This might be off the wall but here goes

[Raineyrocks]

What if a bunch of us got together and created a project like Bruce Beach did in Canada?

http://www.radmeters4u.com/index.htm

[ancapagency]

This guy was on an episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit!  He's pretty much a wackjob, but the video they show of his bunker is somewhat impressive.

Of course, he thought the world was going to end before the episode of BS he was on aired--back in 2003 or something.  And his complex was condemned and declared off-limits by the Canadian Gooferment, so unless something has changed since then, he's not allowed (and indeed, has been locked out) of his bunker.

Still, if it's a bunker you want, and you've got the resources to come up with a buttload of school buses and the land to put them under, it doesn't seem like a bad way to do it. 

Of course, I suspect it'd be cheaper and easier to excavate a large hole, construct a purpose-built ferro-crete structure, and then backfill.  If you want a bunker.

[Raineyrocks]

This guy was on an episode of Penn & Teller's Bullshit!  He's pretty much a wackjob, but the video they show of his bunker is somewhat impressive.

Of course, he thought the world was going to end before the episode of BS he was on aired--back in 2003 or something.  And his complex was condemned and declared off-limits by the Canadian Gooferment, so unless something has changed since then, he's not allowed (and indeed, has been locked out) of his bunker.

Still, if it's a bunker you want, and you've got the resources to come up with a buttload of school buses and the land to put them under, it doesn't seem like a bad way to do it. 

Of course, I suspect it'd be cheaper and easier to excavate a large hole, construct a purpose-built ferro-crete structure, and then backfill.  If you want a bunker.

Wow, I didn't know he wasn't allowed to get into his bunker.  I heard about the Canadian govt. making it difficult for him to complete his project.  I emailed him a few years ago and he seems very nice, he offers, ( at least then ), to help people with a conceptual design to build their own "Arc" but it was out of the question for me at the time because we lived in Delmarva and the water table is too high or low.

I've just been reading a lot about the seed bank the govt. has in Antartica, (I think that's the location), and how they seem to be in a sudden hurry to complete their missions.  It seems alarming and I was thinking it would be nice if we could all find some way to survive whatever might be coming.

It would take a lot of us to work on though.  I don't think it's something that 1 family can accomplish if we are really that close to some type of doomsday.

[ReverendRyan]

I've just been reading a lot about the seed bank the govt. has in Antartica, (I think that's the location), and how they seem to be in a sudden hurry to complete their missions.  It seems alarming and I was thinking it would be nice if we could all find some way to survive whatever might be coming.

The seed bank is more about global warming hysteria than prospect for war. If I were to put money into survivalism, it would be food, not bomb shelters.

[John Galt]

You do understand that they are willing to unleash chemical and biological weapons(WMDs) domestically.  They have done it multiple times in the past and they'll do it again.  What the hell are you going to do with seeds and jugs when they can taint the water, plants, and animals?  Not saying you shouldn't try, just saying that you'll need to watch your animals, crops, and water 24/7/365.

[John Edward Mercier]

You could just plant some 'heritage' crops. In modern agriculture, biological diversity is diminishing as we focus on certain 'traits'... while ignoring others.

[John Edward Mercier]

Truly traditional homes don't require much maintenance from the design point, as originally everything had to be done with hand tools. Most modern homes can be low maintenance with good design and material use.
What government services your getting for your home?

[John Edward Mercier]

Most homes in this area have wells and septic systems... regardless of design. And our electricity comes from a mix of private sources...

[J’raxis 270145]

I like this design http://www.williamlishman.com/underground.htm There's something about living in a dark, clammy bunker that's not too appealing to me 

In the future, I want to build some sort of underground house, but I definitely want skylights. I like the idea of not having to "paint the house" and a relatively constant year-round ambient temperature. A self-sufficient design would be nice so gubment services would not be needed. I wonder if one of these designs would cost less than the traditional wooden house? Wooden houses and traditional designs seem to be maintenance hogs, most home owners I know are always fixing something, I guess this happens when you build out of materials that can degrade or rot.

Whenever I finally end up out in Grafton, I'll be looking into building something subterranean—probably into a hillside because that should be easier to construct, avoids water-table flooding issues, and makes it easier to expose to natural lighting (the part that would jut out of the hillside). I'm still in the very early planning stages (a.k.a. "pulling ideas out of my ass") of all this, of course.

[John Edward Mercier]

I have one right down the road from me in Belmont... it was built in the 70s.

[Lloyd Danforth]

I like this design http://www.williamlishman.com/underground.htm There's something about living in a dark, clammy bunker that's not too appealing to me 

In the future, I want to build some sort of underground house, but I definitely want skylights. I like the idea of not having to "paint the house" and a relatively constant year-round ambient temperature. A self-sufficient design would be nice so gubment services would not be needed. I wonder if one of these designs would cost less than the traditional wooden house? Wooden houses and traditional designs seem to be maintenance hogs, most home owners I know are always fixing something, I guess this happens when you build out of materials that can degrade or rot.

Whenever I finally end up out in Grafton, I'll be looking into building something subterranean—probably into a hillside because that should be easier to construct, avoids water-table flooding issues, and makes it easier to expose to natural lighting (the part that would jut out of the hillside). I'm still in the very early planning stages (a.k.a. "pulling ideas out of my ass") of all this, of course.

Gee, do you think you will be able to find a hillside in Grafton?

[Ron Helwig]

Whenever I finally end up out in Grafton, I'll be looking into building something subterranean—probably into a hillside because that should be easier to construct, avoids water-table flooding issues, and makes it easier to expose to natural lighting (the part that would jut out of the hillside). I'm still in the very early planning stages (a.k.a. "pulling ideas out of my ass") of all this, of course.

Take your time figuring out what you want, but definitely write it down. I watched the home and garden channel for a year before I built. I wrote down all kinds of ideas. I created a spec for the builder, with all kinds of details. For the most part I'm quite pleased with the result.

The steamer that we use all the time I first saw on "I Want That", IIRC. I never would have even thought of it if it weren't for watching. I found the house plans on the Internet and only modified them slightly.