20 Legal Underground Homes You Can Build for Under $4,000

Half the town of Coober Pedy, Australia, lives underground, and nobody there thinks twice about it. The United States has its own version of that loophole, hidden in local building codes that exempt small sheds, farm buildings, recreational cabins, and interior finish work. Nearly every one of those exemptions can be built into the ground instead of on top of it. In this video, we count down 20 underground shelters you can build for about $4,000 in materials, from ancient pit houses and homestead dugouts to earthbag domes, walipini greenhouses, and the $50 underground house Mike Oehler lived in for decades. Along the way, you'll see where permits are usually required, where they often aren't, and the one phone call to make before you dig. Codes vary by county and change over time, so always check with your local building department before you build. Subscribe for 20 more builds coming soon. #undergroundhome #offgrid #earthshelter