ive always wanted to live in a cave...

[david]

now i can! http://wealthsmith.com/CaveRockPictures.htm
im thinking about building one of these for a home. i talked to the owner of cave rock, and he said that it can be built to any size, shape or strength. check out the pics. its a very unorthadox building principle, but it suits me perfectly.

[glenn kangiser]

Hi David-- me too.  

I checked out the site but they're not giving out many clues.  I assume it is ferrocrete construction.  Definitely  a lot can be done with it.  Have you checked out my Underground Cabin update?

The thing I like about it is that the structure is designed by an engineer  to support the weight.

Mikes designs will allow you to make any size cave you want and it will be safe.  The ferrocrete can be used to enhance areas of the U house design.  I will be adding hydroponics in the uphill patio and incorporating a pond and waterfall in mine later also.

[david]

hey glenn, do you have a link to your cabin update? very cool cabin btw. where is it located? im really wanting to build underground, and i forgot to ask the cave rock guy if his design is capable of being buried. i guess if it were forified enough..  i saw a show on this family that lived in a large cave in tenn. or somwhere in that area,it was awesome. there were stalagtites and dripping water, it was so cool. i'll see if i can find a link.

[glenn-k]

Here's the update link -

http://countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=01;action=display;num=1107141843

This is designed from Mike Oehler's book "The $50 and Up Underground House."  Pictures are linked under first posting on first page and others throughout the rest of the pages.  I like the fact that Mike provided the rule of thumb engineering table.  From there the ponly limit is your imagination, and you can know you'll be safe doing it if you follow his designs.

The concrete terrorists as Mike calls them cannot touch his cost to build.  Compare Mike's design at about $5000 to a concrete terrorist design at about $1,000,000 for a similar size structure.  

This design is most easily done where permits are not an issue.  Safety is not an issue- the codes deadly materials are the issue.  CCA can cause cancer.  Possibly per John's suggestion of sealing it off with poly, it could be done to code similar to a basement but I don't feel like jumping through hoops right now.  Engineering stamped and approved could be costly.

I don't recommend trying it with materials that are not designed to hold the load, at a minimum, by rule of thumb tables that are reliable.

[Amanda_931]

Does rather look like ferrocement.

And then there's this guy's places.

http://www.planetaryrenewal.org/ipr/ultralc.html