[dramatic music playing]
[Nava] Where we are right now
is one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
We're building an ecodome
in the Santa Monica Mountains.
I don't think we expected to go this date, did we?
There's a rattlesnake right here right now.
Keep the dogs away.
We have literally tons to move.
We're crazy.
These bags are not meeting at all.
If this foundation is not set right,
the build can't happen.
[grunts]
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Hey, heads down!
[Nava] Scorpion!
[grunts]
Hold on here.
Whoa! bend down.
There's a fire next door.
Looks like we're gonna have to evacuate.
[Nava] Boom, we get hit with a hurricane.
[Be] Super-rainy.
All the water's coming in.
Everything's getting wet.
Oh, my goodness.
This is terrible.
[Be] I don't know if we're gonna get this done.
Not in time.
[announcer] Are you ready to go off the grid?
[rock music playing]
Stace and Chad.
-[Chad] Mmm-hmm. -Yeah?
We've been talking about this for a long time,
I know, but now we're finally ready
to build you guys your very own Earth home.
Here we are in beautiful Topanga Canyon.
My grandpa was Grandpa Walton in The Waltons.
My parents were hippies and we came up here
back in the early '80s and they wandered up this hill
from my grandpa's theater and found this mesa.
They had a dream of owning it and the dream came true.
The first seven years, we lived off the grid
and that was the best time of my life.
But now, I'm trying to get back off the grid again.
-I'm Be. -And I'm Nava,
and we're building an ecodome
in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Be and I met at Earth-building school
and we became buddies immediately.
I'm here building to support Be and his beautiful family
and so it's really an honor and amazing that Be asked me
to be a part of this and help him with the build.
We've done other projects like
that were tangentially related,
but this is the first build that we're actually
doing together, which is cool.
Team. Don't leave me hanging.
Teamwork makes the dream work.
[laughs]
Our build site is located in Topanga Canyon, California,
which is about an hour east of Los Angeles.
This land is really special.
It's completely surrounded by nature
and it's guarded by this giant mountain.
Where we are right now is one of the most beautiful
places on the planet.
What are you most excited about?
I'm excited about like making this home and stuff,
and I think like how we're gonna make this, is...
It's gonna be really good for everybody.
Here's a nice little base,
-right? -That's a great base.
And this represents
the bags that we're gonna fill,
the superadobe bags.
Now we're gonna go and stack it.
We're building what I like to call a dome home.
Most of our materials for the build site
are actually below our feet
because the main material we're using is Earth
and that is what it is to build an adobe build.
Superadobe is both fireproof and earthquake proof.
Superadobe is basically like an igloo made out of Earth.
We fill polypropylene rice bags
and we put barbed wire in between.
That acts as the glue and then we tamp it.
It turns into stone
and then we stucco and put lime coat.
[Nava] We're building an adobe dome home
that will have multiple structures
on multiple levels.
When you walk up to the build site,
you'll enter the indoor-outdoor kitchen,
which will be the main gathering area.
And from there, you'll walk up the stairs
and there will be a pond with a waterfall feature.
On the second level, we're gonna have
two connecting bathhouses,
which will have a shower,
a bath, a toilet, and a vanity.
To the right of that will be the floating bed
and a room for the kids
that will overlook the whole canyon.
[Be] We chose to do an indoor-outdoor kitchen
to have a nice breeze and just have it really open
and spacious and airy.
For our off-grid features, we're gonna integrate
a well for water,
solar for power,
we power our stove with methane,
which is produced from human waste and kitchen waste.
We're even able to power our showers with that.
I want you to build it how you want it to be
because you're the future.
These kids nowadays are filled with ideas,
so I'm excited to see their ideas
and put it into this model and make it happen.
-I want it to be ice cream... -Okay.
and a unicorn home.
-Oh, I love that. -With the cherry on top.
-[Be] With the cherry on...
The cherry on top is gonna be interesting.
I've already lost some sleep thinking about it.
[laughs] I don't think anyone has built
a dome like this before.
-First time for everything. -[laughs]
Our build is going to be 800 square feet.
We have a budget of $60,000
and really have to get this done before fire season,
so we have about three months to complete this project.
There's no easy way to get to where we're going.
The build site is actually a very rugged path
and it's straight up the mountain.
So all the tools that we're gonna be using,
we have to carry on our backs.
[Be] Just making it up there is exhausting,
so we're gonna have to be doing it
every day for months.
This is gonna be a challenging build...
[laughs]
The first step is definitely to clear this land.
This is a lot of brush.
My friend Mark is here to help me out.
We've worked on many builds together.
Are you guys ready to do this for the next few months?
I mean, it's gonna be a lot, a lot of digging.
-We're ready. -Yeah.
[Nava] So right now, we are digging out
the top six layers of the soil,
which is really important because the top six layers
has a lot of organic material
and that would rotten the bag.
Below that is where we actually
use that workable Earth.
I think is what a lot of people don't realize
when they're building, is that it actually
-takes a lot of digging... -[laughter]
You take more than anything else.
[rock music playing]
How far are we gonna clear down?
Let's clear it all out,
-so we can-- -All the way down. Yeah.
I've never been so happy digging in the Earth.
This is really gonna be great for the kids.
Remember, safety third.
[Nava laughs]
[Be] When we were clearing out the edge of the manzanita,
all of a sudden there was something moving by my feet.
[dramatic music playing]
[Mark] What are you doing, man?
[Be] Keep the dogs away. Keep the dogs away.
[Nava] What is it?
What do you mean? It's a snake.
There's a rattlesnake right here right now.
Keep the dogs away.
-[Mark] What are we gonna do? -[Be] Skip this stuff.
[Nava] Be, I don't know if that's a good idea.
You're going into the abyss right now.
[Be] Please.
[dramatic music playing]
While I'm going into the manzanita,
all of a sudden the rattler just appears.
There's rattlesnake right here right now.
I was worried about you going barefoot into the brush,
when the snake was clearly trying to move away.
He's not threatening us, Be. Leave him, leave him.
-[Mark] Yeah. -[Nava] He's not threatening us.
-He's going away. -I don't really want a rattler
just hanging around here.
It was kind of like just in the moment,
I just wanted to grab the thing
and get it gone as a father instinct.
Dang it, it got away.
I think this is a sign that he's respecting us
in what we're doing and we're respecting him in return.
I think it's really good that we let all the beings know
on the mountain that we are coming in peace,
that we are not here in an adversary way.
We wanna be peaceful with all the animals
and then they'll support us.
[rock music playing]
[Nava] Now that the land is cleared,
I'm gonna put the compass in.
The compass comes even before the foundation.
And so from the center point,
we have a string that goes out and that's how we'll know
where exactly to lay the bag.
This first string is actually gonna go up and down.
So as we lay the bags,
we line it up with the center of the bag.
As the bags get higher, we'll continue
putting this compass higher and higher.
Eventually, we get to the spring line
and from here, things just go up.
So just like... Look at this,
we're gonna build the bathroom first
and it's actually the smallest of all the domes
and it's the simplest.
Does that look okay to you?
I love it.
All right. Let's do it.
Breaking ground.
Once we trace the outline of where we wanted to dig,
it was time for the shovels.
It's necessary to build into the Earth
because that's where we're gonna lay it down
the first bags.
And the first bags are the foundation
and those go into the Earth.
We usually go about 2-feet deep.
The build can't happen without a strong foundation.
As we're digging this trench, we discover
that the clay is way deeper than we thought
and that the Earth is almost all sand.
That's a huge issue
because that foundation
needs hard, compact Earth to rest on
and we don't want a Leaning Tower of Pisa here.
-[Be] Let's see what it looks like. -[Mark] Yeah. We're gonna...
We're gonna start losing the edge.
If this foundation is not set right,
the build can't happen.
So far, we're about 2 feet down.
We gotta get one more foot down.
But it looks like there's some more clay down there.
We're gonna get it right even if it takes all day.
I don't think we expected to go this date, did we?
No.
This is definitely quite the trench.
We finally found hard Earth when we got about 3 feet down.
It's the deepest trench I have ever built.
[Be] All right. We got this trench just about filled now.
Go around with the tamper.
At the end of the day,
we didn't get our first bag laid,
which is what we were really hoping for,
but we got a little further into the ground.
We have a solid foundation and so we're rolling with it.
[rock music playing]
We were able to get in our foundation,
it took a little bit longer.
We had to go a lot deeper,
but now we have a solid foundation
and we can begin our build.
First of all, we're so happy to have everyone here
like this is such a huge help.
We're getting whoever
we can to show up
and the goal is to finish the dome.
So this is an 8-foot dome and what we're doing today
is we're gonna build the foundation
and we're gonna start building up the walls.
We're gonna have the people that are filling
and shaping the bags
and there's also tamping duty.
The secret of superadobe,
it's not like the material is strong,
the strength is in the geometry.
So I like to say it's a very feminine way of building
'cause we're building with curves.
We have to be able to count the bags, right?
And so we count the bags using our own feet.
You don't need to measure anything out.
You go all the way around
and however many feet you count out,
that's how many feet that's the length of the bag.
Make sense?
[rock music playing]
[Be] Let's see how far does it go.
It takes 42 feet of this bag
to do one layer,
and we're gonna have to do, like,
how many of these?
Like 20 or more.
We're using the bag
to shape the adobe underneath,
and we're going layer-by-layer, we're building rings.
Normally, we go one to two bags into the ground,
but this time, as deep as we needed to go,
these bags are probably four
or five bags into the ground,
which is extremely deep.
But it's what we needed to do to make sure
we had a safe and sound foundation.
And when you shape it, this is really important,
you lift a little bit and then you go like this.
And believe it or not, over the course of time,
that starts to form a circle.
[intense music playing]
[Nava] So we were pluggin' and chuggin'.
Everyone was building so beautifully together
and it turns out
that on one of the last bags
of the foundation, we measured incorrectly.
-[Be] Yeah. -These bags are not meeting at all.
They're over a foot apart.
The whole strength of this build is the geometry.
If a piece of the circle is missing,
this would be a major weak spot in the build.
So this is a huge problem.
[upbeat music playing]
These bags are not meeting at all.
If a piece of the circle is missing,
this would be a major weak spot in the build.
I think a way that we can problem-solve this
and hopefully it'll work is,
cut out this cuff and we would fit it
over the other bag, and then from there,
just continue filling it as if it's part of the bag.
If the solution doesn't work,
we're gonna have to take out the whole bag
and start over again.
All right. Let's hope this works.
We'll pull it down as far as possible.
I called it the cuff method,
but it's also the sock method.
And now what we're gonna do is we're gonna continue
filling the inner part of the bag.
Just a little bit.
[upbeat music playing]
Oh, my gosh.
I think it's working.
Oh, we are right there.
It's perfect.
Wow. That just saved us like half a day of work.
[rock music playing]
It's the end of the day,
again, we did not get as much done
-as we wanted to. -[Nava] Mmm-hmm.
We're very optimistic every day.
And in our optimism,
we hope to finish everything... [laughs]
And now you're leaving.
I have to go take my acupuncture exam,
and so I'm gonna be gone for two weeks,
which it pains me to say.
But I know that the build is in good hands
and I know you're gonna do a great job.
What are we gonna do without you?
-You're like 10 people. -Hmm.
[rock music playing]
[Be] Okay.
So we're camping out here
till this gets made.
We have literally tons to move.
We're crazy.
We have been working long into the night.
We're making great progress on the bathhouse
and we're now starting to stack bags for the kitchen.
Feeling good about today.
This has been a grandiose undertaking to say the least.
Time, money, materials are all dwindling,
so I put everything I had
into doing as much work as possible
while Nava was gone.
Looking good.
We really made a lot of progress,
so we came across the hyperadobe bag
and now things are going super-speed.
It's basically what you get
for packaging potatoes and onions.
There's no need for barbed wire
and we can stucco right onto the bags.
After that, we start moving very quickly.
We're using everything we can as forms
to hold various shapes.
Now we come on the inside here.
This is a form that comes out,
so instead of using wood, we used Earth.
This is just an up-cycled archway above the door.
This washing machine is going to be a window.
We're hoping to get another couple layers here
before putting in the skylight.
It's all been super tough
and I have to admit,
Nava came back just in time.
I passed my acupuncture exam with flying colors
and now I can devote all of my time
and all of my energy to the build.
The bathhouse is pretty much complete
except for the roof.
We have dug about 10 feet into the ground
for the underground dome.
We have laid hundreds of bags
and this two-story dome
is really high up off the ground,
and so we've made huge progress.
But despite the big push,
the build is starting to take a toll on us.
We decided to do this project...
in the middle of summer and...
it's hot.
The heat is really intense.
We've had a heat wave for the last week
and it is not letting up.
And because of the heat,
we're losing volunteers left and right.
I am exhausted.
Like, literally I'm moving so slow.
Even my dog is completely exhausted.
If my puppy is exhausted,
that's how I know it's time for me
to probably take a break.
I don't know why we decided to do this
in the middle of the summer,
but here we are.
We got a long way to go.
I don't know if we're gonna get this done.
Not in time.
[dramatic music playing]
[rock music playing]
We have had a lot of challenges, this build.
There were days where I thought
I really couldn't do this anymore.
I was so tired and so hot.
And I had this idea come to me
that maybe I don't have to work at full speed.
I just work at the speed that I'm able to that day.
And so for whatever reason,
I feel like I was able to push through that,
we all were really.
And we're getting this build completed.
Today we're gonna do cob on the walls.
[Be] So let's use what's available here
and do what our ancestors have been doing
for thousands of years, which is making cob.
Time for water.
Yeah.
[Be] And sand,
and straw,
and clay all day.
[rock music playing]
[Be] All right. Water coming at you...
[chuckles]
One way to get cool.
[Nava] Oh, it feels great... [chuckles]
That's awesome. It's getting really, really wet.
-I think it's about... -For the main dome.
time to start stomping this out.
I am so ready... [laughs]
Now we are at the perfect texture.
The viscosity is absolutely perfect.
We're gonna take off our shoes
and we're gonna start stepping into this cob.
Whenever you step on Earth,
especially if it's wet, it's a form of grounding,
all the electrical currents from the Earth
enter into your body
and you are absolutely electrified.
-[Be] That'd be great. -This is crazy!
Whoa!
It is so hot out,
but there's something about that cool, wet Earth,
that muddiness that's getting in between our toes
that feels incredible.
We were so electrified
that we started dancing and singing
and we even channeled a new song.
-Now stomp it out. -Now stomp it out.
-Now walk it out.
-Now shake it out. -Shake it out.
Now shake it out.
-Now stomp it out. -Now walk it out.
Now walk it out.
[laughter]
[Be] All right.
I think it's ready now.
[rock music playing]
Okay. The moment of truth. Ready?
Oh, that was a good shot.
[Be] Yeah, this stuff is nice and sticky.
We are plastering two front walls with this technique.
This is looking good.
Let's keep it going.
-[Be] Yeah. -Let's cover these two walls.
I think we can do it in the next few hours.
So far, I think it's looking pretty amazing.
It went up super, super-fast.
The coat is beautiful and you can tell
it just has that adobe feel to it.
All right. Last one.
You're the best.
[laughs]
[rock music playing]
So Be is a master up-cycler,
and he found these really interesting forms,
including an old washing machine
that was about to be tossed out.
And he put it as the round form
in the bathhouse.
It's a perfect circle for a window.
This might be harder to get out than we thought.
It's been in here for too dang long.
[Nava] This washing machine
just does not wanna come out of there.
-[Be grunts] Oh! -[Nava] It's coming out.
[Be] We're getting a little movement here.
We chiseled as much as we can,
and we got to the point
where it was no longer stuccoed on,
and it was still stuck inside of the building.
[Be grunting]
I've been practicing my kick... [makes sound]
for exactly this moment.
[Nava] Ha! Ha!
[Be] Let me get it from the other side.
[Nava] Ha! Ha!
Haa!
-You got it. -[Nava laughs]
Way to go!
We finally got the form out...
and it was amazing.
It looked so good.
It was a perfect circle.
Well, that's a hole in one.
[laughs]
[birds chirping]
[rock music playing]
[Nava] Today is capping day.
It is where we put the roof
onto the bathhouse.
We're using an up-cycled deck for the rooftop.
The only problem is that the build site
is about a half mile away.
-[Be] One... -[woman] Lift with your legs.
-[Nava] Lift with your legs, yeah. -two, three.
[rock music playing]
[Be grunts]
[Nava] So we're starting to lift up the roof
and not only is it incredibly heavy,
but it starts twisting.
It's literally buckling right under our hands.
How's it holding? Oh, it's a little wobbly.
-[Nava] No, it's not good? -It's wobbly.
It's not gonna stay like this.
It's wobbling?
-I... -[woman] Very dangerous.
-I think it's dangerous. -[woman] Yeah.
This is one of the most critical part of the build,
it's literally the roof of the entire bathhouse.
But it is coming apart as we move it.
You guys, it's getting really heavy. Help, help, help.
There are not enough screws in the deck
and it's really, really wobbly.
[Be] Whoa.
This thing's...
Oh, it's not screwed in on this side. That's why.
So there is no way we're gonna carry this roof up
onto the mountain by hand.
We're gonna have to find another way.
This is what I think could realistic
is we get your truck really close to here
and then just lift it enough to put it onto the truck.
We can try.
[rock music playing]
[Nava] Good?
Good.
All right. So everyone takes a corner,
we're just gonna take this
and move it in like that.
[rock music playing]
I don't know how it's gonna get through the road this way.
Are we there yet?
We're good?
Okay. So just get someone hang on that corner,
we could walk out like this.
-For the whole drive? -Yeah.
To be honest, I did not like the idea
of walking with the truck,
but it was kind of our last resort.
[man] You guys ready back there?
[Be] We're ready.
Watch it. Move it or lost it.
Hold it.
-You guys holding all right? -[man] Yeah.
[Nava] Yeah, we're good.
I realize it wasn't that bad.
[Be] Still good?
-[man] Clear. -[Be] All right. I'm going up.
Until we hit a really steep incline.
-Oh, my gosh. -[Be] Are you ready?
[man] We're ready.
[car engine revving]
[Be] Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
Okay, heads down. Whoa!
[dramatic music playing]
[Be] Watch it. Move it or lose it.
I realize it wasn't that bad,
until we hit a really steep incline,
and all of a sudden there is dust and there is sand
-going into all of our faces. -[Be] Heads down!
Whoa!
It was very sketchy
and a little scary, to say the least.
[Be] By the will of some higher power,
it made it up there.
I really... I don't know we did that.
-Are you guys ready? -[man] Yup.
One, two, three, go.
-Sadie, you okay? -[Sadie] Yeah.
Okay. Let's just keep going all the way.
After we get the truck close to where the site is,
then we have to walk it up
into the main part of the mountain.
[man] Clearing the path. This is heavier.
Yeah. Yeah.
[Nava] And that trail is really, really thin.
There's a bunch of brush, there are building materials,
and there are trees all over the place.
[Be grunts] [indistinct]
[Jay] Oh, hold it right there.
[Be] Whoa, man down.
And at one point, Jay slips and falls.
-[Be] You all right? -[Jay] Yup.
[Be] Still moving, still moving...
-[grunts] -[Nava] Okay. Okay.
[Be grunting]
[metal creaks]
[Be] Okay. Put it down here.
Here we go, right here.
We finally get it to site and that's not the end of it.
I know you're hot, I know you're tired,
let's just get this up here.
Because then after that, the next challenge
is getting the roofing onto the actual roof.
-[indistinct] -[Be grunts]
[Jay] You're good? Yeah, yeah, think so.
[Nava] We had someone go onto the bathhouse.
And from there, the rest of us
would flip over the roofing
and then we would slide it up to him,
and then slowly slide up the roofing
onto the bathhouse.
It was pretty much our best option.
[Be] Keep going, keep going, keep going.
[rock music playing]
-[Jay] That's it. -[Be] You like it?
[Jay] Is that good for you?
Good for me.
I'm super-stoked.
[rock music playing]
[Be] This is actually the best time
to get some work done,
it's finally cooled off a little bit.
And we're going to make some lime.
[rock music playing]
[Nava] Lime is calcium bicarbonate.
It comes from the soil,
it dries super, super-hard, it's really ancient.
Let's get some sand in here.
[Nava] We mix in lime, sand, a little bit of mortar,
and a lot of love.
Plus water.
We use lime plaster
because it's the best for the final coat.
Doesn't crack as much as concrete
and it creates the beautiful white patina.
Oh, yeah.
Creamy.
Once that goes on, we take the trowel
and we start applying it upwards onto the building.
This is the part where we smooth out
the scratch plaster.
[Be] Ain't it great to work with?
[Nava] Yeah.
[Be] Super-sticky.
[Nava] Yeah.
I think it's the best material.
The lime is looking amazing.
It actually went on super, super-smooth really easy,
and now it's my favorite time.
I think it's crystal time.
Crystal grating is where you strategically paste crystals
in different parts of your home
and it electrifies that home.
-Check 'em out. -Oh, no way.
-[Nava] Ain't that pretty? -[Be] That's beautiful.
You can do it for protection, you can do it for healing.
-You found these? -[Nava] I found them.
-[Be] No way. -Yeah.
And crystals have really potent energy.
All right. So this is a moonstone
to connect us with the moon energies
and on nights with the full moon,
it'll shine so bright.
This is a clear quartz.
It has to do with spiritual ascension.
This is amazonite.
Amazonite connects us to our Earth energy
and it also calms the nervous system.
It's pretty important for a bathhouse.
-[Be] Can I put one now? -[Nava] Yeah.
There are a bunch of crystals to choose from.
I ended up choosing the amethyst
because it represents family.
And this is for the family.
Where do you wanna put it?
Right in the center.
[laughs] Okay, cool.
Yeah.
This feels great.
It looks great.
We gotta do a little lime paint
and a little more lime plaster,
it's good to go.
Just as we started making great progress on the build,
something happened that we could've never predicted.
[rock music playing]
Doing the build and there's a fire next door.
There's literally flame coming at us.
Looks like we're gonna have to evacuate.
[rock music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
Doing the build and there's a fire next door.
We're just filling bag
and there's this giant plume of smoke.
And I start freaking out because it appeared
to be coming towards us.
But luckily it was just on the ridge over
and it was put out by helicopter.
Thank you, firefighters.
And we are so blessed that our house is safe.
After the fire scare, we've been extremely busy
trying to finish up this build,
and we have dug out a pond,
we continued building up some of the walls,
and we did a lot of plastering work
including lime washing,
which is a beautiful but messy job.
But just as we're starting to make a lot of progress,
then boom, we get hit with a hurricane.
And on the same day,
there's a 5.1 magnitude earthquake.
Like, tropical storm in California is unheard of.
[rain pouring]
[Be] Super-rainy.
All the water's coming in
and everything's getting wet...
[Be speaking]
I'm trying to divert it, go out...
[Nava] Be and I have not been at the site yet.
We're about to go up now and to see
if everything survived.
We are having a little bit of anxiety about it.
But I guess this is the make-or-break moment
to see if our buildings can withstand
something tremendous like this.
[Be] Trash everywhere.
Ugh.
Oh, my goodness.
-[Be] Oh, man. -[Nava] This is terrible.
[Be] We walk up the hill and it is just a mess.
A lot of things were outside
that probably shouldn't have been.
The hurricane just threw everything around.
[Nava] There's water everywhere.
Oh, my gosh.
All these bags are completely uncovered. I mean--
[Be] Yeah, we didn't get to seal it.
I mean, the main thing is that it stood out.
Yeah, exactly. It withstood everything.
-The form is fine. -It handled the hurricane.
[Nava] The building withstood what it was supposed to.
It's strong enough for hurricanes and earthquakes,
and we literally had both.
It was a good test for our build, to be honest.
[Be] Well, the pond holds water.
Got like few hundred gallons of water from this rain.
That's crazy. We have no water,
but we do have water... [laughs]
Like we are so provided for...
[laughs]
Well, I guess we can use the water.
But it's so murky.
I'm actually really glad this is here
because we wouldn't be able to mix concrete--
We wouldn't be able to work.
I wouldn't be able to do lime plaster.
Like we need this water.
This is our lifeline right now.
We lost a couple days because of the hurricane.
We're just gonna take this day to clean everything up
and then tomorrow we'll continue
making progress on the build.
[rock music playing]
Today is gonna be one of the best days on the build.
We have other side many projects
that I really love doing.
I feel like plants are the jam.
So we have the main dome,
and then the roof of the second floor
turns into a deck.
And that deck is the living roof.
[Be] All right. So we got this in with the plan.
[Nava] We're gonna fill this up to the top.
We're gonna put in some succulents
and then bit by bit,
we'll just get this whole roof set.
-[Be] Here you go. -[Nava] Yeah.
Those are little cuties.
I just love plants so much.
I think they add so much to a space
and they're really important for all the animals around
and the ecosystem.
Oh, they're so beautiful.
That, plus Earth,
equals good soil.
My number one helper, which is my puppy, Tunally,
she's a terrier, which means--
What do you mean, I thought it was me?
You're up there, pretty sure.
Well, I'm like number two helper?
Tunally is on a break right now,
but normally she helps me dig all of my holes.
-I don't see you-- -Okay.
-I've been replaced by a dog. -[laughs]
[Be] All right.
A little more soil up here and we got a living roof.
Just had this idea to up-cycle this giant pole
and turn it into a dropdown fireman's pole for the kids.
I'm doing this because it's fun.
How many fire pole houses have you seen?
Let's make one.
All right. Who's gonna be the first to slide down?
So I just wanted to make sure
that it was okay to slide down.
Hold it tight.
It works.
I actually might use it more than the kids...
[laughs]
Got high strength concrete
reinforced with rebar,
and we're hoping that this 20-foot pole stays here
for some time.
I'm a big kid and I like it, so.
Hopefully the little kids like it too.
I'm so stoked on this new biogas system.
[Nava] Oh, my gosh. It's gonna be so good.
Be and I have been waiting a long time
for this biogas system.
It came all the way from Israel.
We are so stoked to set it up.
I lift up one of the components and I see...
Scorpion!
[Be] Watch out, watch out, watch out.
Don't kill it. Don't kill it.
-Please don't kill it. -I'm not trying to kill it.
[Nava] It's right there. It's right there.
No. Blue. Get outta here.
-Outta here. -[Be] Blue, out. Go. Move it.
-Move it or lose it. -We have two small dogs.
And scorpions have been known to be pretty fatal
to small dogs.
Dust pan, right here. Dust pan. Don't touch it.
Instead of feeding them to the chickens,
they get relocated.
I'll release it.
I'm used to releasing scorpions.
[Be] Give it to the chickens.
I had a conversation with the scorpion
and I asked the scorpion to stay
on that side of the property line and I feel
like the scorpion was pretty responsive.
-Okay. Okay. -It was.
Did you see it again?
Is it properly relocated?
Yes, I've relocated the scorpion.
-It was-- -You had a conversation
-with the scorpion? -We did.
We had a telepathic conversation.
I told it, "Please stay on that side."
And it was like, "Okay, great."
[laughs]
Okay. Scorpion-free, right?
Let's unveil the home biogas.
[Nava] Okay.
[Be] So biogas system basically takes human waste,
goes into a giant bladder, it produces methane,
and that methane is then converted into clean...
-[Nava] Fuel. -[Be] cooking fuel
for hot showers and for heating.
So we're gonna take what's actually unwanted
and reuse it.
Instead of flushing five gallons of water,
it only uses a quarter gallon.
So we're gonna save water.
No electricity needed.
It's a game-changer.
And we just pop the chute on here,
snaps into place.
And now we can go ahead and place it in here.
[Nava] Nice.
All we have to do is secure it, add water...
[Nava] Mmm-hmm.
hook up the stove and the toilet,
and we're off to the races.
We got the pond dug out
and now Be has a crazy idea of what to do
with this plexiglass
and making it into a waterfall.
I have no idea how it's gonna work out,
but we're gonna try it.
[Be] All right, guys.
So if you just take that and lift it up,
I think we can get it up here on the roof
and then overhang it into position.
You okay?
[Nava] You guys are doing a great job.
[Be] Can you lift up at all?
Up, up.
-[man speaking] -[Be] Yeah, we got it.
-Okay. It's coming this way... -Yup.
[Be] with the overhang.
Let's just set it and see what it looks like
when water flows through it.
What we got here is a sub pump.
This water was all captured by the rain.
And now we're gonna take this water in
and pump it into our waterfall.
Yeah. There she blows.
It's got some good pressure too.
All right. Let's hook it up to the waterfall.
This has gotta get mounted proper,
but I just wanna see what it looks like.
There you go.
Let's see if that gives the desired effect.
[Nava] Wow, this is amazing.
This is amazing.
After a whole hot summer, this is gold.
It kinda works, huh?
This is amazing.
We are not celebrating until the finish line.
[Be] This list is still huge.
And it seems like every time we check something off,
there's like another five things.
[Nava] We are almost there.
This is the last stretch where we have to do
all the finishing touches to make this build beautiful.
[dramatic music playing]
[Be] The build is finished.
I don't know how to feel.
-Um-- -[laughs] I know.
[Be] It's the beginning of something
and it's kind of the end of something.
It's bittersweet.
Our original timeline was three months,
but it ended up being a little closer to four.
But that is because we had a fire,
we had a 5.7 magnitude earthquake,
and we had a hurricane.
Crazy.
Our original budget for this was $60,000
and we ended up being at about that.
We had so many people come through and help us out
and we are so fortunate for that.
And I think that's the reason
why we were able to stay on budget.
My mom is coming today to see the build.
I really don't know what her reaction's gonna be.
-Mom. -Oh, my God!
-[Nava] Miriam, hi! -Are you serious?
Hi.
-Oh, my God. Honestly-- -You made it.
Aw...
[laughs]
It's amazing.
Thanks for believing me...
In me, Mom.
[dramatic music playing]
What did you see before versus what did you see now?
-Dirt. -Okay. [laughs]
Now I see an interesting house
with a lot of light, openness,
and the water coming down.
Where's the water coming from?
[Be] There's a waterfall.
[Miriam] Oh, my God.
I'm amazed that you did that.
And this is all the stuff
that was laying around the property.
-This is all the junk... -Is that... Is that--
that I've collecting that you've been
yelling at me about.
You made a home out of it.
You did it.
You actually did it.
[Be] Do you wanna check out the kitchen?
Yes. Are you kidding? Show it to me. I'm...
-[Be] All right. Mom. -dying to see it.
[dramatic music playing]
[Miriam] Oh, my God, that's beautiful.
[dramatic music playing]
We chose to do an indoor-outdoor kitchen
to have a nice breeze
and just have it really open and spacious and airy.
We're completely off-grid.
We got our biogas here,
so we're using our kitchen waste
to power our clean cooking stove.
We're super-insulated because we're subterranean.
We have solar from the very top,
which feeds the electricity to these lights.
It goes to a portable power bank
so we can store our power from the sun.
And we have the well water, so.
We don't have to rely on anyone or anything.
And we have a fireman's pole, so the kids can come down
from the upstairs for breakfast.
[Miriam] Wow, that's amazing.
[Be] Okay.
[Miriam] This is so different, the vibe.
It's just four corners, square corners in a room.
We just wanted to show what's possible.
This is the spiral staircase and it goes up to the pond.
All the water is up-cycled and can feed the garden.
[Miriam] This is beautiful.
Are you serious?
This is paradise. It's gorgeous.
Water here, water there, water everywhere.
[laughs]
Oh, my God. That is beautiful.
[gasps]
So amazing to sit and do your business here
and have this in your view.
[Nava laughs]
[Be] Most flushing toilets
use five gallons of water every flush.
This one only uses a quarter gallon.
Not only that, this is the biogas system
that feeds our hot water for our shower and bath.
[Nava] And if you wanna take a bath--
[Miriam] Wow.
Everything is being recycled and used here
and now I get it.
That's amazing.
Fantastic. What a great space.
-You wanna see more? -Yeah!
Okay, let's go. [laughs]
Oh, we have to look at the floating bed.
How cool is that?
[Be] I'll be sleeping
on the floating bed right there.
It turns out a floating bed is the best way
to sleep for your body.
Are these crystals here?
[Be] Some of them are glow in the dark.
There's an amethyst for family.
And this is the living roof...
that insulates the bottom floor.
Also, we're able to grow all our food up here
and then fertilize it with the pond water.
Kids will be staying in here.
It's kind of like a funhouse.
[Miriam] Oh, wow! Look at that.
It's a whole bedroom you created here.
Beautiful.
[dramatic music playing]
And the views, wow!
Yeah. View is gonna be amazing.
-They're gonna wake up... -[Miriam] Wow!
[Nava] with the sun.
[Be] And then can shoot down the fireman's pole.
[Miriam] You had a vision and here it is.
I'm so proud of you.
[upbeat music playing]
-Wow. -Wow. Look at the ceiling.
I am so happy to be able to bring the kids up
to the place and say,
"Welcome to your new home."
Y'all are the unicorns
and this is the cherry on top.
[Trace laughs]
I feel so honored to be able
to help you build this for your family.
[laughs]
[dramatic music playing]
[child laughs]