What materials to use to build a fox hole house. Construction of a "fox hole" type house

How to solve your housing problem for just $5,000?
Simon Dale from Wales has the answer. He decided not to pay rent or get involved with bank loans, but to build his own “hobbit house” in the forest on a hillside, like in the movie “The Lord of the Rings.”

Only natural materials were used during construction. This project was completed in just 4 months - much less time than waiting for the completion of the construction of your apartment in modern high-rise buildings.

Simon Dale is neither a builder nor a carpenter. He built this house together with his father-in-law and friends.

View from the window:



It took only about $4900, 4 months and 1000-1500 man-hours to create it.

When building the house, they dug a pit right in the hill. Rock and soil from the excavation were used for supporting walls and foundations. The wood was taken from the surrounding forests, and the insulation of the floor, walls and roof was made with straw.

Architectural project:




The main tools were a chainsaw, a hammer and a chisel.

Foundation:

Frame construction:


Frame of the future house made of oak:


The house has a natural refrigerator - the cellar is always cool; water from the nearest source; solar panels generate electricity for lighting, a small stereo system and a computer. During the day, light penetrates through the glass dome in the roof of the house.

View from the balcony on the 2nd floor:


Another option for lighting the “hobbit house” in the evening is candles.

Beautiful and romantic:


Entrance:


Kitchen:


The house is plastered lime plaster, because the walls breathe.

The house is heated by a wood-burning fireplace. The chimney passes through a large stone, which heats up and releases heat inside the house for a long time.

The “fox hole” type of structure itself is not new. Studying the history of architecture in different parts light in different eras, we came across one very surprising fact in our opinion. A fact that cannot be refuted. People of our time could not help but know about the “fox hole”. Scientists, architects, and historians could not help but know about it. The image of a “fox hole” is in the modern children's encyclopedia! It turns out that such houses were used to one degree or another by almost all people (if not all, which could not be established with absolute accuracy) civilizations, including ours, the civilization of today...

Initially, man, having no vital need for all that we call the benefits of civilization, living in nature itself, did not build any structures, since there was no need for this in warm areas. But there were also cold ones. Imagine, if a person was born in a cold area or by chance during some disaster was forced to immediately stay in the cold, what can he build for an overnight stay and from what? Never mind.

If a person was born in a cold area, then he initially had to have the ability to withstand the cold, otherwise he would simply die out. Every creature always initially has the ability to live in the environment in which it was born. Note that nature gives life to everyone: birds, fish, animals, keeping them in balance called life. And has she really created some kind of dependent person who needs something else just to live? Cheated me. Why would she create such a mentally complex creature as man, endow all animals with the ability to withstand cold, and deprive man of such a trifle? Put yourself in her place and answer – where is the logic here? Or maybe we were lied to about human helplessness?

Man, born in nature, perceives the world as your home, your homeland. In nature, everything is interconnected, all creatures are closely interconnected, complementing each other and generally forming a single chain of life. Such a person was part of this circle of life; he could use the homes of the animals living around him at night: large wolf holes, bear dens, etc. Not all animals reuse their homes. So a person, without bothering himself, could use a dugout-den for overnight stay. NOTE, THIS IS A RESIDENCE FOR AN OVERNIGHT, NOT A HOUSE. The house is a living surrounding nature.

The temperature in such a structure is always from 0 to +5 degrees Celsius, i.e. It is cool in summer and warm in winter. Many may argue that the ground is damp. But if this is so, would a wolf or a bear then live in it? Do you really think that animals will live in uncomfortable conditions? Try leaving your dog in a wet kennel overnight? In fact, such dugouts are often covered from the inside with roots near growing trees, forming a beautiful pattern and blocking the access of the earth, creating a reliable, strong support.

I think it’s with these “dwellings” – overnight shelters – that the history of the “fox hole” begins, which was used as animal dwellings.

It is worth paying attention to one surprising fact. Ask yourself: where does the moose spend the night (this is our “Russian forest cow”)? In the snow... Don't you freeze? He spends the night, which means he doesn’t freeze. Are wolves, foxes, and hares also able to endure even the harshest winters and sleep in the snow? Then why do they need holes? Incredibly, observations of animals lead to the conclusion that they use their homes not so much as protection from temperature fluctuations, but as a temporary shelter from bad weather and the elements. If it rains, then life in the forest seems to freeze: everyone hides in holes, or simply remains in place without moving until the bad weather ends: snow, blizzard, rain or just a strong wind. No birds in the sky, no insects. This means that the fact that animals use any structures (burrows, nests) does not oblige humans to do the same. But people, apparently, used dwellings for this reason too.

In the historical encyclopedia we read: “Dwellings in the southern, dry forest-steppe regions were built deep into the ground - semi-dugouts. The walls were made of logs. Between the dwellings or in the dwellings themselves there were grain storage pits... In half-dugouts along the walls there were benches cut directly from the ground.” (“Big historical encyclopedia schoolboy")

Of course, not all nations used half-dugouts; this largely depended on the lifestyle of the people. Naturally, it is easier for nomadic peoples to have a collapsible, lightweight, portable home.
Such houses were also used in the north, by the Vikings: “As you can see, despite the clay walls and earthen floors, the living quarters were quite comfortable... All the houses were built almost for centuries” (series “Encyclopedia “Vanished Civilizations”, “Vikings” : raids from the north”)

By historical facts in the future, only a turf roof is used: “In countries with a harsh climate, such as Greenland or Iceland, there was little wood, so local residents built the walls of their homes from stone and turf.”

Turf-roofed houses remain to this day. In this case, the turf layer eliminated the need to maintain the structure. Living roof(in the truest sense of the word) does not require repair! Similar structures are found throughout the Mari El Republic (Volga region). In abandoned villages you can find storage facilities made in a similar way. They're standing!

Civilizations that did not know metal used ready-made animal dwellings, those that knew used half-dugouts and dugouts, which we now call “fox holes.” Because to build even the simplest “fox hole”, you need at least a shovel. This means that at first there was a dugout den, then a half-dugout, after which only a turf roof remained.

Several years ago, in one newspaper (unfortunately, it was not possible to determine the exact name and number) there was an article that in the area of ​​​​Mount Belukha, where, according to Tibetan monks, Shambhala is located, Old Believers (as they were called in the article) live in a village. They live in just such half-dugouts. According to them, people have been living in them for more than 500 years.

Why? Because no magnetic or other waves with artificially inflated human fluctuations penetrate beyond the two-meter layer of earth. A person in such houses is simply not subject to their destructive effects. On the outskirts of the settlement, a metal pyramid was built from scrap metal found by the villagers. In their opinion, it collects all the negative energy from the space in which they live and spews it out in the form of lightning. The author describes how he himself saw the pyramid in action. They do not create negative energy; it is evenly distributed throughout the earth from the source. For example, if you hit your hand, it hurts not only your hand, but your whole body. Considering the level of consciousness, the depth of knowledge of the world order, they cannot be called a primitive tribe. At the same time, they choose a dugout-hill as their home.

Foxy burrow. Part 2: Making a home.

In our time They started talking a lot about ecological houses, developments are underway, and projects of similar houses are being proposed. Among them there are many beautiful and comfortable ones, with autonomous systems heating and power supply from wind, solar panels etc., self-purifying water drains, but, nevertheless, all these projects are practically copies ordinary houses. It is necessary to add to this that all of them, as a rule, are much more expensive than ordinary houses, and also require further constant care, restoration, and connection to the surrounding space that changes over time. Within 20-30 years they become obsolete: both architecturally and technically.

Where is the way out?

We want to bring to your attention a well-forgotten design of a house that anyone can build, regardless of material well-being (if they have the desire); a home that becomes stronger and more beautiful over time; taking up virtually no space (which is very important for small areas); creating almost no shadow and constructed from any known building materials or improvised materials available in the area.

This is a project of an earthen structure of the “fox hole” type.

notice, that similar houses are built to this day, for example, by Old Believers in Altai, and in almost any region you can find structures similar type, if not residential, then economic.
Please do not confuse this building with a dugout, as they are not the same thing. “Fox Hole” is an earthen hill. Depending on the wishes of the owner, it can be built with any depth or even be located at the level an ordinary house.
If the angle of inclination of the walls is 45 degrees, then it will practically not create a shadow, because... The angle of the summer solstice at the latitude of Moscow is approximately equal to this. A slight shadow is created in the morning and evening hours from the west and east of the building.

Why does it take up almost no space?

Yes, because the hypotenuse is always larger than the leg, and since the embankment of the house is earthen, it can be used for planting on all sides and on top (strawberries, raspberries, shrubs, flower beds, etc.). It is even possible to plant small trees if certain conditions are met, which, in general, creates unlimited possibilities when decorating the external design of your building and quickly and cheaply changing it according to your wishes. Imagine: a flowerbed house, it can be different every year. This is where there is unplowed field for imagination.

Why is it getting stronger?

Yes, because every year the earth becomes more compacted, and the roots of grasses and shrubs hold the surface layer together so much that even if all the internal supports are removed, it will still support itself. Go out into an unplowed meadow. After all, its entire space is pitted with holes of moles, mice, and worms, but the ground does not collapse under you. There is no need to be afraid of the penetration of the root system of plants into the house, there is a simple protection against this... winter time such a house becomes even warmer, as it is covered with snow blankets, and snow load does not create additional weight due to freezing of the upper soil layer. An example of this is ice on rivers. Inside such a house, at any external temperature, the temperature remains above zero, even without heating, which means that heating the structure requires a minimum of energy expenditure. Its walls are always breathing. It is cool in summer.
With properly constructed ventilation, there is no dampness in it, but there is also no dryness that happens in apartments in winter, and humidity and cold when the heat is turned off, which is mainly the cause of damage to furniture, dampness of wallpaper and clothing, and cracks in the walls. , jamming and drying out of doors and windows.
The interior decoration of a house can be made from any materials, even wood, since there are cheap, well-forgotten ways to protect it from external conditions. You can also make walls inside from available materials: clay, willow, reeds, straw, cattails, wild stone, etc.
To be convinced of the other advantages of the “Fox Hole” project, let’s consider it in comparison with a traditional house of the same area and made of the same materials with a conventionally taken area, say, 100 square meters. m.

What does a traditional house consist of?

A solid, good foundation is the basis of any house that is built to last. Then the basement, walls, ceilings, roof. A few auxiliary little things, such as: trays for water drainage, outlet pipes, gables, hems, light and ventilation windows, blind area, window frames, etc. - which, by the way, requires far from small costs, money and time, and periodic repairs. In regions with a large snow cover in the spring, the problem of snow avalanches from roofs or their pressing through due to the weight of the snow increases. And the roof itself is an expensive pleasure. A good one, made of galvanized iron or glazed tiles, is not affordable for everyone.

What do we have in the fox hole?

Just walls and ceilings, which themselves serve as a roof. Note that the walls are much thinner, since they only serve as a restraining factor from the collapse of the earth (with the thickness of the embankment being one and a half meters, there is no need to worry about heat capacity: up to the seventieth parallel, they practically withstand any frost). Roof waterproofing can be made of ordinary roofing felt in 2 layers (the most cheap material), but it is possible without it if you have a good clay castle (made of well-mixed clay) 15-20 cm thick or birch bark, which does not rot in the ground for hundreds of years and is not afraid of fires, and at the same time retains heat perfectly (yes, yes, this is not typo: there are such ancient technologies). A year after installation, a one-meter thick layer of earth on the roof cannot be wetted by even a single rainstorm. Snow waters melt more evenly, and the ground under the snow is always slightly frozen, which perfectly prevents water from penetrating deeper. No lower ice crusts form, which means there is no chance of an avalanche (and there is practically nowhere to go). All you need are good drainage ditches around the entire building with a slope in one direction, seeded with good grass (instead of concrete, iron or other trays), for example, bentgrass, wheatgrass, etc. Foundations are also not needed or are needed purely symbolically for supports, since there is nothing to freeze, and therefore there is no swelling of the soil. And if this house is made of red burnt brick, the walls are half a brick thick, concrete, mesh reinforced, branches, etc. 5-7 cm thick, made of boards with load-bearing beams arched structure, then it is able to withstand colossal loads (examples of this are bridges).

The interior decoration is the same as that of a regular house, although there are also many ways to save money and time, not counting durability. For example, floors that can be left earthen by covering them with mats (a rug made of natural material). Or lay it out of tiles, placing it on a screed made of light and warm concrete (there are such), or make it out of wood, placing it on small spacers, or the same concrete using the “floating parquet” principle. In any case, this does not require floor slabs or massive wooden transfers.

Next, we will consider the main reasons for distrust of the Fox Hole structure:
– unusualness appearance
– fear of flooding
– fear of dampness indoors
– penetration of rodents and insects
– illumination
– collapse of the structure

Unusual appearance- the argument is certainly weighty, but let's look around and ask ourselves what is more pleasant to see: a house with rickety walls or chipped plaster covered with “wonderful” inscriptions, with a dilapidated roof, etc. or a flowerbed, or a neat lawn, or a dwarf garden with a pergola or gazebo covered with grapes, hops, etc.

Of course, a beautifully executed facade of a house with fashionable architecture is also a pleasant sight, but for how long? After all, fashion is architectural styles It changes so quickly, in just 20-30 years, the style becomes obsolete. Try changing the façade of a stone or wooden structure... In addition, time brings its destruction, and with it concerns about restoration. Another thing alpine slide, or a flower garden, or a lawn. You can change it at your discretion at least every year, and small trees or shrubs with a creeping root system (juniper, lilac, jasmine, fir trees, etc.) against the background of a hill will create a stable landscape.

Fear of flooding- a very serious thing, but nowhere does it say that this structure should be built in a swamp, or in a floodplain, or in a pit. Even if your site is relatively damp, you can build drainage ditches. Will save you from the penetration of spring upper waters thick layer earth embankment of the house and elevation of 50-60 cm from the general ground level of the entrance to the room.
The depth of the house itself depends on the level groundwater and the wishes of the owner (at least bury yourself under the ceiling, or at least don’t bury yourself at all).

Dampness in the room occurs mainly due to poor ventilation, or low heat capacity of the walls, or an incorrectly located heating system. The thermal capacity of the walls with a 1.5 meter embankment will not raise any doubts, but the ventilation and heating system is in your hands. Probably, many have had to observe moldy walls, falling off wallpaper and plaster in quite good external multi-storey buildings, planned and built by professionals in their field.

When asked aboutpenetration of rodents, moles and other unwanted neighbors, you can only add a few words. Our high-rise buildings are no less infested with mice and rats, despite the fact that they are made of brick and concrete, a material supposedly inaccessible to rodents. I had to meet rats and mice on the 14th floor. Ants and cockroaches have become an integral part of our everyday life(those who don’t have them can see an abundance of them in stores chemicals protection from these cohabitants). Moles do not dig their tunnels to such depths, as they hunt for worms, which feed on the remains of vegetation and are found in fertile soil. top layer 30-50 cm. And he prefers to go around walls rather than break into them. For ants to make passages in a one and a half meter wall, what for us is to dig a three-kilometer tunnel underground to a bread store located opposite your house. All these neighbors need a home and food. Moreover, they set up a house only next to the food base. There is no food and they don’t need a home. So keep food supplies in special rooms and live peacefully without all these worries.

Fear of roof collapse is also not justified. Dugouts covered with earth can even withstand bombing. I don't think this is a threat to us. A layer of earth 1-1.5 m thick can easily withstand even 15 cm thick logs protected from moisture, but even better is an arched structure made of any materials on a sand cushion (not even worth talking about floor slabs). In a year or two, the roots of the plants will hold everything together so that the soils will support themselves.

The question of illumination remains. We will cover this issue more widely, since it has many options.
Let's start with traditional windows in the walls at our usual level of 80-90 cm from the floor level. This is quite possible, you just need to provide small “loggias” around the window when laying the walls, since there is an earthen rampart on the sides and above the window. The earthen rampart can reach almost to the level of the window from below, but this is not scary. It can be covered with tiles, bricks, wood and anything else, or you can simply plant it with flowers or arrange a mini-greenhouse for fresh herbs. Heat leakage will serve the cause of “prosperity” (greenery in our case). If you don’t like the ground with a flower bed at window level, we’ll resolve this issue. It is enough to insulate the space under the window with outside thickening of walls or glass wool, cattails, straw, etc.

Rice. 1 Traditional loggia window with glazing

Traditional windows with a loggia with earthen filling. It is possible to glaze the outside and get a mini-greenhouse.

It is advisable to make one window per room, albeit a large one, and insert triple glazing(albeit expensive) or glaze them from the outside like an ordinary loggia or greenhouse. If you introduce heating there, then you will get a mini-greenhouse or “ winter Garden"(depending on the wishes of the owners). And in order to get an impression of of this type windows, look at the world from the window of an apartment that has a loggia. And you will agree that you do not see what is on the sides of the loggia: an earthen rampart or a neighbor’s loggia, as well as above it: a neighbor’s loggia or a growing tree.

Next type windows - skylights. They can be located in the walls at ceiling level or in the ceiling itself and have different shape(see Fig. 2, 3, 4). This is where there is room for imagination. Can you imagine a living room or dining room where you, sitting in your favorite rocking chair by the fireplace or an aquarium with fish, can simultaneously admire starry sky, or views of clouds at sunset, or the flight of butterflies over flowers or hanging bunches of grapes, while in a cozy bedroom. Or “sleep under your own star.”

All this is possible with a dome-type skylight window (see Fig. 6). Technically, the implementation of these windows is not particularly difficult. The fear of snowfall is also unfounded. After all, the window is located above an earthen hill, and even a child is able to remove snow with a broom or brush after the snowfall ends. The second and third glazing can be provided from the room at ceiling level (even with stained glass). Or put a mini-greenhouse outside, where, again, heat leaks will serve the cause of prosperity. Or you can simply install attic double-glazed windows (Fig. 7).

Rice. 6. On top is a skylight (attic double-glazed window). And below is an example of a dome window with triple glazing

There remains only one unanswered question: where to get so much land? You can simply buy it. There is no cheaper building material. But there are other ways, for example, digging wells, ponds, and drainage ditches. If you don’t want that, there are other ways...

Also among the advantages of the “Fox Hole” it can be noted that such a house cannot be “carried away”, disassembled for parts, burned, painted, etc. But he also has two significant shortcomings: first - unusualness, second - this house is not intended for workaholics: you won’t have to repair it every year and there is too little maintenance work.

If all of the above interests you, let’s move on directly to several projects of such houses.

Foxy burrow. Part 3: House designs.

Idea family estate. Who is it aimed at? For people with different capabilities, but united by one goal: “I can’t be unhappy anymore.” Those who consider themselves happy already in this world may not finish reading. Many people are already ready to live simply in harmony with the surrounding world and nature. Others would like to combine the natural with the familiar in their family estate, i.e. the benefits of civilization. For these two fundamentally different categories of people who want to realize the idea of ​​a family estate, we offer two fundamentally different approaches designing houses of the “fox hole” type.

Approach one combines: simplicity, functionality, practicality, maximum fusion with the surrounding space with minimal material costs and time for building maintenance.

Approach two combines the principles of the former with modern amenities and appliances, architecture and landscape design. In this case, you choose the degree of merging with nature yourself - the most acceptable for you in this moment time, up to the complete transfer of all the amenities of the city to the settlement.

Now, using the first approach, we will describe one of the simplest and affordable houses“fox hole” type (see Fig. 1). (Note: the pictures show house designs that are closest to modern ones, which, of course, is not at all necessary. The houses themselves look quite large and look like cottages. This is not so: simply due to the embankment, the house seems larger than it actually is. Its living area is the same as that of an ordinary house).

Rice. 1. “Fox hole”

It is worth immediately noting that the internal layout of any “fox hole” type house is not at all tied to the external shape and design of your home. Also distinctive feature is that you do not have to place the rooms close together; you can remove them from each other at any distance by connecting them with corridors (see Fig. 2, 3).

This gives unlimited possibilities when planning a house, reducing heat loss between rooms (it’s hot in the kitchen: they’re preparing dinner, it’s cool in the next room) and high sound insulation, which is very important for large families, with minimal material costs. And also the ability to increase additional areas in case of increasing the family without losing the external design, the so-called “growing” house.

In the second approach, we will consider the two most significant types of houses for “settlers”. These are complex houses, or gallery houses. The first type is a horseshoe house, the second is a closed house - a gallery. Let's consider the first one (see Fig. 4).

The peculiarity of the horseshoe-shaped house is that it front part(patio) are modern, and the front one completely merges with nature. The house has two main entrances on opposite sides. At the front entrance you invite business partners at work, city relatives who will not accept anything other than modern amenities, important guests. And to the backyard - your real friends, like-minded people. Here you are in the “city” (being in the front yard), you did some work, took a few steps, and you are in the virgin forest, or your garden, or vegetable garden, etc. And no one may even know that your house here is an ordinary “hill.” They think you have a normal house or even a cottage. And you spend your time so modestly, looking at blooming garden, which, by the way, very few rich people can afford. After all, the garden was grown by you. This is your success, dear, that’s why you are so happy. But here it was planted by professionals: beautiful, but dead. That's why rich people change their dachas so quickly. After all, this is not their success, this is the designer’s success. And he doesn’t bring them joy... That’s the secret.

The second house, along with all the advantages of the first, also has its own distinctive ones. If you want to live in modern house, but at the same time its appearance should not spoil the natural landscape - it is for you (see Fig. 7). This can be a house - a gallery of any shape (circle, oval, square, triangle, hexagon, etc.) with a courtyard. Convenient in that it is possible to access all rooms both from inside the house and through the yard along shortest path. In the overall landscape of the site, it does not visually stick out and does not absorb the surrounding space.
For those who find it difficult to move from “civilized” architecture to nature and simplicity, the patio is a real find. You can organize a pool or a fountain in it, or you can do it all together. Concrete paths or lawn. You can even glaze the entire upper space of the patio.
The walls facing the courtyard can be made “classic”, i.e. leave open, from the building materials from which the house is built, clad with tiles, wild stone, marble, clapboard, etc. In a word, whatever you want. You can also make an embankment, sod it, turning it into a lawn or flowerbed and arrange a mini-garden inside the courtyard with grapes, cherries, Christmas trees... Organize a decorative pond without fear that water and tree roots will get into the house (don’t forget about drainage ditches or gutters). People around you won’t even think that everything is like that with you! External embankment can be simple.
On the top of such a house-complex you can put a gazebo with an all-round view, or an unheated summer room. Summer kitchen, but you can also place it inside the yard. You can display hives, and if the hives are decks, then you can arrange them into a fabulous ensemble. You can even install greenhouses (they will not block out much light) or simply organize a mini-garden. Your possibilities are endless!
As you can see, all these houses are characterized by one thing - a combination of opposites: civilized and natural. Moreover, you can freely choose the ratio of living and dying elements in your home!

In addition to everything, we can say that this project can be completely autonomous: water supply, sewerage, etc.

It is unlikely that anywhere else you can feel such a sense of security as in a bunded building. The secret is simple and I learned this secret on the pages of the website www.ibrus.ru - the energy and spirit of the earth literally permeate the structure under the turf dome. Natural grounding buildings relieves stress, cleans electromagnetic fields caused by stray currents, which is typical for multi-story buildings reinforced concrete structures.

There are no fears of heating power outages and power outages here, since in order to maintain comfortable temperature A basic wood fire is enough. As usual, holiday villages flash monotonously outside the window of the electric train. Booths, huts, houses, houses, houses... And behind all this pile of buildings, the main thing is not visible - the beauty of the cultivated land. And the houses themselves (or rather, the cases) are empty most of the year. In cold weather, warming them up for the night (15-16°C) is problematic: until the walls warm up, it’s time to get ready for the city.

In a bunded house, the water in the pipes or in the kettle will never freeze, and with a minimum of costs it is easy to create comfortable conditions residence. The lack of natural light can be compensated by installing transparent roof elements (skylights), the efficiency of which is much higher than traditional windows.

Fig. 1 Plan of a “Fox Hole” type house for a small area:
1 - veranda (14.0 m2);
2 - kitchen (12.0 m2);
3 - room (20.0m2);
4 - vegetable storage (18.0 m2);
5 - greenhouse (18.0m2);
6 - pantry (1.3 m2);
7 - bench-locker;
8 - water absorber pit

Modern bunded structures can be the most for various purposes: these are premises for livestock, garages for agricultural machinery, etc. Houses built using the simplest materials ( expanded clay concrete blocks, sandbags, logs, soil blocks) can help solve the acute housing problem of many categories of the population - refugees, displaced people, etc.

This type of bunded houses received the code name “Fox Hole”. Our architectural studio is ready to help develop projects for both small buildings and entire public complexes (sports, cultural, etc.). Let's see how for the little one garden plot you can build a small house covered with earth.

Manufacturing jobs. At the first stage, a common pit is dug with a depth of 0.5-0.8 m and dimensions 0.5 m larger than the dimensions of the future building. The soil is piled up along the perimeter of the embankment. At the bottom of the pit they make strip foundation 400 mm thick and 250 mm deep, made of M300 concrete, reinforced with ZF6A-1 mesh. A 150 mm thick preparation of sand and gravel mixture is laid under the strip foundation. On the top of the foundation there is waterproofing made of two layers of roofing felt on bitumen.

The walls of the house are erected from red brick Ml00 on cement-sand mortar M50: up to the 0.00 mark - 380 mm thick, above - 250 mm thick. Walls can be made from other materials, for example, from concrete blocks, or made from monolithic expanded clay concrete. The outer surfaces of the walls in contact with the ground must be insulated by coating with hot bitumen (two to three times) or roofing felt.

The ceiling is made from hollow reinforced concrete slabs type PK63-15-8, on top of which a leveling screed is made. The ceiling is insulated with polystyrene foam boards 50-70 mm thick, which are laid on cold bitumen mastic. The insulation layer is covered with two to three layers of roofing felt (waterproofing material) on bitumen mastic with waterproofing of junctions with walls.

On top of the structure - clay castle with a layer of 10-15 cm, followed by embankment with soil removed from the pit. Subsequently, ornamental grass can be sown in this place, a flower garden can be arranged, etc.

This is a project of an earthen structure of the “fox hole” type.
Note that similar houses are still being built to this day, for example, by Old Believers in Altai, and in almost any region you can find structures of this type.
Please do not confuse this building with a dugout, as they are not the same thing. "Fox Hole" is an earthen hill. Depending on the wishes of the owner, it can be built with any depth or even be located at the level of an ordinary house.

Svetlana and I decided that the first dwelling on the estate would be a dugout or a “Fox Hole” type house. And all because while we have open spaces and the wind is blowing, a traditional land-based house will be very drafty and lose heat faster than a house protected by trees or earth. And the soil removed when digging a hole becomes the walls of the above-ground part. A kind of savings on building materials.

They started digging a hole for the dugout back in 2008. The test hole was approximately 1x2 m, about 1 m deep. It was inconvenient to dig further due to the small size of the hole. In 2009, markings were made according to plan. The main room is a hexagon 4x3.5 m, the corridor is 2x3 m. It was more convenient to dig in such areas - there is somewhere to swing a shovel. However, they did not have time to finish it before winter.

In the spring of 2010, the edges of the pit crumbled, so it was decided to increase the size of the dugout by half a meter in each direction. By mid-August, the pit for the dugout was ready for construction; only the earthen staircase remained. Now, looking back, I can say with confidence that it is faster and cheaper to dig a hole with an excavator. Manual excavation still remain, but the time savings will be significant.

We dug a hole for the central pillar with a crowbar and installed it. According to the drawing, we cut out the ends of six logs that will rest on the central pillar. We installed logs to check how everything fits together. All logs were checked and removed.

We dug holes into which the ends of the roof logs would rest. Svetlana carefully cleaned all the logs of bark. They attached halves of logs to the logs to increase the support area, and burned them over a fire. The log structure was reinstalled. Using a water level, the supporting ends were brought to the same mark. To do this, some debris was poured under the support here and there. After this, the holes were filled to the top with debris, wetting and compacting thoroughly.

We installed corner pillars, a corridor frame, and a window structure. Logs differ from lumber in their individuality. Each unit has to be modified manually, the parts have to be adjusted to each other. Although it takes more time, the end result is more soulful. Apparently, this is why energy in old houses is better than in modern ones.

For cladding, the boards were planed on one side and treated with Lyubimaya Dacha impregnation. They planed it in the village, on Sergei’s machine. We express our gratitude to him! They sheathed them in rows, trying to keep the seams horizontal. In the future, when the seams dry out, we will make decorative flashings. To prevent long boards from bending, a board was screwed across them in the middle, connecting several boards into a single shield.

Outside, in the corners, boards 200 mm wide were attached to the edge. And on top of them they nailed a cut, which served as a lathing. Straw was compacted into the space between the sheathing boards and the cuttings. This step must be done very quickly to prevent the exposed thatch from getting wet in the rain. Lyudmila Koreshkova helped us with this, for which we express our deep gratitude to her.

The straw was covered with roofing felt on top, attaching it to the sheathing. At the bottom, a gutter was made from roofing felt, along which the water should flow around the dugout and go to the side. The gutter at the bottom of the dugout was lined with clay, compacted with feet and covered with debris.

And then the frosts hit, the pile of wood, soaked by the rain, froze. Therefore, they decided to postpone the work until next season. One wall at the entrance remained uninsulated. They hung a temporary door on it to keep the snow out. They pulled it over the windows plastic film. Now the dugout is ready for the winter.

The house with such an unusual name “fox hole” is a bunded house or, simply put, a dugout. The construction of houses of this type is due to protection from the unfavorable and sometimes even extreme effects of climatic conditions.

The advantage of such a building is that it is very warm, which allows for a minimum consumption of heating media of any kind. Such a house is warm in winter and cool in summer.

But you can’t save on electricity there, since the rooms are all dark and need lighting even during the daytime.

The construction of such houses belongs to the category of eco-construction.

When building a “fox hole,” the most important thing is to make high-quality waterproofing and a ventilation system in order to create the most comfortable conditions for living in this kind of room.

Modern Construction Materials They provide a wide selection of high-quality waterproofing, but nevertheless, such a house needs to be built in elevated areas where the groundwater level is very low.

The top of the building is covered with a turf dome, which is an excellent material for additional thermal insulation and sound insulation.

Nowadays, when all heating resources are becoming more expensive at an unimaginably fast pace, the issue of building such houses becomes very relevant, because in any case such buildings are more economically profitable.

Such houses are built from any available building materials and the principle of construction is not much different from the construction of ordinary houses, the only difference being that embankment is done for insulation. In this regard, there should be robust design roofs.

A fox hole can be located completely underground or partially.

Another advantage is its low cost and speed of construction. Such a building can be erected and finished in just a couple of weeks.

First of all, to build such a house, they dig a hole, the depth of which depends on the wishes of the owner of the house.

The bottom of the pit for waterproofing is lined with roofing felt or fiberglass material impregnated with bitumen.

A log is placed against each wall - this will be the bottom frame. In each corner, using staples, we fasten to the bottom trim vertical logs and the same pillars are installed in the center of each wall. If necessary, based on the size of the structure, we install additional supports in each gap. Then we cover everything with boards, roofing felt and a layer of any heat-insulating material.

Windows are made upon request. Windows can be made skylight - in the ceiling. On interior decoration houses underground also require a minimum of funds.

Lastly, heating and ventilation systems are built.