OP
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
A little more info. Our main goal is to add on a large 24x48 room that has 12 ft walls and exposed beam ceiling with a 6:12 pitch roof. If all goes well, I hope to start on the dirt work in the spring. Just need to finish a few projects over the winter first and save up enough money to get started. This is my number one priority project, and something I've been day dreaming about for years!!! Off to the side there will be a 16x16 sun/garden room for my wife. This is what she has been dreaming of having for years.
The dimensions for everything is pretty much set in stone. After the two tornadoes that came so close to us last winter, we go to thinking that it would be nice to have a tornado shelter. First, and most obvious plan was to build it above ground into the corner of where I plan to build a new workshop. Simple, easy and effective. But not really ideal. One of those projects that I'm working on now is a canning/processing room on the other side of our house from where the new room will be built. Karen is really into gardening, and we are both borderline preppers with a desire to be as off the grid as we possibly can. Storing food and supplies is always going to be something we will never have enough space for. The canning room is 12x24 with quite a bit of storage space, but we can see where it's not going to be enough fairly quickly.
Out thinking then turned to adding a small basement. In all reality, I could make it a lot smaller, but with the size of the room above being 16x16, I feel it just makes more sense to use the walls of the basement as footings for the sun room above it. Access will be from an exterior door inside the sun room that leads to stairs down to the basement where I will install another door. I'm still unsure about this lower door. I doubt a standard exterior door will be enough is we are hit by a tornado. I can get solid core doors used in commercial buildings that would be a lot stronger, then add extra hinges with longer screws to hold it in place, and add a massive bolt system to lock it into place. This is all in the air as I tend to let the smaller details wait until I have something to work with and then make a final decision then. Under the stairs will be a camper type portapotty with plastic bags. I plan on having some cots down there, or a couple of futons and lots of shelving for canned foods. I don't see any need for heating or cooling it year round since we will rarely go down there except to increase our food supply. To keep warm, I'm sure we will just stock it with blankets or maybe an electric space heater if we have power, if not, we are in survival mode and just going to listen to the battery radio and huddle up in blankets.
The dimensions for everything is pretty much set in stone. After the two tornadoes that came so close to us last winter, we go to thinking that it would be nice to have a tornado shelter. First, and most obvious plan was to build it above ground into the corner of where I plan to build a new workshop. Simple, easy and effective. But not really ideal. One of those projects that I'm working on now is a canning/processing room on the other side of our house from where the new room will be built. Karen is really into gardening, and we are both borderline preppers with a desire to be as off the grid as we possibly can. Storing food and supplies is always going to be something we will never have enough space for. The canning room is 12x24 with quite a bit of storage space, but we can see where it's not going to be enough fairly quickly.
Out thinking then turned to adding a small basement. In all reality, I could make it a lot smaller, but with the size of the room above being 16x16, I feel it just makes more sense to use the walls of the basement as footings for the sun room above it. Access will be from an exterior door inside the sun room that leads to stairs down to the basement where I will install another door. I'm still unsure about this lower door. I doubt a standard exterior door will be enough is we are hit by a tornado. I can get solid core doors used in commercial buildings that would be a lot stronger, then add extra hinges with longer screws to hold it in place, and add a massive bolt system to lock it into place. This is all in the air as I tend to let the smaller details wait until I have something to work with and then make a final decision then. Under the stairs will be a camper type portapotty with plastic bags. I plan on having some cots down there, or a couple of futons and lots of shelving for canned foods. I don't see any need for heating or cooling it year round since we will rarely go down there except to increase our food supply. To keep warm, I'm sure we will just stock it with blankets or maybe an electric space heater if we have power, if not, we are in survival mode and just going to listen to the battery radio and huddle up in blankets.
