Full transcript
0:00the only thing that makes living this
0:02way not accessible are laws this is my
0:06home this is the 50 million Mill Mansion
0:10not many people are going to be finding
0:12this Earth ships are the most efficient
0:14buildings until we can build with water
0:17that sounded like a dare sounded like a
0:19challenge so what I've done is I've
0:21built my home with water
0:36all right guys welcome back to another
0:37video today we're meeting up with Doc
0:39who's got a very interesting living
0:40setup going on to say the least we get
0:43to see exactly how he's built his home
0:45underground and when we walked inside we
0:47were amazed so let us know in the
0:49comments what you think too and if you
0:51like the video give it a thumbs up and
0:53if you do want to see more videos like
0:55this make sure you subscribed back to it
0:58[Music]
1:05right well I'm Doc and I live as
1:10underground as I can do uh in every
1:13sense I'm on a piece of land that I'm
1:17utilizing for growing animals growing
1:20trees and part of that I also make
1:23products and my reason for living where
1:26I'm living and for building what I've
1:29built is because I wanted to be able to
1:32close the loop on the waste in my
1:35business so building a factory from the
1:40waste from my factory was the objective
1:43that turned into a home rather than a
1:45factory but the principle stays the same
1:49what I mean by living underground is I
1:51literally live underground the home that
1:55I've built is the 50 million Mill
1:58Mansion it it's basically 50,000 L of
2:03water surrounded by Earth with a kitchen
2:06in a
2:08bedroom the idea behind the actual
2:12living underground is is inspired by
2:14Earth ships so the idea of an Earth Ship
2:17is to be able to to be Earth uh
2:19sheltered dwelling something that will
2:22heat and cool itself and cost nothing to
2:26run so what I've done is I've built a
2:28Earth Ship inspire at home the initial
2:31inspiration was from seeing the builds
2:34in uh the United States but I also saw a
2:38documentary which said Earth ships are
2:40the most efficient buildings until we
2:42can build with water so that sounded
2:46like a dare sounded like a challenge so
2:49what I've done is I've built my home
2:50with water um but that water simply
2:52contained within the containers that I
2:55use for my business so the house is
2:59underground but also underwater or
3:01surrounded by
3:03water once I understood the thermal
3:05properties of water I couldn't ignore
3:08that it's experimental nothing's been
3:11designed nothing's on paper the actual
3:14building
3:15process was pretty much done in the day
3:19as I gathered those containers I stacked
3:21them up as I stacked them up I put them
3:24in rows as I soon as I had those rows
3:27which took a couple of days I simply put
3:29a roof on it as soon as I put a roof on
3:31it it rained that was my building done
3:34so I didn't have to lift Earth because
3:36it came from the sky so as long as I was
3:38able to capture and store that water
3:40then I was building the building at the
3:42same time and then all I did was just
3:44buried it and that that was the the
3:47build
3:51process so this is the the land I've got
3:54a total of uh 12 acres we're on top of a
3:58hill so we're lucky that we're able to
4:00get the wind which is Handy for the wind
4:02turbine but the land essentially is all
4:06on the South Side so we're getting Sun
4:10for most of the day so that again is a
4:14big reason why the the Home Design is
4:16such it's because we want to capture the
4:19the the most of that thermal efficiency
4:21because we've got the best access to the
4:23Sun so there's unrestricted access to
4:25the Sun so we'll try and recover that
4:29energy as as best we can and like any
4:32building that's efficient you you want
4:34to be able to store that energy and keep
4:36that energy in the form of warmth for as
4:38long as you can so as you walk through
4:41we're lucky we've got a a bore hole the
4:43bore hole does operate from from
4:45electricity minimal amount but we're
4:48able to to use the the bore hole for for
4:50drinking water to just send it through a
4:52series of filters the bore hole supplies
4:54the whole property but at the same time
4:57being the the country that we are I try
4:59and use rain water rain water is is a
5:02better water try not to Pump from the
5:05the B hole in fact I don't think we've
5:06pumped in the last three years from the
5:08B
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7:07the video back to
7:09it try not to Pump from the the B hole
7:13in fact I don't think we've pumped in
7:14the last 3 years from the B hole because
7:16there's there's no real point but we've
7:18got it same as the wind turbine it was
7:21actually here when we got here so we're
7:22quite lucky we've got a little outdoor
7:25shower which is indoors but outdoors in
7:28some respects cuz it's so cold
7:30during the summer months this is where I
7:33do do my teaching I teach a farming
7:36system from that farming system also
7:38produce products we utilize the the
7:40polyon we when we can when the weather's
7:42good or when the weather's bad and just
7:45a social spouse the space outside
7:48whenever we can get barbecue going
7:50really so this is this is my home this
7:54is the 50 million M Mansion it's a earth
7:59sheltered one bedroom two roomed Nest
8:03that is a pile of grass from any
8:06distance further than 20 ft away not
8:10many people are going to be finding this
8:12the reason why it Blends in is is we've
8:14simply taken the Earth that surround it
8:17and put it up against the walls the
8:20total cost is about
8:2422,000 that said I was lucky I had the
8:27waste from my business as a resource
8:30which is what the main 99% of the the
8:33structure is made
8:35from so this is the naked building if
8:39you like so it's constructed from ibcs
8:43they're designed to hold 1,000 L of
8:45water we're going to be burying them and
8:47waterproofing them so they won't be
8:50exposed to air or water so these will
8:53last uh hopefully a long time the
8:56internal walls are 1.2 M thick
9:00and then the Earth is constructed or the
9:03Earth um Earth bags that they're called
9:06is hyper Doby which is simply placing
9:09the earth into the bags and then over
9:12time it grows out
9:17and disappears so that's that's
9:21the that's the wall after a few months
9:25the idea is try to blend in with nature
9:28be as stealth as possible and if it
9:30looks like the rest of the field that is
9:32sitting in then you know hopefully
9:35that's
9:36enough we're stood now on the the roof
9:40the roof is a a green roof mostly but
9:43this maintains itself it adds a bit of
9:45thermal efficiency because of the
9:48position of the lights now or of the uh
9:51the windows now this means that during
9:53the summer we don't have the full force
9:55of the Sun but during the winter we have
9:58the low Sun coming in so during the
10:01summer it's nice and cool out when it's
10:04hot outside it's cool inside and during
10:07the winter when it's cold outside it's
10:10warm inside so these windows it's enough
10:13to let the light in it's enough to be
10:15able to charge the building structure
10:18actually charges it it it's um like a
10:22battery it uh absorbs the energy over
10:26the course of the first year it
10:28equalized es that means that there is a
10:31constant temperature inside in the
10:34insulated living area and there's a
10:37constant temperature in the office area
10:41if you like so we' kind of got an inside
10:43outside underground construction going
10:46on
10:48here power comes from during the winter
10:51a wind turbine during the summer I have
10:55panels at top the roof those panels will
10:59charge a power bank so during the summer
11:03I don't like to pay for electricity
11:05because there's no there's no need to
11:07and then during the winter I'm lucky
11:08enough that I'm able to connect to the
11:10grid if there's not enough power from
11:12the wind so we have wind turbines solar
11:15um
11:16water falls on the roof so that's free
11:20at the
11:21moment I'm now redirecting that water
11:23from this top roof into ass soon to be
11:28Reservoir but this is how I built the
11:31structure was by having a roof
11:34collecting the water and that was the
11:38cement if you like for the uh the
11:40building
11:41blocks right what you're seeing here is
11:44just a very simple deck in and
11:47then the chimney this is the exit for
11:50the the wood burner which is in the home
11:52below this is just an old helium balloon
11:55canister that protects it from the wind
11:58but it allows the smoke to be a to
11:59escape the the roof is all insulated and
12:03again that insulation is recovered or
12:06recycled this has 6 in of insulation on
12:10the roof but none of which which I paid
12:12a single penny for so it's all recovered
12:19insulation prior to coming to the land I
12:22worked in it I worked as a contractor I
12:27was a single parent for for um uh all of
12:30the all of my daughter's years but I I
12:33had a normal job but once I understood
12:37how much a house cost to run and the
12:41only reason why I was maintaining this
12:43house was to have somebody else come and
12:46value it and somebody else come and
12:48appraise it and then decide whether it
12:50was good enough for them and then when I
12:52had the opportunity to move from it it
12:54made so much sense that I could build my
12:57own home because birds do it bees do it
13:01badges do it everybody's except humans
13:04are able to build their own home so I
13:06thought I had enough skills to be able
13:07to build my own home but also knew that
13:10the cost of a build had to be minimal um
13:13so that's where I I I I went for the
13:16Earth Ship route and that's why I went
13:17for the uh waste utilizing waste rather
13:21than buying new materials as
13:24such the reason why I I I I live
13:27underground in a literal sense and also
13:30a figurative sense is that building
13:33regulations don't
13:36accommodate my style of building you
13:38can't be doing anything on the radar
13:42it's not to avoid the system it's
13:47to just make life more efficient for
13:49myself but also for myself personally I
13:53can't find myself in debt year after
13:55year chasing a mortgage there is no
13:58reason for me to spend the amount of
14:01money that I would do on water when it
14:03falls from the sky all I have to do is
14:05collect it and store it when the wind
14:07blows
14:08and The Sun Shines the energy out there
14:11is just the infrastructure and because
14:13modern housing or any housing stock
14:16these days isn't designed efficiently
14:18enough we've got to start looking at
14:21changing the way houses look because
14:24they have to be much more efficient the
14:27way in which the world is moving you e
14:29either Embrace what's happening and
14:31prepare for it or you you pay the price
14:34for it and that is higher energy costs
14:37and um worse utilities so you know
14:41everyone knows about the water that's
14:42coming out of our
14:44Taps mine is clean I know it's clean you
14:47know it's soft free and
14:50local so I'm able to live virtually zero
14:54cost well absolutely zero cost certain
14:57times of the year it cost me nothing to
14:59to to live the technology that lends
15:02itself to Van life is exactly the same
15:04thing for off- grid so I'm lucky I have
15:07connection to the mains but during the
15:09summer I don't want to pay for the mains
15:11so I I I turn that that that switch off
15:14but that's something you can't do in a
15:16normal house or when it comes to heating
15:18I don't pay any heating bills cuz I
15:21don't need to heat it I don't pay any
15:23cooling bills cuz I don't need to cool
15:27it the only thing that makes living this
15:30way not accessible are
15:33laws so the ability to be able to create
15:38your own structure is limited by the
15:41laws that say we think this is safe we
15:45have um the ability to utilize the free
15:50resources we have in this island but
15:52we're not because the law say that you
15:55can't have wind turbines in certain
15:57places or they have to now I I
15:59understand people don't want blights but
16:01you walk in any in a city tell me that's
16:04not blighted and just because it's
16:07planned in some way or just because
16:09certain houses have to look a certain
16:11way or certain buildings have to be a
16:13certain way it's in efficient and we're
16:16realizing that slowly but the reason why
16:20this isn't allowed is because
16:24it's too much of a Gamble from people
16:27who think they know what is good for
16:29everyone else the idea of
16:33building your own design your own home
16:36at low
16:38cost doesn't really equate with well we
16:41need to keep a healthy house housing
16:43market you need to make profit on
16:45something yet I'm never going to make a
16:46profit on this and I'm never aiming to
16:48make a profit so that changes my mindset
16:51I don't have to constantly pay out to
16:54maintain something just in case somebody
16:56else wants to buy off me in a few years
17:01[Music]
17:03the entrance is again trying to be as
17:06discreet as possible but also as
17:08efficient as possible so we've just got
17:10a very low wall here that just stops the
17:12the wind throwing itself into the
17:14doorway but this is basically the uh the
17:17entrance way solar panel which is for
17:19the lighting so all the lighting's solar
17:22so we have a wardrobe that you have to
17:24go through in order to go into the home
17:33the entrance way is designed so that if
17:37I do come in with wet or dirty clothes
17:39I'm able to drobe and hang stuff up and
17:43then this area really is the the outdoor
17:46indoor part this is where I have a bit
17:49of an office space I have storage I have
17:52uh an indoor compost L and then the
17:55actual living quarters which is uh where
17:58I spend every night so how did I
18:00decorate why did I decorate in such a
18:02way it was again to hide how crap the
18:04wood was so this this really is just to
18:07hide the fact that it's it's OSB and OSB
18:11looks ugly yeah that was the the the
18:14design inspiration everything is
18:16recycled so it's just a matter of trying
18:18to make it look
18:19as not like crap or rubbish
18:24really I've done the bottle woles here
18:27what I've done is just used used clay or
18:30cob basically clay and straw and these
18:33just old bottles and it's just a way of
18:36filling in the gaps because all of the
18:40double glazing was was free and we just
18:42simply
18:43have four or five posts that support the
18:48roof frame and it was just a matter of
18:50filling in the Gap so we got a family
18:53crest fills a gap everything else is
18:56Ikea soap bottles and the only concrete
18:59that we've got is these blocks simply
19:03cuz I couldn't measure the height of
19:05wood properly the floor is insulated and
19:09waterproofed and again plastic pallets
19:12the idea is that I wanted to get as much
19:14light in to the back of the building but
19:18at the same time making sure that the
19:20light comes in is not too hot so that's
19:26where we have the light set so that the
19:28winter light comes in as we can see but
19:31the summer we don't have the the full
19:33sun blaring down whereas the direct
19:35sunlight will hit the back of the
19:36building during the winter so again
19:38taking the same principles from Earth
19:40ships there's the only heating system I
19:42have is purely I would call recreational
19:46which is a wood wood stove a wood burner
19:49um but again I don't use that
19:54because if you look on the temperature
19:56it's running at 18° in here which is
19:59perfectly reasonable without any need
20:01for central heating again the thermal
20:05efficiency of this means that I don't
20:08have to heat it there is no need to heat
20:10it if I choose to heat it it's purely
20:11just so I can see fire but I don't
20:14actually need to to to heat it at all
20:16and so zero cost on on
20:19that this is a much more functional
20:23space so this is storage and Brewing
20:27nice and dark and warm perfect for
20:30Brewing this is basically a very simple
20:34compost L and again more storage but
20:37this is this is just an area that I can
20:41use as an indoor compost L if I don't
20:43want to go outside uh during the during
20:45the winter compost l means bucket and
20:49straw oh sorry wood chip showers always
20:52outside that's that's the the wall
20:55That's the idcs there the other other
20:58side and then the other side of that is
21:00the earth you can't really tell that
21:03from under
21:04here this is really just a a raised area
21:08so that I get a view the idea behind
21:10this is just I needed a a separate
21:13workspace other than that this is just
21:16just purely just for viewing and the ey
21:19line means that you're you're looking
21:22like you're in the the ground looking
21:25out the view is across to to all my
21:29neighbors we've got a fairly South
21:32southwesterly View so most of the sun
21:35will sit uh during the day on these two
21:40windows try and keep this area which is
21:42the living space try to keep this as as
21:45as clean as possible that's a lie but as
21:47you come through it's basically set out
21:50as any camper van might be we've got a
21:53kitchen area got a living area living
21:56room area and then a bedroom area
21:59minimal amount of furniture really so
22:02it's not a huge amount of space but I
22:04don't spend an awful lot of time in here
22:06except for sleeping and eating really
22:09trying to utilize parts of the IBC so
22:13these the the sheets are from the the
22:16ivcs I've got a simple wood stove which
22:19is for heating rain water and river
22:21water is filtered so we've just got a
22:23simple filtering system the sink is
22:27simply a funnel into a container
22:30everything is runs on electric so I've
22:32got a microwave fridge freezer Kettle
22:35Hot Plate where the induction plate
22:37we've got the air fryer so everything I
22:41need to cook it runs off of electric and
22:44basically this is it this is this is my
22:45home I try to to live as simple as
22:48possible and uh this this enables me to
22:51do it for free basically I don't have to
22:54heat or or cool this and uh like I say
22:57the uh uh the the cost of this was
23:00minimal it was simply a bit of hard work
23:03and some crazy ideas I don't see this as
23:07uh living in a hole I see this as being
23:11one step up from a camper van it doesn't
23:13move but it's a lot warmer and it it
23:17gives me everything that I need if I
23:19want anything else then I I step outside
23:21but this is really shelter and just
23:25nicer shelter than than a tent really it
23:28it's more than adequate more than enough
23:30space it's really just Tred to be as
23:32functional as possible uh at the lowest
23:35cost and with zero running costs um I I
23:38I really don't want to to to pay for for
23:41anything
23:43anymore this isn't ever going to be sold
23:46to someone else so I don't have to have
23:48a a full range kitchen I don't have to
23:51have an on Suite bathroom I don't have
23:53to have anything that most people would
23:55expect what I expect is to be
23:57comfortable and this is com comfortable
23:59cuz you were coming I I've shoved
24:01everything into a cupboard but we'll
24:03have storage
24:05underneath I won't lie this is where the
24:07compost LW lives during the winter cuz
24:09that's a bit of a walk that 20 foot so
24:12again with a compost LW because it's it
24:14it it's easy to manage and um there's no
24:18smells I'm able to have it underneath my
24:20bed but everything stacked away in the
24:23um standard issue Ikea smers and if I
24:28need to get it I just climb on the bed I
24:30used to have a big teddy there I don't
24:32anymore cuz I don't bother but I've got
24:34storage wherever I need it more than
24:35enough storage and I'm lucky I've got
24:37acreage so you know if it doesn't fit in
24:40here it will it will fit under a tree
24:41somewhere so for bed not that we'll ever
24:44be used that way but again the wood that
24:47I'm able to recycle from my building and
24:50the trees I'm able to cut down from my
24:51wood means that I don't pay for uh I
24:54don't pay for fuel um this does heat eat
24:58hot water a lot more efficiently when
25:00I'm when I've got it on so that's when I
25:02do the washing up is when I'm able to
25:05heat for free but yeah this is again
25:07just the this is probably well this was
25:10not reclaimed but this was again a
25:12couple of hundred the most expensive
25:14part of this is the kitchen which was
25:18£600 so everything else was was
25:21constructed so the bed is just
25:23constructed the shelving is just
25:25constructed most of this is is recovered
25:28wood all year round I have solar
25:30lighting because I use so little
25:32lighting as such so this this unit here
25:35just holds a battery and then I have a
25:38uh a pi light and that that there's
25:41enough power from this to to to run the
25:44lighting the idea is to try and make use
25:46of the free resources so the solar and
25:49the wind as as often and if not as a
25:51backup I'm lucky I've got Mains but
25:54would I choose to put Mains in if I
25:56didn't have it the answer is no because
25:58you're paying without even using it so
26:00you're you're paying standing order or
26:02standing charge every month just to have
26:04that line coming in but it's super
26:07helpful if you you do need to to um to
26:10have Mains power and sometimes during
26:12the winter it's useful to have it just
26:15for a production reason so for for me
26:17personally I'd rather go with solar and
26:19wind once you had it it makes sense so
26:22much sense so why would you not
26:31my my least favorite thing about living
26:33here is that I I there's not enough
26:35hours in the day there isn't anything
26:38here that I don't enjoy the problem is
26:40the solution so everything that is a an
26:43issue is uh something you can enjoy so
26:46if I have to collect water then I I get
26:50to look at the view or um there isn't I
26:53I I generally don't think there's
26:55anything that I could say I dislike
26:57about how I've curated my life as
27:02such the most favorite thing is the
27:07freedom to be able
27:10to just enjoy life just the limited
27:14amount of time you've got it
27:17just I'm sick of wasting it on a screen
27:20or sick of wasting it in an office or
27:22you know and it doesn't bear thinking
27:24about to go back to that sort of
27:26business if that means that I don't have
27:28fancy clothes no great work the cows
27:31don't critique me for that so it's it's
27:34one of those things that I I live my
27:37life how I have chosen to and I love it
27:41it's just that other people don't like
27:43that life on paper because I haven't
27:46followed their
27:48rules
27:55but the future for me is definitely
27:58veloping of this site so that um my
28:01daughter has something that doesn't cost
28:04her money to run she has somewhere that
28:07is either going to generate her an
28:09income or not cost her a fortune raise
28:14more chickens perhaps as well I think
28:17having chickens around they uh they they
28:19teach you a lot but for me this is a
28:22long-term project for me I've been here
28:25coming up to 10 years now with that I've
28:28been able to to to create a few
28:30businesses that are micro businesses but
28:33they are ethical sustainable and they
28:37get me out of the house so longterm keep
28:41maintaining those those
28:43businesses well thanks for for coming
28:45and visiting you'll find any help and
28:49advice that I can give on the Instagram
28:52and that's at 50 million Mill Mansion so
28:56if you're interested in discussing how I
29:00went about building the the the home I'm
29:02more than welcome to answer any
29:04questions but we done through through
29:06Instagram and anybody who's really
29:08excited can come and
29:10[Music]
29:23visit all right guys well thanks for
29:25tuning in there and a big thanks to Doc
29:27for sharing a story with us and showing
29:29us around his place make sure to check
29:31him out on the socials all the links
29:33will be down below in the description
29:35and if you did like the video make sure
29:36you give it a thumbs up if you want to
29:38see more content like this then make
29:40sure you subscribed we'll see you in the
29:41next one
29:43[Music]