Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6A
-THE FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS—WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1981
Advantaaes Seen To Experimental House
By LANE GARDNER
CAMP
Staff Writer
A lot of people may say it
looks archaic, but according
to Clay "Sonny” Jones, "We
think we are developing the
house of the future.”
The future is apparently
down under because an un
derground house is what
Jones and his partner, Ed
win Gravitt, co-owners of
Forsyth Concrete, Inc., have
built on Castleberry Road,
southeast of Cumming.
The first such house
they’ve ever built, Jones and
Gravitt are calling it an “ex
periment.”
Jones' daughter and son
in-law, Anita and Donald
“Buster” Hester, have been
Fawn Is
Not Left
All Alone
Each year, in the spring,
hundreds of people begin
finding “abandoned” deer
fawns in the woods and bring
them home to "save them
from starvation”. Many of
these well-meaning people
call the Game Management
Section of the Deaprtment of
Natural Resources for infor
mation on care or on who
will take the foundling in.
Biologist, Joe Kurtz, Assis
tant Game Management
Chief, offers the following
information:
1) Deer do not abandon
their young. They do leave
them for extended periods
but return. Any person re
moving a fawn from the
woods is probably being
watched by the fawn’s
mother.
2) It is against state law to
hold in captivity or possess
any wild animal without a
permit from the Department
of Natural Resources. Per
mits are very difficult to
obtain. 3) Most people don’t
have the know-how or the
time to properly raise a
fawn. If they do, they sen
tence the deer to a life of
captivity since he will not be
able to fend for himself in the
wild.
4) So-called tame deer can
be very dangerous as adults.
Reports of deaths and inju
ries to people attacked by a
“pet” deer are common.
5) There are not enough
zoos, nature centers, mu
seums, etc. to care for the
hundreds of deer fawns that
are picked up in Georgia
each year.
Kurz asks that “anyone
who finds a seemingly aban
doned fawn or any other ani
mal to leave it alone. Nature
has the best way of taking
care of its creatures and
does not need the help of
man. It is less cruel to walk
away from a young animal
than to commit it to a cage or
pen.”
Farmers
May Save
Some Cost
Manufacturers can pass
on higher expenses to their
customers, but farmers lack
a mechanism to pass on
costs when they sell their
goods.
They can’t control the sale
price, but they can ease fi
nancial pressures, says Cecil
Smith, Georgia Extension
Service farm management
specialist.
A new investment may
seem like the key to unlock
profits for an operation, but
Smith warns of hidden costs.
He explains, “Compute all
investment. That’s not just
the price tag; it’s all the
other costs that this partic
ular investment may gener
ate. For instance, a new
piece of equipment might
lead to other investments in
order to get full use of that
equipment. A new enterprise
may conflict with a present
enterprise, draining your la
bor or natural resources.”
Smith notes a second rec
ommendation for minimiz
ing costs. There are times
when a minor change or in
vestment in an enterprise
can multiply returns by cut
ting down on marginal costs.
Learn to estimate the re
turns on a minor change that
may cost now but could pay
off later, he advises. “Make
all your financial decisions
from the point where you are
now-and figure how the
change will affect the fu
ture.”
living in the house since the
first of May in order to
“test” it out. They are keep
ing temperature records and
generally evaluating life un
derground.
The plan, said Jones, is for
the couple to live in the house
a full year. “We need to go
through a 12-month period to
find out (how the house per
forms).”
Construction of the uncon
ventional home began in
January even though Jones
and Gravitt say they’ve been
toying with the idea for seve
ral years.
Asked why they decided to
go ahead with the project,
Jones said, “I feel like it’s
going to be a coming thing.”
1
I / i
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Jones noted that with the
soaring costs of home con
struction and energy, it’s
become necessary to explore
alternative housing. If the
low-cost underground house
idea is successful, Jones
says it will be "great for
young people starting out."
While an underground
house could be as elaborate
and as large as desired,
Jones and Gravitt have de
signed their first one with
costs having been kept to a
minimum.
The house contains 1,100
square feet of space, said
Jones, and was built for S3O
per square foot which
makes the total cost $33,000.
“That’s comparable to buy
ing one of these double-wide
trailers and the underground
house will last longer.”
The interior of the house is
like any conventional house
except that it is without win
dows on the sides and rear of
the structure. Unless win
dows are missed, one
wouldn’t know he was in an
underground house, offered
Jones.
The simply-designed home
contains a living room, a
kitchen-dining area, two
bedrooms with closets, a
bathroom and a laundry and
storage room.
Considering Jones and
Gravitt are in the concrete
business, it makes sense that
the home is built almost en
tirely out of concrete with
the exception of the closets
1
ISIS
pssl
trouble M
and door frames.
Underneath the home’s
carpeting is a concrete floor.
The outside walls are ten
inches of concrete while the
inside walls contain six
inches of the “economical
building material.” The ceil
ing is eight inches thick,
which includes steel re
inforcement.
The house contains no in
sulation other than the three
feet of dirt which surrounds
three of its four sides and
covers the roof.
Taking advantage of the
earth’s temperatures for in
sulation purposes is the main
idea behind an underground
house. Compared to an
above-the-ground house, an
underground house is sup
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To be held Saturday, July 4th At The
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I?orsyth
(bounty
) D ianh
posed to stay cooler in sum
mer and warmer in winter.
The Forsyth Concrete
house has no air conditioning
and according to Mrs. Hes
ter, the hottest the inside of
the house has gotten is 74
degrees and that was
when it was 95 degrees out
side.
Though the house has not
yet experienced a winter,
Jones says it should be “very
economical to heat” with
only its baseboard heaters.
The house is all electric.
Jones figures that during
construction and since the
Hesters moved in the first of
May, the house has used 1,-
580 kilowatt hours, which,
according to the Sawnee
Electric Membership Cor
poration's billing depart
ment, is about SBO worth of
electricity over an almost
two month period.
The front of the house is
the only part that is exposed
to the outside. Jones and
Gravitt designed it of brick,
with two doors and one large
window.
“I think it’s attractive for
an underground house,” re
marked Jones.
In actuality, the entrance
could be made of any
material, he said.
One real advantage to this
local underground house—
especially with it being
made of concrete and brick
is that it is fire proof. The
house has no fire insurance,
explained Jones, because
“there is nothing to bum.”
In fact, the only insurance
Jones says he’s got covers
just the house’s contents.
Another advantage to the
house is that it requires no
outside upkeep except
maybe mowing the roof.
(Jones suggested planting a
garden.) No outside painting
or roof repair will ever be
needed.
The house is also practi
cally soundproof. Mrs. Hes
ter says she likes it because
she doesn’t have to listen to
thunderstorms when they
come up.
Jones says the house is
much more durable than
conventional housing. He be
lieves it will still be around
in 1,000 years.
The fear most people have
about living in a house under
the ground is that it will cave
in. Jones is confident
,though, that this will not
happen. He says he’s driven
a 30,000-pound front-end
loader all over the top with
no damage to the house.
Jones says he’s had confi
dence in the stability of the
structure ever since it was
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first designed.
In fact, he says the com
pany is now showing the
house to any interested per
sons. (For an appointment,
call Forsyth Concrete at 887-
9099.)
The Hesters say under
ground living is the same if
not better than living in a
conventional house. Mrs.
Hester says she prefers it
over living in a trailer. ;
And she adds, “You save a
lot on curtains.”
s
Atlanta
688-5949