Yes, if you build a small garden house. Garden houses are small-sized houses that are built quickly and at the same time with high quality.
If you are planning to build country house inexpensively, spending a minimum of time, then read this article. In it we will tell you about very interesting option garden houses, about houses built according to the principle of a fox hole.
What is a fox hole garden house? Most of you have probably watched the film “The Lord of the Rings”, so, remember the homes of the magical hobbits. They just lived in the “fox hole” houses. The fox hole house is very similar in principle to ordinary dugouts. It is worth noting that dugouts are a very good shelter from any bad weather, be it wind, heavy rain or cold. And if you are thinking about how to build a house cheaply, then the fox hole house option is just for you.
Fox hole house - all the pros and cons...
What advantages do garden houses based on the fox hole principle have?
Advantages:
*construction speed. You can build a fox hole garden house yourself with full finishing in 2 weeks
*if you want to build a country house inexpensively, then this is an option garden house for you.
*Fox Hole garden houses require minimal repairs, since the entire roof is covered with earth, *the façade of the house is reduced to a minimum
*favorable climate inside the garden house. In summer it remains pleasantly cool, and in winter *the houses maintain heat for a long time
*saving electricity when heating the room. Garden houses based on the fox hole principle for a long time *retain heat; they can be heated even at -30 only once a day
Inexpensive garden houses are real, but in addition to advantages, any construction has its disadvantages.
The disadvantages of such inexpensive garden houses include only psychological factors. The desire to feel during the daytime sunlight, the desire to hit from above, on the ground, and not underground, desires can be listed more and more, each person can experience his own special needs. Therefore, before construction, weigh all the pros and cons and only after that make a decision.
Waterproofing in garden houses
The humidity inside the garden house will depend on the depth groundwater and on the quality of the soil. For waterproofing, bikrost or roofing material is placed under the bottom trim. Over time, waterproofing may be damaged in areas where roofing material is damaged. Also, poor waterproofing is often found in houses that have a cellar attached.
During construction garden house It is very important to use as thick, even logs as possible with a minimum number of knots. Because over time, logs can break under load. Most often, logs break in places where there are knots.
How to build a house cheaply
Let us describe the construction of the fox hole house step by step:
1. a hole is dug around the perimeter 1 meter larger than the planned garden house
2. roofing felt is placed on the bottom
3. Four logs are placed on top, leveling. These logs will serve as the lowest frame for the house. Logs are possible bottom trim put on bricks
4. Logs are placed at the corners of the lower trim
5. Place pillars in the middle of sides A and C, securing them with corner brackets
6. attach beams and ridge
7. install rafters
8. Intermediate pillars are cut into each side
9. The resulting walls of the garden house are sheathed with roofing felt or 25 mm boards
10. additionally insulate the facade walls of the garden house
11. lathing is nailed to the rafters and the roof is covered with roofing felt.
12. windows can be made if desired
13. continue to study interior decoration garden house
14. Finally, you can start decorating exterior finishing garden house
Garden houses can be built using different technologies construction. In this article we told you how to build a house cheaply. Good luck with your construction!
I’m guilty of copy-paste, I really liked the article.
Our settlement is truly famous for its fox holes. And even in addition to the “official” name Rodniki, the options Lisenorsk and Norouralsk were proposed. But we can boast more about the number of holes than about the creative originality of the projects (although in the future, convinced burrowers - I am sure - will show the wonders of architecture. Projects for 8-sided and round fox holes are already being hatched). It so happened historically that the three currently inhabited holes were built in order to get a finished home as soon as possible, spending little money.
In addition to these 3 inhabited heated holes (Nina Ivanovna Fetkulova, Nadya Rubtsova, Tanya Skomarokhova) there are 2 already filled in, but without interior decoration and without a stove, and (Volodya Simakhin and Andrei Beloborodov) 1 more small (2.5x2.5 m) adapted under a summer house (Okulovskikh). In the next couple of years, at least 4 more families promise to build fox holes for themselves. 
Such popularity is associated with the advantages of such a home:
1. Construction speed. One of the holes (Nadia Rubtsova) was brought to a habitable state (with a stove and interior decoration) in 2 weeks from scratch (a hole dug by an excavator), of which it took 3 days to erect the frame, lining and backfill. Of course, with the help of neighbors.
2. Cheap. In almost all our projects, the main materials are round timber and unedged boards.
3. Low repair costs. Since the facade is reduced to a minimum and the roof is covered with earth, they do not need to be repaired.
4. Internal climate. In winter, newborns spend REALLY LESS firewood (at -30 they heat it once a day) than their neighbors in log houses. They can leave for a few days and not heat without the risk of freezing their home (although in practice we still heat each other’s stoves in the absence of the owners). In summer the house is pleasantly cool.
5. No official building permit is needed (an advantage for those who are afraid of guests from the land committee). Although Ukraine probably has its own specifics.
Disadvantages of fox holes:
1. Earth, like reinforced concrete slabs, has shielding properties, that is, it is an obstacle to natural cosmic radiation. People sensitive to subtle energy feel this as internal discomfort. Therefore, it is better for such people to build wooden houses, which are permeable to radiation.
2. The inability to look out the window, the desire to be on top of the earth are also serious psychological factors.
For me personally, these 2 disadvantages are very significant. That's why I live in a log house. For the same reasons, apparently, the inhabitants of all three inhabited burrows dream of moving to the surface in the future. While the settlers, who do not yet have any housing on the estate, dream of fox holes. 
The oldest hole (house of Nina Ivanovna Fetkulova) was built in 2004, the other two in 2006. Backfill - from 0.5 m to 1 m. The experiment was a success: the owners are generally satisfied with their homes. 
About waterproofing. In all 5 cases (except for the Okulovsky summer micromink, I don’t know about it), roofing material or bicrost was used. It was placed under the bottom trim (for almost everyone, except Volodya Simakhin, it lies on the ground, and for him - on bricks), it was also used to cover the boards of the walls from the outside. To be honest, I don’t really like this option: it interferes with the natural balance of humidity between the ground and the house (according to theory, loamy soil itself regulates humidity and maintains it at the optimal level). But I don't know any other options. Maybe I should plaster the outside walls with clay, dry it and fill it up? Clay plaster protects wood from rotting.
The humidity in the room probably depends on the type of soil and the depth of groundwater. We have loam, water at 5..7 m. Experience shows that dampness does not occur in a heated fox hole. Only Tanya Skomarokhova faced the problem of dampness: she has a cellar attached to her hole, and from there dampness comes through the door. She also noticed that the ceiling in the corner was getting wet and the boards were rotting: there was probably insufficient backfill there and the roofing material was damaged somewhere. Or maybe condensation? It may well appear on the roofing felt from the side of the boards if the room is humid from the cellar.
Tanya was also the only one whose hole suffered from the load of the earth. After a year of use, the ridge beam showed a noticeable crack, and it was necessary to support it with a post in the center of the house. The length of the beam is 4 m, the diameter is about 16-18 cm, there is a large knot at the break point. It must be said that the logs were used from firewood, which also affected the strength. (Nadya Rubtsova’s ridge beam with exactly the same characteristics is working properly). The conclusions are as follows: use a thicker log with a minimum of knots. And, most importantly, rest the rafters against each other in order to redistribute the load onto the walls. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the quality of the upper wall trim. Although, according to our standard design, numerous wall boards (perpendicular to the ridge), as well as the soil itself, should protect the walls (parallel to the ridge) from moving away.
It must be said that Tanya’s hole is a total phenomenon. Our settlers built there, but the work was poorly organized, no one knew the project. They did it, one might say, at random. Now I look and am surprised: the distance between the rafters is 133 cm and the sheathing is made of inch (!). The Thumbelina bent under the weight of the earth, but it held! Of course, all other holes are built more intelligently.
You're asking about racks. There's nothing wrong with them! They're not going anywhere.
Various smart people advised doing ventilation through two vertical pipes. However, it has not been implemented anywhere, and no one has ever suffered from it. Although it is possible that it would be even better with her, including in such “clinical” cases as Tanya Skomarokhova’s.
The windows in all our holes are from the facade, and the facade is from one of the gables.
In two more holes (Nadia Rubtsova and Nina Ivanovna) ceiling windows were made. Before installing the first one, we debated for a long time: is it worth it? They talked about fears about lakes of condensation, about rainwater flowing under the glass, under the frame, about hail breaking the glass, about how it would be swept away in winter anyway... They did it and saw: WORTH IT!!! There was no leakage of water, hail did not damage it either (the top glass is tempered), snow does not cause any inconvenience and is easy to clean. True, Nadya still had some condensation. But this did not overshadow the satisfaction from the window: a bright, but soft, pleasant diffused light from above and from the side illuminates the house until sunset.
No condensation was noticed on the second window (at Nina Ivanovna’s).
I present a standard design according to which the three mentioned currently inhabited burrows were built (the other 3, placed under a roof, are also very similar in design). True, I only drew the initial stage. Further it will be clear from the description. Our burrow sizes range from 2.5x2.5 to 4x4. 
1. The hole being dug is larger in size than the planned hole. For a 4x4 hole, we dug a 5x5 m hole. Our average depth is 1.5 m.
2. Roofing material is laid on the bottom along the perimeter of the future frame.
3. We place 4 logs of the lower trim on the roofing material, connect them into half a tree, level them (with some error possible), adjust them until the diagonals are equal and secure them with brackets. As an option, you can place the bottom trim on bricks. In our area, the main soil is loam, so it can be considered reliable, and the pillars should not be buried deep.
4. We install 4 pillars (length = 180..200 cm) on the corners of the lower frame: for a good fit, we trim either the frame logs or the posts. Of course, we check it plumb. We fix it with temporary cuts, from a slab, for example (not shown in the figure).
5. We install central pillars (length 250..300 cm) in the middle of sides A and C. We fasten them with a slab with corner posts.
6. Install the ridge and beams. It is recommended to take it longer than sides B and D according to the project in order to provide a canopy on the facade side.
7. Install the rafters. In our projects they rest on the ridge, but it’s probably better to rest them against each other. The distance between the rafters is 80..100 cm. When using a canopy from the facade, it is necessary that one pair of rafters be just above the logs and posts of side A.
8. Intermediate pillars are cut into each side. In the 4x4 project we had 2 of them on each side.
9. The walls of the resulting frame are sheathed on the outside with boards (25 mm) and roofing felt. Facade wall additional insulation is required.
10. Lathing is placed on the rafters and roofing felt is placed. Our lathing is 25..30 mm, but it’s better to make it thicker, or make the rafters more frequent.
11. Well, there are windows, doors and all that. Then the interior finishing. 
That's it.
Where is the way out?
Why is it getting stronger?
Unusuality appearance
Fear of flooding
Fear of damp indoors
Penetration of rodents and insects
Illumination
Collapse of the structure
Nowadays, there is a lot of talk about ecological houses, developments are underway, and projects of such 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., with self-purifying water drains, but, nevertheless, all these projects are practically copies of 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.
Let us note that similar houses are being built to this day, for example, by Old Believers in Altai, and in almost any region you can find buildings of this type, if not residential, then economic.
Please do not confuse this building with a dugout, as they are not the same thing. " Foxhole"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... corner summer solstice at the latitude of Moscow it 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... In winter, such a house becomes even warmer, since it is covered with snow blankets, and the snow load does not create additional weight due to freezing of the upper earthen 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's 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, good forgotten ways its protection 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, drainage pipes, gables, hems, light and ventilation windows, blind areas, window frames, etc. - which, by the way, requires far from small costs, money and time, 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 you can do without it if you have good clay castle(made of well-kneaded 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, while retaining heat perfectly (yes, yes, this is not a typo: there are such ancient technology). 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 baked brick with walls half a brick thick, concrete reinforced with mesh, branches, etc. 5-7 cm thick, made of boards with load-bearing beams of an 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 from a 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 according to the “floating parquet” principle. In any case, this does not require floor slabs or massive wooden transfers.
Unusual 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 building... Besides, time brings its destruction, and with it the worries 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. A thick layer of soil around the embankment of the house and an elevation of 50-60 cm from the general ground level of the entrance to the room will save you from the penetration of spring upper waters.
The depth of the house itself depends on the level of groundwater and the desire of the owner (either bury yourself under the ceiling, or 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 people have had to observe moldy walls, falling wallpaper and plaster in quite good-looking 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 a depth, as they hunt for worms, which feed on the remains of vegetation and are found in the fertile upper layer of 30-50 cm. And he prefers to go around walls rather than crack 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. And 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 earthen rampart. 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 from the outside by thickening the walls or glass wool, cattails, straw, etc.
Fig 1. Traditional window with a glazed loggia
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 to retain heat, insert triple-glazed windows (albeit expensive) or glaze them from the outside like a regular 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 to get an impression of this type of window in advance, 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.
The next type of windows is 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 the 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.”
Fig 2.
Rice. 3. Skylight window, type of window with large depth
Rice. 4.
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. 5. Skylights, view from outside and inside
Rice. 6. On top is a skylight window (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. Cheaper building material does not exist. 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 it also has two significant drawbacks: the first is that it is unusual, and the second is that this house is not intended for workaholics: it will not have to be repaired 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...
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