Living underground.

[Old Rabbit]

My dad always wanted an underground house, but my mother said
"I will be buried soon enough."  I imagine many people would not
care to live underground for various reasons.

I like my father would be fine living that way. I never look out my
windows, or even care wither it's day or night. As long as I built the
home in ground too high to flood. Possibly with a south facing wall
exposed.. One of thick concrete with insulated steel shutters for any
windows to handle storms or fire.

[Varg the wanderer]

Keep in mind some forest fires travel underground o.0

[Loc]

I'd be perfectly happy to live underground or in a house dug into the side of a rock face.

[Iara Warriorfeather]

I like the air and the sky too much, but it will likely be a possibility in the future, at the rate housing numbers are climbing...

[Kobuk]

I wouldn't mind living partially underground just so long as the "house" was properly built and maintained. By that, I mean no cave-ins with the roof falling in on you. No seepage/flooding from rainwater or other water sources, etc., etc.  And by partially underground, I mean I'd like to live underground, but I still want some windows to let sunlight in and to look out at the countryside.

[Rocco]

My dream house is underground, but that isn't the main reason I want it.

My dream house is a decomissioned nuclear missile silo. Try breaking into that!

[Varg the wanderer]

My dream house is a decomissioned nuclear missile silo. Try breaking into that!

Challenge Accepted 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_buster

[Old Rabbit]

Keep in mind some forest fires travel underground o.0

Well nothing is ever perfect.  . But one could clear out the roots and other
underground combustables when building it.  A good thick gravel barrier
around the house would be good drainage as well as fire protection.

I would likely have the ceiling at least 6 ft underground. In case a tornado dropped
a truck on my roof. And no really large rooms. Now days it would be almost as cheap
to use video monitors for windows. Real windows aren't cheap.

[Acton]

I would love  one the  former missile silo homes. I would turn the communication  area to a ham radio shack and  see if I can turn one of the silos to a  model  rocket launch  pad.

[Rocco]

My dream house is a decomissioned nuclear missile silo. Try breaking into that!

Challenge Accepted 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_buster

The silos are hardened, I'm just not sure how much exactly. And if the government wants in, they'll get in. I'm talking thieves, murders, the obnoxious neighbor next door,
Unless of course if Cheyenne Mountain comes up for sale for a reasonable price

[Varg the wanderer]

One of the biggest caveats I have about an underground house is ventilation. Personally, I like underground. It's quiet, dark, and perfect sleeping temperature year round 

But it can get musty. It can get moldy (the ground is usually damp, after all). Poisonous gasses have a habit of building up down there (IE: Radon, Methane, CO2, etc) and you might not be able to get out in time (it's not like you can smell ANY of those). Good ventilation is a must, but being underground, how does one do that without using a lot of energy and while preserving many of the attractions of living underground (constant temp, no choking smoke from forest fires, no rain gushing in)?

[Old Rabbit]

Admittedly there are problems that go with subterranean living. But with some
planning and good ventilation it should work out well.

Many basements and homes have Radon gas problems. But most basements are
poorly sealed against gases. They can be build waterproof to the point of floating.
It's better to have good ventilation in any home. Above or below ground level.

In Holland they are building homes with basements that float like a pontoon that
will allow the house to float up with floods. The utilities are such they can move
up and down with the house.

[Kobuk]

I would love  one the  former missile silo homes. I would turn the communication  area to a ham radio shack and  see if I can turn one of the silos to a  model  rocket launch  pad.

That might be a good thing for Rocket T. Coyote.  

My dream house is a decomissioned nuclear missile silo. Try breaking into that!

Challenge Accepted 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunker_buster

The silos are hardened, I'm just not sure how much exactly. And if the government wants in, they'll get in. I'm talking thieves, murders, the obnoxious neighbor next door,
Unless of course if Cheyenne Mountain comes up for sale for a reasonable price

Living in a silo might be good too during the zombie apocolypse. 

[Old Rabbit]

I understand the decommissioned missile silos are filled with water. So it requires
a lot of clean up, and I doubt if the electrical system is even repairable.

So it would be a rather expensive refit.

[some_random_wusky]

i think living underground would be really super cool

[Bronx]

Living in the south, hardly any houses down here have basements in case of storms or other disasters; personally, I think an underground shelter would be very nice to have in case of emergency, but i would still want to have a regular above-ground house.

[Varg the wanderer]

Living in the south, hardly any houses down here have basements in case of storms or other disasters; personally, I think an underground shelter would be very nice to have in case of emergency, but i would still want to have a regular above-ground house.

A high water table makes this very difficult, and warm winters lessen the energy pressure to have things underground (like basements).

[GrayWolf448]

i'd like to have a house built into a hillside instead. dont need to worry about flooding (though waterproof would still be nice), on one+ side you can have windows/doors.

as for poisonous gasses you could fill your house up with plants (watered by rain water/wells) while it may not get rid of all, it would help clean up the air quite a bit (possibly better than outdoors, in some areas). 

[Old Rabbit]

i'd like to have a house built into a hillside instead. dont need to worry about flooding (though waterproof would still be nice), on one+ side you can have windows/doors.

I have often thought of building into a hillside with southern exposure. One probably
should consider a rock face to dig into. After all it would be bad to have a land
slide covering your front door.  If you built near the top of the hill your home
might end up being part of the slide.

There was a news report of a lake side home in my area that started sliding down a
low hill toward a lake. It was on top of the ground.  It did stop prior to reaching the lake
but they had to tear the house down since it was seriously damaged

It's likely best to choose high ground or into a low hill. Of course you can build a earth
sheltered house with one side exposed. The roof and other walls could could be
covered. Now if you had a surplus submarine you could plant it in a flood plain, but
don't forget the ballast.

[GrayWolf448]

well i didn't really mean that much of a hill side. guess earth sheltered is what i meant (just googled it and that's what i was thinking about)

could build above ground/flood level but still have the feeling of the house being a little under ground (thats what i like about them). the other thing i like about them is that the living area is on the same level as the outside ground (for some reason i have something against vertical spaces, like most of my stuff to be on the same plane)

[Kobuk]

well i didn't really mean that much of a hill side. guess earth sheltered is what i meant (just googled it and that's what i was thinking about)

could build above ground/flood level but still have the feeling of the house being a little under ground (thats what i like about them). the other thing i like about them is that the living area is on the same level as the outside ground (for some reason i have something against vertical spaces, like most of my stuff to be on the same plane)

Could always live in a Hobbit house. 

[Old Rabbit]

There you go Kobuk.. 

I have seen a few earth sheltered houses in my area. But they usually just
have the two sides and back wall in the ground. Then put a regular roof on it.

I have seen a few on TV where they stacked tires packed with dirt for walls. Makes
for good insulation anyway.  They were built in the desert plastered with mud
like the adobe houses.

[GrayWolf448]

that house seems pretty nice (though i' much rather go after a modern/concrete look) not that much of a fan of wood (flammable, can splinter, and usually ends up killing more trees.)

i think i'll do better with an above ground house though... i really hate dirty walls even if they are outside (no pun intended)

and im pretty sure i saw the same show on tv you are talking about (desert homes, made of tires)

[Kobuk]

With the extreme heat wave and dangerous wildfires going on right now in the American southwest, living underground sounds pretty darn good right about now.

[Keitsu]

The good thing about living underground is that it's cooler. I don't like fully underground houses as they are missing natural light and windows. I do like the idea of partially underground houses though. You have some doors and windows and possibly even some sections of the building that are not underground and are exposed. And for the cooling for the exposed parts of the house you could easily run pipes underground that would carry a liquid, running them side by side to increase length and when they come back the liquid would be cooled as the heat has dispersed and naturally cooled. If this liquid was water you could easily use this in an air conditioning system.