Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[Ernest T. Bass]

Thanks Glenn--that's an idea that I hadn't thought of...

[glenn kangiser]

My pleasure, Andrew.  Back from Myanmar and cross country travels there.

Blew up the engine on my crane truck so I get to go back to being a mechanic for a while... hope I can mickey mouse it back together successfully....




I need it to do this again sometimes ....    [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

Well, that didn't work, so going back to the old Kenworth Crane truck I built the cabin with.  I'm too old to buy a new truck and can use the money for other things... [ouch]



I love the Cummins engines.  Parked about 4 years and, new batteries... turn the key and started up as if it was parked yesterday.

Now to put the bed back on it and get it ready to be a welding truck again.

[glenn kangiser]

We got the truck operational again, Got Moehnin's employment authorization from DHS and have been busy working 12 hours per day for several weeks now.  We can't show pictures of our work at the Naval Air Station but here are some from a shopping center we are working on.



We used the crane to load materials to the roof of the Shops building.



Here my wife is welding the equipment screen wall sections together.  She is an engineer and I taught her certified welding so she can now legally work on these projects with me.



She loves to work... she loves making something she can see the results of after, and I have never had a man working with me that was as good  or at least not better, or dedicated to our work as she is.  The people we subcontract for love to see her on the job.

Note that this is the same crane truck I built the Underground Cabin with.  We now have a new remote control on it and it is working great.  We intend to do some updating on the cabin so I will try to get an occasional posting in here.  I have lived in the Underground Cabin nearly 15 years now and though it has it's issues, it is a cozy home for us and a great place to host our international student guests.  We love to continue doing that.

[MountainDon]

  

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks Don.  We are rather work swamped right now but hope to get some updates posted soon. 

[ben2go]

It's good to hear everything is going well. Good luck with the truck repairs and upgrades. 

Oh, and I have left social media, except a few forums. 

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks Ben.  Next comes moving my other crane onto an International Crew cab...  I need the whole back half of the Hino including drive axle,  but front half of the International.  May be a splice job.  [ouch]

[ben2go]

Thanks Ben.  Next comes moving my other crane onto an International Crew cab...  I need the whole back half of the Hino including drive axle,  but front half of the International.  May be a splice job.  [ouch]

You're welcome.

Check your frames on the trucks. I recent realized that some trucks have split frames and are bolted or riveted together. 

[glenn kangiser]

Yes,  the International has that problem 

[ben2go]

Yes,  the International has that problem 

[glenn kangiser]

Next project... Will be taking a while...  Switching from this

To this... 






I need the front half of the International and the back half of the Hino... So it begins... [ouch]

[ben2go]

Please post some detail pics. I'm curious to see the changes to the chassis. Will it be a cut and extend, or taking the entire Hino back half? Will you be keeping the Internationals rear axle? Maybe just split the two and swap back haves and keep both trucks road worthy. Maybe use the Hino as a backup truck.

[ben2go]

This kind of stuff gives me bad ideas. 

[glenn kangiser]

Still contemplating what to do and how to do it.  The Hino engine is blown up and parts are so expensive I'd say it would be over $10000.00 for a good overhaul.  I want the crew cab.  International parts,  used engines etc are cheap.  The International differential is a light duty 2 speed.  The Hino is a very heavy duty 2 speed Spicer Axle.  The Hino will be scrap when the changes are done. On my phone now.  More details later. 

[ben2go]

Still contemplating what to do and how to do it.  The Hino engine is blown up and parts are so expensive I'd say it would be over $10000.00 for a good overhaul.  I want the crew cab.  International parts,  used engines etc are cheap.  The International differential is a light duty 2 speed.  The Hino is a very heavy duty 2 speed Spicer Axle.  The Hino will be scrap when the changes are done. On my phone now.  More details later. 

Ahhh. I see. Now this is making more sense to me. Hino vehicles are crazy expensive to fix. They are rare around my area.

[glenn kangiser]

In Burma, every other truck is a Hino.  Parts would be easy.  Here, very few.  That particular engine is not brought in by the importers and the only used engine was advertised by a confirmed fraud engine website on the internet, so I decided to get away from it. 

I want the large International crew cab for emergency sleeping quarters when arriving at a job late or leaving one late.  The International engine is also known to be super reliable and before 1993 California doesn"t make me smog the truck.  The International engine only has 146000 miles and should go up to 1,000,000...even less is ok.   It was just a short range use service truck.

[ben2go]

In Burma, every other truck is a Hino.  Parts would be easy.  Here, very few.  That particular engine is not brought in by the importers and the only used engine was advertised by a confirmed fraud engine website on the internet, so I decided to get away from it. 

I want the large International crew cab for emergency sleeping quarters when arriving at a job late or leaving one late.  The International engine is also known to be super reliable and before 1993 California doesn"t make me smog the truck.  The International engine only has 146000 miles and should go up to 1,000,000...even less is ok.   It was just a short range use service truck.

[glenn kangiser]

Looking at this and thinking about it daily.... raining cats and dogs much of the time lately so hard to get motivated... fixed the turn signals on the International though.  As I assumed when I saw the flasher unit missing, it had been sitting in the yard for several months unused so likely got taken to fix another problem in another truck before I bought it.   [ouch]

[glenn kangiser]

Currently about the 15 year anniversary of the Underground Complex.  I started it in 2002.  Many things have changed in that period of time but one thing remains... The cabin is still standing and with some maintenance it will stand for a lot longer. 

As expected, there are occasional issues, especially on a year where we have gotten as much as 5 inches of rain in a day, but all in all it is still a great shelter and the price was right.  Mike Oehler (now deceased) with good reason changed his recommendation to using EPDM rubber instead of 6 mill plastic.  I fully agree.  I also recommend putting in the French drains that he suggested as optional.  Not putting them in up front is not such a good idea.  While the first few years had few problems, over the years the gophers decide to reroute some of the drainage causing some problems.  Still, it is a minor nuisance to deal with and the value as a shelter, a home overcomes the inconveniences of adding a drainage system or sump pumps.  The whole idea was to build a shelter that was not going to cost you for the rest of your life. 

All things considered, I have to judge it as a success.  This house has served dozens of international students and friends as well as family.  My wife, Moehnin and I are happy with it. 

[tingsson]

Glenn, having been to Paul Wheaton's place in Montana and reading Mike Oehler's $50 book, now I am interested in this for a retirement home in Missouri. Been reading as much as I can, finding more books, etc. but not a whole lot on YouTube, sadly! I've read up to page 25 on this topic on the forum, so far, and am hoping to escape the city and get some land in the next couple years as money allows.

I loved seeing Paul's wofatis, and am more interested in using a rocket mass heater than earth tubes to moderate winter temperatures. Any other resources you'd recommend? Looks like a couple years since the last post here, but I still have another 180+ pages of reading to do to catch up...lol

My 20 year old son sounds like he is FINALLY starting to think about lowering costs of living instead of just trying to make more money, for the long term... even said he's thinking about saving up to buy some land. No interest yet in earth integrated housing, but I am hoping that he will also get my wife more interested.

I hope whenever I am able to get something started, there will still be you or other folks around to consult with and ask questions of!
Regards,
Leif

[glenn kangiser]

I'm probably about the oldest living resource. Mike recommended using epdm rubber pond liner rather than poly as poly doesn't hold up so well over the years. I second that. I recommend doing French drains also. Gophers have a way of changing your drainage plans. 😊 Other than that, we are still using the underground complex. Of course it can use some repairs and remodeling after 17 years. 😊

[tingsson]

Thanks for the quick response Glenn! Do you know of anyone be in Missouri who has built one of these? It might help to get my wife onboard if she could see one, see the 'neighborhood', etc. I don't see it happening for a couple years at least, gotta get this city house fixed up and organize finances better, but if she could SEE the dream...  Sadly, YouTube is rather lacking in videos. I think I've watched all there are about Mike's place and your's. Not really interested much in a concrete bunker, dislike the aesthetics and think it'd be much more expensive. For now, am trying to work on figuring out and acquiring skills that would be helpful down the road for building, such as round wood working, chainsaw use, and building community with other permie minded folk in the area.

I hope you don't mind if I reopened this thread... I've only read up to about page 41 so far and am enjoying the read. Would like to find others interested in this way of building, although maybe one getting some land we'll put a little shed type guest house or RV on it first, for sleeping space and to hopefully distract nosey  neighbors or officials. I won't pester you with a ton of questions now, as I'll read first. Is there anywhere that common FAQs or build and design answers are collected in a somewhat concentrated place, that you are aware of?
Will sign off for now, Leif

[tingsson]

Well, after a hiatus reading this summer, due in large part to going to trucking school and getting my CDL, I am back enjoying the reading here once more. Finances are coming along and are in better shape, and my wife has even expressed interest in getting an RV and thinks maybe in a couple years that acreage in the country would make better sense so the kids can all live near each other!

I'm rereading Mike's book again, and have gotten a few more on alternative building methods, scrounging, and find any YouTube videos I can find. I really have enjoyed your interview videos of the international students and their reactions to your cabin.

Thinking back 10+ years to how the country/world/economy was back then, and looking at now, I think the goal of better sustainability, more economical housing and energy costs, and raising some of your own food is an even more common sensical idea. I can't figure out why more folks aren't caught up by it... maybe too distracted by the latest gadget or tv show?

A couple questions come to mind:I'm up to page 87 in this thread (more reading time as a trucker now) and you mentioned thinking about writing a book similar to a sequel to Mike's book, not to replace but to expand on some of his points, explain more lessons you've learned, etc. Have you yet? What about, do you know of anyone around the country that has completed Oehler style homes that can be visited? I think my wife would probably like the idea if she could see something that wasn't dark and dingy, especially that showed what a woman could do to spruce it up maybe to give her ideas, get the creative juices flowing, etc. I do enjoy staying up with the threads over on permits about the wofatis, and for heating would want a rocket mass heater for sure, no matter what kind of house I eventually build. I liked how Paul put some 8-10' tall berms on his place between the road and his property for privacy... seems a good idea to keep mosey neighbors from griping about what they may think you should/shouldn't be doing with your own land. You don't seem to do anything like that though, eh?

Well, back to reading. Have a good and safe night.
Leif

[tingsson]

Good morning Glenn. I don't think I've seen this answered anywhere else, that I can recall, but are there any criteria you'd recommend when looking for land, specifically with the goal of one day building an Oehler house on it? I know we want some slope to the land, but how much? I'd think we want the soil to be at least 'so deep', but any thoughts on that?  Obviously we'll need trees, and I really want to stay in Missouri as does my family, but how many trees and of what minimum size at chest height? I'm hoping we can find 10-20 acres minimum, ideally with plenty of black locust, as I want plenty of those for copicing for firewood too.

My wife has really come on board with selling the house after we pay off the rest of our debts, her goal is now 3 years to do so. I've started learning about raw land investing/flipping, and am more interested in using that as a tool to find our ideal property, but I am watching now for that deal I can't pass up when I find it. I think the terrible unrest and chaos in Bolivia, and what her family has been going through helped her realize that the city may not be the best place to be for us, and that teaching the kids to be more self sufficient, teaching skills, learning to build and do animal husbandry and how to care for the land is a better path. We already homeschool our kids, so have the freedom to not worry about local schools (and also the desire to have as little of our money be stolen to pay for them!)

My blog reading has slowed down a bit with the education I am going through right now, but, I WILL finish this topic, just not sure when, now... Imwish I could see many of the older embedded pics/videos, but I guess over the years, different services have started charging, or have disappeared, so I absorb what I can and move on. I rather hope one day we can have an "Eastern Underground Command Bunker" to live in and share with others, we have many friends from other countries already! LOL

As always, I appreciate your thoughts and advice. Stay warm! I'm in Paris, TX today for a 34 hour reset as a trucker, and it was 21F when I woke up this morning. ;-)

Leif