Emergency Under Ground Shelter

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How To Build a Basic Underground Shelter by DougSmith

In preparing for what comes, we give consideration to a greatmany different potentialproblems and disasters:

fire flood earthquake volcanoes disease no food no shelter, and the list goes on.

In our personal preparations, we are at the point where we have and will have food andwater, as much First Aid as possible, and our land is "hopefully" at sufficient elevation tobe above any potential flood plain. (4500 feet above sea level) There is no evidence of volcanic activity nearby, but the potential of earthquake exists, as it does for most of us.Our house is of block, and its ability to withstand earthquake isn't too good. It could vibrateapart easier than a wood frame house. So our thoughts turn to shelter, just in case.

We have acquired large, heavy duty tarps, parachute cord and if necessary, we canacquire 20 foot lengths of PVC pipe to makea frame for a dome shelter. However, windbegins to become an obvious factor in making a decent shelter, and tarps and plastic pipeust wouldn't work. What to do?

Ideally, one or a few of those Sea Box type shipping containers would be great, but atUS$4,000+ each, that's not within our graspat this time. Wood frames can withstand agreat amount of wind, but they also have their limits. It came to mind that undergroundwould be a good place, but not a cave or mine, since the possibility of cave-in is prettygood.

My grandparents started to build a house in Connecticut back in the late twenties, but asthey progressed, money suddenly dried up and all they had was the basement. They tookthe framing for what would have been the first floor, and made it into a roof. My mom grewup in that "underground" house, and even experienced while there, the worst hurricanethat part of the country ever experienced. While all their neighbors' homes were literallydestroyed by the high winds, my grandparents and family were safe and dry and warm.

What follows are the plans I have made for a simple box, that can be put, or more likelybuilt in a hole. Properly covered,it will withstand a great deal of adverse conditions. Sincemoneyi s by no means plentiful in our lives, I planned it as simply as possible. Oncedecent shelter is achieved, comforts can beadded as the materials are acquired. I say"acquired" because more than half of the supplies we have been able to get came frommeans other than purchase. This includes:

framing lumber from the dump dried foods that someone no longer wanted cluttering their barn the generator we purchased with the proceeds from a motorcyclewe hadsitting around collecting dust water storage with old water heaters that I stripped, cleanedand flushedout.

So, in the drawing of these plans, I kept in mind that the materials for this box may be

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acquired piece-meal, and the construction would go accordingly. Here goes.

UNDERGROUND, WATERPROOF? WINDPROOF? EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT?SHELTER

Most of us are physically able to dig a hole by hand with a shovel, pick and pry bar. Thehole has to be about twelve feet wide, bysixteen feet long. Depth is up to you. The deeper,obviously,the better. Save what dirt that comes out of the hole, as it can be used to cover your box. Based upon experience, in packed soil,with six inch rock, a four feet deep holetook me four days of unforgettable hard labor. Many hands make for light work. GETHELP!!

The simplest waterproofing would be by using landscape plastic. Six mil would be thebest. But if that's not available, the heaviest you can get is better than none. You aregoing to wrap the entirebox in plastic, then fill in the hole around the box and cover it also.This is why deeper is better. Before you begin putting your frame together, line the holewith the plastic. You will be assembling the frame over the plastic, so be careful not topuncture it.

The box, as shown in Figure 1, is made up of five ribs, and two ends.

The box will be seven feet, ten and one half inches wide, eight feet tall, and eleven feet,ten and one half inches long. The shaft for the entryway is two feet wide by four feet longby two feet high.

MATERIALS

40 -- 2 x 6 - 8' 17 -- 4' x 8' x ?" Wafer Board (this is like particle board, but with larger chunks of wood. It's cheap!!)

Here, in the extreme southeastern corner of Arizona, where building materials are a littlemore expensive than the bigger cities,the above materials priced out at $460.00. Thisdoes not includethe hardware to fasten this thing together. A roll of black, 6 mil plastic, 20


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feet wide by one hundred feet long is $50.00.If plastic is not available, no reason why a lotof paint and caulk won't work just as good. Worse case scenario, and if nothing isavailable, don't cover it.

As far as fastening this thing together, if I have power available, I plan to use 3" deck

screws to fasten the 2x6's together and2" deck screws to attach the wafer board to theframe. If thereis no power, then a good old hammer and nails will have to do. 10d cementcoat box nails if possible, for everything. The problem with hammer and nails is that thingstend to vibrate and loosenwith such a frame. Have a good heavy brace on the other sideof what you're nailing, like an eight pound sledge hammer.

The horizontal members of the ribs and end pieces should be cutto seven feet, ten andone half inches long. All vertical members are to be eight feet. This allows for the overlapof the top panels over the side panels. See Figure 2 below.

Construct the ribs and ends, and using the horizontal rails, fasten the frame together.Everything must work in two feet increments,so the panels will match the frame. Be asmeticulous as you canin making the frame square. Everything will fit better, if you do.Remember that your panels are four feet wide, and must buttto gether in the center of therib.

Once the frame is complete, your panels can be fastened to the frame. Do one end first,then the sides, working from one end to the other.

Before you do the remaining end and the top, cut your floor panels to six feet, ten incheslong, place them inside, and fasten themdown. Finish the remaining end.

You can now put the two whole top panels in place, then cut the last panel to fit aroundthe entryway. The last panel you have will be used to cover the access way chimney. I didthis to helpkeep debris from falling inside. Make the hatch cover three inches bigger thanthe outside of the chimney, and frame it with the last 2x6. It will cover the hatch, andfastened down with hook and eyes, will provide some security.


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I deliberately left out any dimensions for the chimney. Measure and cut to fit.

When you have reached this point, and have a ladder inside fora ccess, finish wrappingthe plastic around everything. Back fillyour dirt around the box and cover it about a footand a half on top. Pack it down as best you can so it won't blow away.

The inside can be finished with wood frame bunks for sleeping and storage. The exposedinterior studs are easy to work with. Whatever frame work you may add inside, fasten it asmuch as possible, to the sides, top and/or bottom. This will serve to reinforce the entirestructure.

Since the entire box is covered in plastic, it won't breath very well. A lot of bodies generatemoisture. With no where to evaporate,this will eventually become a problem in moister climates. The hatch ventilation may or may not be sufficient.

I have built a few structures similar to this in the past, and as far as strength is concerned,it is a good plan. If you have questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] . GoodLuck!

Doug Smith

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Emergency Under Ground Shelter