Build Storm Cellar

When mike toppen built an earth sheltered root cellarout away from his house he designed it with four goals in mind.

Build storm cellar.

The access door had to be sealed from snakes spiders mice and squirrels. Mike toppen used a 1 500 gallon plastic ag liquids tank to accomplish his goal of constructing his own root cellar and storm shelter. The easiest and cheapest way to build your own storm shelter underground is to put it in your existing basement. It had to be usable for cold storage of food such as.

If you plan on digging an underground storm shelter outside of your home then you will need to pay for a ground analysis. Full service lumberyards either carry or will special order all the materials you ll need to build this storm shelter cellar room except the 14 gauge steel sheets. Steps for building a storm shelter cut out and remove the concrete slab from the garage floor and dig down 28 inches. Additional tornado and hurricane safe room information.

You can use the existing basement slab floor assuming that it is reinforced and meets fema requirements. Safe room design and parts. Photo courtesy farm show magazine. This one is made from 1 500 gallon plastic ag liquids tank.

The shelter had to be located above ground so it wouldn t fill with water. Mike than reinforced it with wooden structures inside and out and then covering it with 16 to 20 inches of soil to add thermal and storm protection. Install metal rebar throughout the form to reinforce the concrete. The forth root cellar on our list not only acts as a backyard refrigerator but also as a storm shelter.

Build a wooden form around the excavated hole to create the walls and ceiling of the concrete storm shelter.