New Cold Cellar

[Guest TNSovereignty]

Here's the homestead's new storm/root cellar - the fall project for this year.  It's 8X16 - plenty of room for the family with all the garden produce.  Once Christmas is behind us I'll finish the french drain & backfill ... hopefully it will look like a grassed over hobbit hole next spring.  

 

[MacGyver]

Cool!

[RED333]

That is nice!!!

How are you gona seal the walls and wall to floor joint?

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

That is neat. I love the door.. cedar?

 

One question.. can you  hang and cure meat in there ?

[Guest USMC 2013]

Very awesome!  Once I have the land I want something like that.  Buy in bulk and have a great place to store it!

 

Joe

[Dolomite_supafly]

I wonder if the evaporation cooling effect will work on a building like this? I have seen where two pots were used to cool stuff below ambient.

 

Dolomite

[UncleJak]

This is awesome!

 

I wonder if the evaporation cooling effect will work on a building like this? I have seen where two pots were used to cool stuff below ambient

I bet it would if it were set right.

[Mark A]

that is extremely cool...

 

Mark

[Patrick Henry]

You might do some research.  I recall reading that cinder block absorbs water and then with freezing is slowly crumbles; this was a problem with spring houses in cold climates.  I would think properly sealing the cinder block would minimize this potential problem. 

[Spots]

Just use a good waterproofer. We built an underground 12x12 building this summer when I was working construction and used some really good roll out plastic waterproofer that nails/screws on. I can get you some info if you want.

[Guest TNSovereignty]

How are you gona seal the walls and wall to floor joint?

Exterior walls & roof have two coats of Thoroseal cement-based foundation coating; also included appropriate amount of an acrylic bonding agent.  Every pore of the block is sealed/coated.  Coated the walls all the way down to & including 2-3" of the footer.

 

 

That is neat. I love the door.. cedar?

 

One question.. can you  hang and cure meat in there ?

Yep, cedar t&g door over a frame of 5/4 treated pine, with a 1" foam board core; door is 2 5/8".  I've already hung a deer in there for a few days.  Not sure about long-term storage - is high humidity good for meat?  Currently running about 80% humidity.

 

 

You might do some research.  I recall reading that cinder block absorbs water and then with freezing is slowly crumbles; this was a problem with spring houses in cold climates.  I would think properly sealing the cinder block would minimize this potential problem. 

Ummm, yeah ... research is a good thing - seems you assume I'm an idiot.  A lot went into this.  Concrete block is certainly a sponge, that's why I coated the exterior with a subterranean foundation coating, plus I coated the interior with white Drylok.  Old cinder block was more susceptible to leaching minerals & crumbling than today's concrete block.  I'm an engineer - not a construction expert - but I feel very sorry for the guy who ever wants to try tearing this thing apart.  LOTS of #4 bar, reinforcing wire every 2nd course, Type S mortar, etc.

 

Just use a good waterproofer. We built an underground 12x12 building this summer when I was working construction and used some really good roll out plastic waterproofer that nails/screws on. I can get you some info if you want.

Thanks for the offer ... I think I'm all set with waterproofing; the product you're mentioning is probably the best but I'm trying to do the best possible job on a po' boy budget.  I think I'll put heavy mil plastic (got some in the barn) over the whole roof before filling in ... just some insurance.  Best thing I can do for waterproofing is a good drainage system to greatly reduce horizontal water pressure.

Over the roof I'm placing 1" foam board, over which will go about 8-12" of soil.  Foam board may not be necessary but that's to improve insulation where soil cover will be the least.  

 

Evaporative cooling - yes, definitely should help through the summer.  Ambient soil temp around here is in the mid-50s.  That's my target temp for the summer ... shooting for mid-to-high 30s through the winter.  The eventual soil/grass cover should be great insulation plus aid in evaporative cooling.  

 

Additional stuff FYI:  On the exposed NW wall (approx 8 x 8 with the door), every core is filled with vermiculite for insulation; this stuff works even when wet.  Not a hugh R-value but helpful.  NW wall is always shaded, and I'll get some ivy working up the wall next spring which will further evaporative cooling.  Air exchange - two 4" inlets at ground level; one 6" chimney on centerline at back of building.  I chose a gravel floor over concrete slab; I want high humidity for most of what I'm storing.  In the future I may add an interior anteroom & pour a concrete floor ... that will give me one area for higher humidity, one for lower.  

 

I posted this in case anyone else might be inspired ... it was a fun DIY project that adds value to our homestead.  Anyone ever have questions please ask away.

[thundersnow]

I thought you said it was a poor boy's budget... That vermiculite is really expensive dirt! Congrats on the build. Should serve you well. You might consider putting some pex tubing in before the backfill. It'd be a great source of cooling if you wanted to pipe cool air through the room using a heat exchanger. 100' of tubing would be great in a spread out coil that is safe from the elements.

[lunarpowered]

If you don't mind me asking. What does this project cost?

[Guest TNSovereignty]

If you don't mind me asking. What does this project cost?

Depends.  I did all the labor - have my own backhoe, learned how to lay block, etc.  Most expensive part was bringing in ready-mix to pour the footing & the 6" roof.  Short answer ... about $3K, from digging the hole to putting the final coat of poly on the door.  I had a few odds & ends laying around that I used, so that probably helped keep costs down.  If you have the time to scrounge up some block that would save quite a bit.  

[peejman]

From one engineer to another, nice work.