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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Storm cellars, was Unpreparedness
  • Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:32:18 -0500



Gloria Morris wrote:
I'd been thinking about the storm shelter/root cellar we had when I was a small child in Oklahoma. It was in our garage. Problem was, it
was leaky and always had water standing in it - I think we had a
high ground water table. I was actually afraid of it as a child - it
was creepy. But the idea, minus the water, is very appealing to me,
as one could access the shelter during a nasty storm without going outside into the storm. And, the space could do double duty for food storage. Of course, that would mean jack-hammering out some of the concrete floor in my garage, and excavating INSIDE a pre-existing building. I've never attempted anything like that, but I expect that the cost of doing it would be pretty high. Since putting the shelter in my garage is likely not an option, placing it as close to the house as possible would be my next choice.

My ground is pretty flat, Gene. But I suppose that if one dug into the ground a ways, the dirt from the hole could be used to cover the top of a shelter and create a little hill of sorts. I guess that would cut down, a little, on the depth of the needed excavation?


Glo, I think I mentioned this a few months back, but just in case I
didn't...
See if you can find an old school bus or box van or something along
those line...maybe an old dented shipping container, even. Pay a tow
truck to haul it to your place from the junkyard. Then, go and rent a
bobcat or backhoe or whatever. Dig out an area, preferably in a slope,
and then cover the van/bus/container with soil, burying all but the rear
cargo doors or emergency exit or whatever the case may be. You can gut
the inside and put an air vent in the box. (upside down J to keep
rainwater and bugs out). Even on flat land, you can do this. If you
get something like a box van, you dig a large trench about 4 feet deep,
roll the van into the trench, remove the tires, cut through the roof and
install a PVC vent pipe, seal that with flashing and tar, cover the
whole van with a large heavy dutytarp, and then bury it. You will end
up with maybe a 3 foot hump in the yard, but you can always plant
something there to disguise it.

Bev
--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.







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