Underground shelter

[Mark@Sea]

I've wanted a good storm shelter for years, and now Sue is getting into canning - very enthusiastically. I need a temperature stable shelter of some sort. Like a root cellar, I suppose...

So I'm thinking the best way to go is a buried shelter. Something pre-fab would be preferable. I've thought about buying a conex box, or going with (don't laugh) the biggest pre-fab septic tank I can find. A very large hole I've got... and I've heard that for optimum temps it should be 8 to 10 feet down.

Any suggestions, thoughts, or points of contact for something like this?

[Mike.357]

biggest pre-fab septic tank

thats funny, actually that was what I immediately thought of about one sentence into your post.

Septic tank has two lids so there are options.

Something built into the side of a hill would be good too.

[10Kilr]

A guy close to where I live sells septic tank shelters. Sets them on top of each other, with a door in the front. Apparently he had sold a few of them. Actually kind of cool.

[Guest TurboniumOxide]

I heard about a guy that dug a trench and drove an old school bus into it and then covered it up leaving the back door down a hole with a ladder. That's american ingenuity.

[NuTcAsE]

Mom & the wife have been canning alot too.

Conex boxes work.

check these out... Survival Center - Underground Shelters

[Mark@Sea]

A guy close to where I live sells septic tank shelters. Sets them on top of each other, with a door in the front. Apparently he had sold a few of them. Actually kind of cool.

Got a phone # or e-mail?

I have a fair sized sinkhole on the property. Figured I would put it in along one side and cover it up. It'd be at least 5 or 6 feet deep, maybe more. I could use block to build a passageway.

[Garufa]

I'd think about filling in that sinkhole.

That's were water drains.

[Mark@Sea]

It's probably 100 feet across, maybe 20 feet deep at one end. That'd take a lot of filling.

[Moped]

Barger and Son's sells and installs something like this. They used to advertise on the radio her in Knoxville. I think they are out of Greenville. You might check them out.

[enfield]

Personally, I woudn't build anything on a sinkhole. There's a cavern down there somewhere and its roof isn't stable.

[Motasyco]

I heard about a guy that dug a trench and drove an old school bus into it and then covered it up leaving the back door down a hole with a ladder. That's american ingenuity.

That's going to rust through. I wouldn't want to be in there when it gives way. Unless maybe if it's in the desert and very dry.

[Guest Phantom6]

Got a phone # or e-mail?

I have a fair sized sinkhole on the property. Figured I would put it in along one side and cover it up. It'd be at least 5 or 6 feet deep, maybe more. I could use block to build a passageway.

If you have a sinkhole then you also have a cave below it somewhere. Got an entrance anywhere on or near the property? I think I'd rather adapt a more stable area of a natural feature than drop something man-made into a sinkhole. Of course what do I know? I've just got plans to move to my bunker-like basement which is mostly underground on 3 3/4 sides accessed from the outside by a concrete staircase down to a solid, steel reinforced door. Certainly defensable against small arms but a determined adversary with some heavier stuff would run me out of there pretty quickly.

[Mark@Sea]

I have a couple caves on the property, but they are (apparently) to small for entrance. It'd take a lot more time, work and money to make them into what I am looking for than is practical. One is halfway up the side of the cliff, so thats' out on account of I'm too old to play tarzan anymore.

A sinkhole is what is left after the cavern collapses. There may (probably) or may not be another cavern below. Certainly cracks and crevasses where the water flows. This one is very old, and apparently stable (LARGE trees in the bottom). I'd love to get in there with a backhoe, as there is still a small entrance on one end (been a lair for a momma fox as long as I've lived there). Unfortunately I must have left my backhoe in my other pants...

Looked at the barger and sons storm shelter, which may fit the bill. I'm going home for the weekend ( a guy here on the ship would like some coleman lanterns, I'm going to rebuild a few and bring them back down for him) and will be looking around for a better site for it. Needs to be close to the house, needs to be 5+ feet underground. Biggest problem is that just a few feet down you hit rocks. Big effin rocks, the size of the garage, some of them. Easiest solution is find a spot down the side of the hill and bring in a bunch of fill dirt. Spot the shelter and backfill the heck out of it.

[Guest ColdSteel]

F-5 Storm Shelters - Home

[Guest SUNTZU]

PM sent. Here is a link to a detailed tour of the Ark Two Facility in Canada.

Ark Two Introduction Page

Some other links...

Ideas for tube designs

http://www.radshelters4u.com/index3.htm#5

Shelter Plans

http://www.military.com/Content/MoreContent1/?file=cw_civildefense

More shelter plans

http://www.survivalring.org/cd-plans.htm

Edited July 24, 2009 by SUNTZU

[Guest canynracer]

Plastic-Mart - Two Compartment Plastic Septic Tanks 1299.99 : 1500 Gallon Plastic Septic Tanks

two compartment 1500 gallon septic tank...actually not a bad price.

[Guest canynracer]

ya know, it seems to me that a concrete shelter would be better, and the price is not that much different especially since it will last longer, and provide more flexibility.

U.S. Storm Shelters and Safe Rooms

just need to find one here in TN...

[Guest SUNTZU]

You can make it out of storm pipe. From one of the above links.

I think the new septic tank or just some concrete drain pipe would be good for an out of the way shelter. Here is an article from backwoods home on underground shelters. I like the waterproofed corrugated shelter the best.

The return of home emergency shelters takes on a dual-purpose approach by Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM Issue #74

[kckndrgn]

ya know, it seems to me that a concrete shelter would be better, and the price is not that much different especially since it will last longer, and provide more flexibility.

U.S. Storm Shelters and Safe Rooms

just need to find one here in TN...

Here ya go:

Tennessee Storm Shelters

[Guest SUNTZU]

I would think that cinderblock and a reinforced sloped roof would do the trick. Dig back into the hillside, pour a slab with wire or rebar reinforcement, rebar protruding the surface to tie into the block. Lay block, blockfill, waterproof both sides, add gravel and drainage pipe, steel trusses welded onto imbeds at top of walls, add decking, good waterproofing, air duct, and backfill. To get creative, since your on a hillside, add a toilet with a line running into a tank you can get pumped as needed.

[Moped]

Or if possible add a drain field.

[Mark@Sea]

Looks like the barger and sons shelter will do the trick. Now trying to figure out where to put it.

[Moped]

Those are pretty slick looking! I guess I was wrong about where they they were located. Don't know where I got Greenville from. You'd have to tack on another $400+/- for shipping to your place.

[Guest maggie357]

Does Barger and Sons have a website?

[Guest SUNTZU]

Does Barger and Sons have a website?

Here you go, Maggie.

C.R. Barger & Sons, Inc.: Precast Concrete Septic Tanks, Grease Traps, Pump Tanks, Storm Shelters and more precast concrete products.