dying for a Hobbitt Hole with a Circular door as well!
You might check out Formworks. They sell premade frames for earth-sheltered housing, and can probably advise you on what you’d need. When I build my house, I will probably go to them for design advice and the frame.
As for the door, making the door itself is the easy part–it’s just a little work with a reciprocating saw. Making the frame will be more of a challenge. I would advice making the door first and using it to mark the frame for cutting to ensure a proper fit.
Finally, you must have a plaque that reads “Hole, Sweet Hole”.
Those designs Grey very nice. I think the desire to have one is something in all of us. I do not know if I’ll use concrete. As that would make the task much more labor intensive. I think a reinforces frame with earth packing it all around would be best. Not sure, still need more input…
DrDeth beat me to it: your greatest obstacle is going to be getting a permit from the county planning commission.
Round doors? Build 'em up from planks. Also, accept the fact that they won’t be wholly round, but will have to have a flattened section – sort of “D” shaped – to allow enough of a straight hinge-line to support the weight of the door.
The guy in Bosda and Grey’s cite is building something very large. My structure is a summer project - so smaller - and will probably not look perfect until mid September as the grass will have to set, and firm up. Plus that guy that is building that home is playing with fire in my opinion. Those steel and concrete pipes with the top flange probably weigh 2 tons a peice, maybe more. His bottom structure better be able to hold that.
Permit’s - Hmmm. There may be a problem there. The site will not be able to be seen from the road as it is back and behind my house. But I want to do it all legal like so I’ll have to go down to town hall and check with my planning and zoning buddies. I used to be on the town council so they better hook me up.
As for the circular door. This type is also an option. May be the easiest. However, when I do a google search in images of “round door” a lot of styles come up. hanging the door will be key.
I took a tour of the Nautilus Earthship when I was in Taos a few years back. It struck me as being very inhobbitable. :rolleyes:
Maintenance-wise they had to keep up with the occasional crack.
Some friends of mine built an Earthship. Backbreaking work. I suppose if you’re doing a little one, and you’re digging into a hill it shouldn’t be so bad.
