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Have you ever wanted to have a house of your own, completely hidden from view of other people? Do you like caves or building things you know are yours, so that you can "live" or camp out in the deep smelling earth that surrounds you? You can build your own underground house too as long as you follow these simple few instructions.


  1. 1
    Get permission to dig up your lawn or field.
  2. 2
    Have you and a friend or two start digging a hole in the ground, six or seven feet deep, 5 or six feet wide. always keep to those dimensions or you may have a cave in.
  3. 3
    When you are done with the hole, mark out a side three feet deep and start digging a trench as far as you want.
  4. 4
    If you want you can even have another hole or other tunnels going off of the holes or the tunnel themselves.
  5. 5
    When you are done digging, or are happy with the size of your trench and hole(s) you will need to build a roof to keep out intruders or rainwater. find thick sticks, planks, plywood, or whatever sturdy, long, or supportive structures you can lay perpendicular to the trench,separated by only an inch or two, to support the weight of an unexpected animal and a lot of dirt (or even snow).
  6. 6
    Once you are finished laying down the planks or sticks, find leaves, grass, small sticks, or any other light material that you lay over the top to cover any holes or cracks.
  7. 7
    Use the clay and dirt from digging your fort to lay over the now boarded and leave covered trench and holes. do not cover too thickly or the sticks may sag or even crack causing a cave-in.
  8. 8
    Do not forget that this fort can easily have additions made to it such as large rooms capable of having parties in, or long tunnels that reach far across the field or through the woods.
  9. 9
    Never forget that this house can EASILY cave in with the wrong soil, so be careful... but also never forget to have fun.


  • when constructing any trench or hole angle the walls back slightly, so the top is larger than the floor. this lets gravity help you hold back the pressure of the dirt walls.
  • A phone in case of emergency may be useful :)
  • Before adding the roof always brace the sides of the trench and hole to prevent cave ins.
  • Ventilation holes are a very good thing to build maybe behind a plant so your underground house will stay secret
  • When you brace the walls, drive the stick or pole into the floor, pushing against the wall so that in order for you to push your finger behind the board, you would hurt yourself, or at least get really dirty fingernails.


  • Cave ins are very real, and very, very dangerous. Brace all walls and never dig deep without a friend near (above ground).
  • Forget this in the Florida peninsula - you just might end up hitting water there!

Things You'll Need

  • shovel
  • pick axe
  • friend
  • sticks
  • boards
  • plywood
  • anything long and sturdy laying around

Article Info

Categories: Stub | Forts and Treehouses

In other languages:

Español: hacer una casa subterránea, Русский: построить подземный дом, Português: Construir uma Casa no Subsolo

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