Project Root Cellar ......out of a 8' tall x 14' metal culvert

[forgeblast]

Nice Job! BHD
I am going to post some links to barrel vault bread ovens. Its basically what you may make just smaller. My bread oven/pizza oven is a barrel vault.
STOVEMASTER - Semi-pre-cast brick ovens

If you look at my post on #25 you will see the kick outs needed to hold the vault in place. sizing help needed - Page 3 - Forno Bravo Forum: The Wood-Fired Oven Community

MHA News - 2007 Meeting at Wildacres is a great set of pics on the building process.

 

[MotorSeven]

All good suggestions! BHD, I found your cellar via google while doing a search...nice job.

I am really don't want this to be a major project, so I am weighing in on the easiest way to get this done. It will not be a storm shelter, only food storage, so a smaller size is ok with us. So, I am leaning towards cutting this in half..not lengthwise. This gives me a short 6-8' x 8' culvert. I dig the hole, drop in gravel and proper drainage tile, more gravel, then drop the culvert in vertically. Dig & pour a pad in the center for a jack post and build a block wall a entryway on a footer...say 4' long,. Form up and pour a slightly domed concrete lid w/ entryway roof(lid will look like a key hole) on the ground near the site with rebar, mesh and fiberglass & a set of hooks in the form. Let said lid cure for a week, then swing it into place. Put jack post under the lid and adjust. Cut a hole in the side for an entry door, add hinges and insulation to the door. Cover with dirt. build deck over cellar. Build shelving inside the 8' circle. Fix broken hot tub and install on deck over cellar so the War Department will stop sending me "FIX THE HOT TUBE" notices.

This way I have another culvert left to build another one at a top secret location.

Whuduyaall think?

 

[scott_vt]

All good suggestions! BHD, I found your cellar via google while doing a search...nice job.



This way I have another culvert left to build another one at a top secret location.

Whuduyaall think?

Good Morning MotorSeven,
Sounds good to me ! I mean really how big of a space do you really need unless your feeding an army !

PS: I love secret locations !

 

[dave1949]

To be honest, I think the most cost-efficient use of that culvert is as a pre-made arched roof; that is what it is designed to be. You are going to a lot of trouble to re-create in concrete what you already have.

You could make it small: cut the culvert in half to get two 7-foot pieces. Make a secret location from one 7' half, slice the other 7' half lengthwise to provide an arched roof for a root cellar that is 7' long sitting on 4' tall knee walls. That gives you a 7-8 foot ceiling height. Add an end wall and a door wall. That leaves a 7' long half of a culvert to do whatever with--maybe a pre-made arched roof for the entry to your secret location.

Fixing the hot tub and putting it on a deck is another project no matter how you build the root cellar.

 

[Cherokee140]

I am going to be watching this one....very cool project.

 

[MotorSeven]

To be honest, I think the most cost-efficient use of that culvert is as a pre-made arched roof; that is what it is designed to be. You are going to a lot of trouble to re-create in concrete what you already have.

Dave I have to disagree. If I place it in he ground horizontally, or cut it and do knee walls it's going to require much more footer work an/or block/concrete walls. The whole thing parallel to the ground will require two end walls which will need to be on footers(not counting an entrance corridor. Split in half lengthwise will require two full length footers and still need end walls/footers. But.....vertically will only require gravel and a few posthole type pads to set the steel on. Footers & walls will be required for the entrance like the other designs, but the roof can be formed up on the ground and poured right on site. Yes, it will be smaller than the other two designs, but an 8' circle is adequate for our needs.

If I am missing something, lay it on me

And, I just thought of something else...those old 80's giant satellite dishes might make a perfect form for a domed roof.......

 

[dragoneggs]

I am liking dave1949 idea of slicing it for two arches and build knee walls. Much more usable floor space and a more inviting easier to walk around. I have zero experience in these sort of things but will be following along as well. If you don't need that much space then sell the other half to a friend and you can help each other build. A buried storage area is very tempting.

 

[dave1949]

Dave I have to disagree. If I place it in he ground horizontally, or cut it and do knee walls it's going to require much more footer work an/or block/concrete walls. The whole thing parallel to the ground will require two end walls which will need to be on footers(not counting an entrance corridor. Split in half lengthwise will require two full length footers and still need end walls/footers. But.....vertically will only require gravel and a few posthole type pads to set the steel on. Footers & walls will be required for the entrance like the other designs, but the roof can be formed up on the ground and poured right on site. Yes, it will be smaller than the other two designs, but an 8' circle is adequate for our needs.

If I am missing something, lay it on me

And, I just thought of something else...those old 80's giant satellite dishes might make a perfect form for a domed roof.......

What is the stability and bearing capability of the culvert when it is set vertically with a doorway cut out? I assume you would leave ~1' of culvert at the threshold, and door header above, uncut to hold it together top and bottom. I really don't know the answer to that. The jack pole will carry a lot of it, but the whole thing needs to stay vertical, withstand ground and hydraulic pressure, and that may mean pouring a footer no matter what.

No matter how you design the shelving, it will involve arcs to make good use of the space. There will be some material waste and labor time associated with that. The jack pole will always be in your way. :laughing:

Someone should be willing to pay you to take away one of those old huge satellite dishes. Back around 1980 our neighbor, who was a huge sports fan, had a dish that I swear must have been 12' to 15' in diameter. Probably had two yards of concrete anchoring the thing. :laughing:

 

[MotorSeven]

Progress...I picked it up the other day and off loaded it at the house($463 w/tax). I was wrong...it's only 10' long, so I am still deciding whether to split it in half quonset style, or go vertical. If I split it horizontally, I can use those 2'x2'x6' concrete retaining wall blocks. They are $75 delivered, so 12 of them would make a 4' knee wall on 3 sides. They have 3' long ones, so 2 of them plus 2 of the 6' ones on the entrance end would leave a 3' doorway. I still have to figure out how to fill in the arch on each end....block or pour? A rough estimate on the horizontal method with knee wall adds over $1K to the cost.

I am unsure about vertical, so today I am going to flip the culvert up on it's end and climb down inside. Then I will know if it's big enough for my purposes in the vertical configuration. Vertical is still the cheapest easiest way to go, 1/3 the cost of horizontal and could be completed and covered in just a few days.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Morning Rick,
I think I am on board with your thinking on using it in the vertical. Boy, way less work ! Whats your thinking about entry in that configuration ?
Going down a ladder through the top, could be kind of a pain as far as carrying any amount of weight. If it was built into the side of a hill, then a doorway would be much easier.
No matter what you decide there is a lot of space to work with !