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Sinking house

 Let the deer graze on your roof
  (+1)
(+1) 		  [vote for,
against]

There are still deer in my neighborhood and they do come into my yard for grazing. My yard doesn’t have much grass, so I would like to offer them a little extra. The idea is to set the whole house on hydraulic jacks over a pit. The last person to go to sleep or leave the house pushes a button and the house sinks into the ground until the roof is level with the yard. The roof is planted with grass and herbs, so the deer have something extra to eat.

Added advantage (to make up for cost of excavation, well somewhat) is that the jacks can dampen earth quakes and burglars have a harder time getting in. When the house is in the ground there would just be a trap door as emergency exit. Escape through the trapdoor would be safer than jumping out of a second floor bed room window. In case of flooding the house would automatically rise to keep it out of the water and to make room to catch water in the pit. It could actually rise a few foot above the surrounding area to keep it dry.

—kbecker, Jun 15 2004

'Stingray' title sequence. http://www.bbc.co.u...y/clips/title.shtml
Anything can happen in the next half hour! [DrBob, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]

Heck, why does it need hydraulic jacks? http://www.hurstwic.../LAM_turf_house.jpg
[DrCurry, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

(?) Goats on the Roof http://www.oldcount...et.com/history.html
[bungston, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 06 2004]


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Annotation:







       You'll be sorry if you feed the deer. They are wild animals, and are far better off without your help. The last thing we need to go with a dependent class of people are herds of dependent animals. I know they're beautiful, but shoo them away!
—bobad, Jun 15 2004
   

       I have never actively fed them as some people do with corn, but the land my house stands on was "their" land until about 20 years ago. I'm selfish and demand a place to live, but I don't mind sharing as much as I can without inconvenience.   

       A few wolves to cull the deer would be nice too. I have a raised porch so they are no real threat and they stay hidden during the day anyway. I have never seen one in my yard.
—kbecker, Jun 16 2004
   

       On a related note, Canadian PM hopeful Jack Layton advocates growing vegetables on rooftops. Not only will it give a source of food, he claims, but it will also help to insulate during the cold winter months.   

       Oh, the campaigns in our country are so much more entertaining than south of 49.
—WordUp, Jun 16 2004
   

       All, I can say is, "duck!" *boom*
—thumbwax, Jun 16 2004
   

       Marineville Alert! Marineville Alert!
—DrBob, Jun 16 2004
   

       This sounds like something from Mad magazine (from the pen of Al Jaffee)
—simonj, Jun 16 2004
   

       For automatic flood safety in the event of a power failure, design the house so it will float. Put the floats far enough below the first floor so you don't get water anywhere that you don't want it.   

       Hmm, can we somehow use that as the primary lifting mechanism?
—scad mientist, Jun 16 2004
   

       In addition, simply add a thick concrete roof for an instant bomb or tornado shelter.
—Etymon, Jun 16 2004
   

       Now just add elevated streets, and you can have more deer without worrying so much about hitting them with your car. +.
—Guncrazy, Jun 16 2004
   

       I was told that in turn of the century St Louis, the Irish lived in mud huts down by the river, and grazed their goats on the roofs.
—bungston, Jun 16 2004
   

       it might be fun to capture said deer by elevating the roof while they are grazing
—mrmatt, Jun 17 2004
   

       Tabs i don't know Irish, Southern US two stereotypes of backwardness (technology wise) come to mind.   

       Grass roofs are seriously baked look at log cabins in Scandinavia, the Faeroe islands this juxtaposition of high tech lifting rams and grass roofs seems a brilliant idea.
—engineer1, Jun 18 2004
   

       This was kinda baked by a moron near to my home town although only in one direction, not so fast and permanently. He obtained planning permission to build a house on the edge of a village. The villagers told him, "You can't build there, it's on the moss". Not understanding (he wasn't from the area), he ignored the yokels and built his house anyway. Within a year the house had sunk until only the top storey was showing, and now it's gone. If only he'd taken the time to find out that the word "Moss" means bog or swamp. Harhar.
—squeak, Jun 18 2004
   

       <Python> They all said I was mad, building a castle in a swamp. But I built it anyway! </P>
—DrBob, Jun 18 2004
   


 

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