Cheap storm shelter?

[FTG-05]

There used to be a show on cable called Redneck Rocket Scientist or something like that. They actually build a tornado proof outhouse and used an air cannon to launch 8' two by fours at over 120mph at it to see if it would stand up. It did. It was made of steel reinforced concrete blocks with concrete poured in them.

Rocket City Rednecks. It was either S1E13 "Tornado Proof Outhouse" or S2E15, "Doomsday Shelter". The version I saw was constructed in a junk yard and they used a crane to drop a wrecked car on it. The shelter survived just fine.

 

[FTG-05]

Not a good idea, it will cave in. Ask me how I know.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...m-concrete-floor-quonset-shop.html?highlight=

You would think that people that give that horrible advice would spend maybe 5 minutes researching why that's a bad idea. - before they give it.

 

[dirt ditch]

Good info on why not put a shipping container in the ground.

http://graywolfsurvival.com - why you shouldn't bury a shipping container for a shtf bunker

FEMA installed this shelter made out of shipping containers. Dirt was piled up around them and the tops were protected by concrete. These shelters were only in the ground 5-6 years then removed and used as storage containers. In that short of time they were no worse for wear.

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Around here you can buy a concrete storm shelter for $3000+ delivered.

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[EddieWalker]

I didn't see this. Was this in Oklahoma? I wonder why those walls left standing remained standing? Could it be the vent pipes in the walls?

Anyone else see this picture this week? That poor kid was home alone and as I recall from the story, he was on the phone with one of his parents, who told him to go to the center of the house to the bathroom with no windows. He lived. Holy cow! Ain't nothing left but two walls and the toilet. Man!

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[Soundguy]

Good info on why not put a shipping container in the ground.

Could be better titled, on what you need to do to put one in the ground.

casing it would be fine.

 

[JerryK]

What ever you build, try to have at least two ways to get out.. Nice big tree blocking your door can happen..... or a car/someones roof/etc...

 

[EddieWalker]

My thinking is that if you are hit, and you are trapped inside a safe room, it doesn't really matter where you are, people will show up pretty soon. Helicopters will be flying as soon as it's safe and they will zero in on every house that is destroyed or damaged. Then rescue workers, police, fire department personnel will head that way looking for injured people. Having a cell phone inside there with you is a bonus, but who knows if it will still work. Cell towers might be gone too. Having enough supplies to last a day shouldn't be too hard. Probably a bucket for going to the bathroom is going to be the biggest discomfort and embarrassment if it comes to using it. Thinking about that, I'm going to include air freshener to my list of supplies to keep in there after I build it!!!

 

[prichard]

Maybe include a jack for help prying on the door? Lots of water, if it's hot out afterwards it could turn into a sauna sitting in the sun.

 

[JerryK]

My thinking is that if you are hit, and you are trapped inside a safe room, it doesn't really matter where you are, people will show up pretty soon. Helicopters will be flying as soon as it's safe and they will zero in on every house that is destroyed or damaged. Then rescue workers, police, fire department personnel will head that way looking for injured people. Having a cell phone inside there with you is a bonus, but who knows if it will still work. Cell towers might be gone too. Having enough supplies to last a day shouldn't be too hard. Probably a bucket for going to the bathroom is going to be the biggest discomfort and embarrassment if it comes to using it. Thinking about that, I'm going to include air freshener to my list of supplies to keep in there after I build it!!!

It's just that I like to have an out, goes back to a couple tours in S/E Asia in the late 60's courtesy of the Army... Don't like being trapped like a rat in a hole. Sort of a ' wipe mine own arse ' type thing... [ or, maybe a mental defect... ]

 

[Deere Dude]

I just wanted to share a few pictures of my storm shelter build by me and my wife in September 2014. We used 8" of concrete in the floor, walls and the ceiling. We used 1/2" rebar in the floor, walls and rood and all welded together, although some say don't weld rebar but to bend it and make an arc to concrete in. That would be to much work for me. I did put pretty heavy cattle panels in the floor, wals and roof also to help hold it together in case of a hellacious wind.

The concrete was stubbed out with 1'/2" rebar in the wall protruding into the footing going around the perimeter.

The door is a commercial door but not one with the 3 bolts for a latching mechanism. I am using an angle iron brace on the inside to keep the door from blowing in.

Inside I have 6'8" wall to wall so I built some angle iron bunks bolted to the walls. The roof is 7' inside dimension and was just right for my tractor to dump concrete into the formed roof. All the concrete was mixed by hand which was a bear but I didn't want any concrete truck squashing my blacktop, plus there wasn't anyway to get concrete to the roof, economically.

We built this and framed the garage around it and it works for us. I know I didn't follow federal guidelines for a commercial shelter like someone posted here, but I am just a handyman trying to scrape by.