Backyard Earthship Root Cellar With A Bottle Wall Sunroom On Top

06-26-12, 04:14 PM

Howdy everyone,

I'm looking into building a root cellar in my backyard to store our canned goods and maybe brew some beer for holidays.

We live in the "free zone" for permitting so it's not a big issue. But, I do want to make sure everything is designed and built super solid, like far past coding concerns, just to be safe.

I couldn't care less what the county thinks - just don't want anything falling down or apart for like maybe 100 years or more.

right?

The house: built on a concrete and rebar encircled slab with a radient heat system.

I'm still new to google sketchup. But, I've managed to create a model that is close to exact size. The size and placement of the hole is still just an approximation. I could use some input there.

No jokes about the french door opening into the hole.

The roof of the "root cellar" will be a bottle wall and roof sunroom. What kind of floor/ceiling is still in the works. We'd like to find something recyleable instead of building a regular deck.

I'll add that in the model after I get done with the first phase here, the backyard earthship.

So far the wall facing the house will be a tire retaining wall that leans back into the dirt. The other walls could maybe be can and papercrete walls since the dirt here is like sandstone.

Does anyone know how close to the house I can get with the top row of stepped back tires? As the model is, at the bottom of the hole at about 8' the bottom row of tires starts about 4 1/2'-5' from the foundation. That seems like the limit to me. But, could I get a little closer and maybe touch the slab of the house with the top layer of tires in order to get some cooling and heating from the slab into the tire wall?

Thanks!

It looks like I can't upload pics to this forum. Wha...? Okay, here you go.

This seems like a good place to cover the ongoing work too so I'll make this the tread for the whole project if I don't hear any objections.

strider3700 · 06-26-12, 05:41 PM

very cool definitely keep uploading

pics uploading has to do with how many posts you have. It's to prevent mass spamming.

06-26-12, 07:24 PM

Thanks. Yeah, I mentioned the spam paranoia in my other thread. And, on second thought, the way this field of research is crammed full of jerks hawking wares instead of spreading the truth... I can see how you might get a lot of spam. Ok. I'm almost past the limits I hope.

07-20-12, 01:46 AM

holy cow this forum is a bit less than busy I see. All this time and nothing?

I'm well into this build now but I have absolutely no reason to share photos now that it's obvous that you guys are absolutely useless.

There are actually oldtimers here too... equally clueless with anything to do with repurposing.

I'm not coming back here other than to maybe supply the link to someplace better when I find it.

07-20-12, 01:59 AM

In fact a simple search reveals the suckiness of this place.
Building A Cellar – Survival Gear Reviews Articles and Forums

Those guys aren't worried about the end of the world like I am, but it's a start. It doesn't have to be that hard.

I have a 7' deep 10'x10' hole dug and the wall supporting the house is a rammed earth tire wall... I started with 16s (just over 2' wide) and finished the wall with 15s and you guys suck for not mentioning the ends of the walls when overlapping tires.

I figured out an elegantly simple solution using just more dirt and some recycled stuff on hand. But, why should I tell you jerks?

06-26-12, 04:14 PM	#1
DirtFlinger Guest Posts: n/a	Backyard Earthship Root Cellar With A Bottle Wall Sunroom On Top Howdy everyone, I'm looking into building a root cellar in my backyard to store our canned goods and maybe brew some beer for holidays. We live in the "free zone" for permitting so it's not a big issue. But, I do want to make sure everything is designed and built super solid, like far past coding concerns, just to be safe. I couldn't care less what the county thinks - just don't want anything falling down or apart for like maybe 100 years or more. right? The house: built on a concrete and rebar encircled slab with a radient heat system. I'm still new to google sketchup. But, I've managed to create a model that is close to exact size. The size and placement of the hole is still just an approximation. I could use some input there. No jokes about the french door opening into the hole. The roof of the "root cellar" will be a bottle wall and roof sunroom. What kind of floor/ceiling is still in the works. We'd like to find something recyleable instead of building a regular deck. I'll add that in the model after I get done with the first phase here, the backyard earthship. So far the wall facing the house will be a tire retaining wall that leans back into the dirt. The other walls could maybe be can and papercrete walls since the dirt here is like sandstone. Does anyone know how close to the house I can get with the top row of stepped back tires? As the model is, at the bottom of the hole at about 8' the bottom row of tires starts about 4 1/2'-5' from the foundation. That seems like the limit to me. But, could I get a little closer and maybe touch the slab of the house with the top layer of tires in order to get some cooling and heating from the slab into the tire wall? Thanks! It looks like I can't upload pics to this forum. Wha...? Okay, here you go. This seems like a good place to cover the ongoing work too so I'll make this the tread for the whole project if I don't hear any objections.

06-26-12, 07:24 PM	#3
DirtFlinger Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks. Yeah, I mentioned the spam paranoia in my other thread. And, on second thought, the way this field of research is crammed full of jerks hawking wares instead of spreading the truth... I can see how you might get a lot of spam. Ok. I'm almost past the limits I hope. Last edited by DirtFlinger; 06-26-12 at 07:28 PM..

06-26-12, 05:41 PM	#2
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	very cool definitely keep uploading pics uploading has to do with how many posts you have. It's to prevent mass spamming.

07-20-12, 01:46 AM	#4
DirtFlinger Guest Posts: n/a	holy cow this forum is a bit less than busy I see. All this time and nothing? I'm well into this build now but I have absolutely no reason to share photos now that it's obvous that you guys are absolutely useless. There are actually oldtimers here too... equally clueless with anything to do with repurposing. I'm not coming back here other than to maybe supply the link to someplace better when I find it.

07-20-12, 01:59 AM	#5
DirtFlinger Guest Posts: n/a	In fact a simple search reveals the suckiness of this place. Building A Cellar – Survival Gear Reviews Articles and Forums Those guys aren't worried about the end of the world like I am, but it's a start. It doesn't have to be that hard. I have a 7' deep 10'x10' hole dug and the wall supporting the house is a rammed earth tire wall... I started with 16s (just over 2' wide) and finished the wall with 15s and you guys suck for not mentioning the ends of the walls when overlapping tires. I figured out an elegantly simple solution using just more dirt and some recycled stuff on hand. But, why should I tell you jerks?