[ale] Running stuff as root == bad, was Re: FC13 question == The Bunker

[Damon L. Chesser]

On Sun, 2010-08-01 at 14:46 -0400, Drifter wrote:
> This was decades ago on a planet far, far away.  :)
> 
> But imagine a concrete shoebox, 30' X 60', oriented so the long axis faced 
> about 225 degrees. Buried into a hillside; exterior wall essentially all 
> glass sliding doors. Concrete roof supported by large steel trusses so no 
> interior partitions were supporting walls. Dropped ceiling hid chase area 
> for all wiring/plumbing.  Stair-stepped above it another box the same 
> size, so that the SW facing wall was inline with the back wall of the 
> lower level. Same construction as below, but sloping roof so that the SW-
> facing wall (again all windows) rose to 12 feet, sloping to 8' at the back 
> wall.  This upper level was the main living space. Entrance through back 
> wall.  From parking lot, the house was not visible as it was buried into a 
> hill. Sod on roof. Only hint that the house had to be there somewhere was 
> a chimney poking out through the top of the hill.  Entrance was down a 50' 
> long open tunnel -- eight foot wide -- through the eastern half of the 
> hill to the front door. Entrance into living room, facing large glass wall 
> looking out onto mountains five miles away.  Possible to walk out from 
> upper level onto roof of lower level.  This space originally planned as a 
> garden, later enclosed as a greenhouse.  Mostly open, giving a nearly 
> 1,800 sq.ft. party space.
> It was a neat house.
> All passive solar, of course. Zoned HVAC. Typical winter only used 100 
> gallons of propane.  Electric usage in summer about 10% higher than 
> without HVAC.  Before HVAC, heated the house with one fireplace upstairs 
> and one large wood stove downstairs. Never got really cold, but never got 
> really warm either. About three cords a winter.
> 
> Only construction hiccup was the dozer digging out the hole hitting sand 
> right where the footer for the back wall of the lower level had to go.  
> That footer had to support half the weight for both roofs.  Engineer said, 
> "that's easy; just use a spread footer." Yeah, right! One footer, 60 feet 
> long, 9 feet wide and 18 inches thick. That's 30 yards of concrete for ONE 
> footer!  One other minor difficulty:  After six months the concrete walls 
> were so hard I couldn't shoot a nail into them.  Had to bore a hole for 
> every damn fastener. Major PITA.

Neat.  I have looked at alt housing.  My favorite idea is the monolithic
concrete dome.  Rammed earth is a 2nd.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolithic_dome



> 
> Sean
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> On Sunday, August 01, 2010 12:45:18 pm Damon L. Chesser wrote:
> > On Sun, 2010-08-01 at 12:31 -0400, Drifter wrote:
> > > Keeping in mind that no >TRUE< Libertarian would ever "carry a card,"
> > > I am probably the only member of this list who not only claims to be
> > > a Libertarian, but also constructed and lived in a "bunker,"
> > > self-defined as a structure made completely of concrete, including
> > > the roof. It was a 3,600 sq.ft. bunker, so no one felt cramped for
> > > space. :)
> > 
> > More info on the bunker, pics, plans, cost, benefits ?
> > 
> > > Only problem was the lack of an attic!
> > > 
> > > Sean
> > > 


-- 
Damon
damon at damtek.com