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Hi,
I am going to build and underground house. But it’s going to be in a gully. Just wondered what you use to keep the moisture from coming through the walls?
I would like to have grass on the top.
It will look like part of my field hopefully. Thinking I will have to use concrete with metal inside. But hoping you have alternative ideas.
Yours sincerely Julie Burgoyne
First of all, I would advise you to not build in a gully, whether underground or not. You would be asking for trouble to build where water naturally collects and flows. All underground houses do need to be waterproofed, and this can be done in a number of ways, partly depending on the nature of the construction. With earthbag building, I have used curtains of several layers of polyethylene sheeting, or better might be heavy EPDM material or swimming pool liners. With solid masonry it might be possible to coat the exterior with a bituthene product that is made especially for that application.