Under ground shelter/root cellar

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Danil54grl said:
I am waiting on shelves and getting it stocked up! OMGoodness, it has been a long wait, but it will so be worth it. So happy that it is coming to a close for you. And yes I am still jealous ;) dang nab you!!
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I'm hoping to get at least one wall of shelves in this weekend, but it's near the bottom of my to do list. I am still getting ready with spring chores. Today's going to be pretty nice as well, so the motorcycle moved up a little on the list. Even a one hour ride refreshes me. I'm almost kind of ashamed of the time frame on this project. 20 yrs ago this would have been done in a month! I'm just not that dedicated anymore, not to mention am spread a little thin.
 
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Shelving at long last! Also got the door weather stripped. Canned goods and wine will be going out shortly!
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Looking very good Brent!! So very proud of you cause I know that was a long hard job and well done. It will be a great place to store your canning goods from your garden and also your wine. It will also make a good place to hang dried herbs, onions and garlic. With onions and garlic, I normally braid and cut off when needed. . . just hang from a nail on your shelves. They should keep for a good long while in a cool root cellar
.
 
Danil54grl said:
Looking very good Brent!! So very proud of you cause I know that was a long hard job and well done. It will be a great place to store your canning goods from your garden and also your wine. It will also make a good place to hang dried herbs, onions and garlic. With onions and garlic, I normally braid and cut off when needed. . . just hang from a nail on your shelves. They should keep for a good long while in a cool root cellar
.
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I've never tried to grow garlic yet, but it's one of my favorite spices. I have a pretty good onion patch going right now. I planted it in the greenhouse so I'll have to harvest before it gets too hot. Not so sure about my braiding skills anymore, but I did raise three long haired girls. I'll post a picture of the attempt :).
 
I started relocating some of the wine out to the root cellar today. Kind of in between rain showers. It will be nice to free up some of the space in the house! I have wine/food/and bottled water stashed all over the house. The wife will appreciate having free space in all the furniture again :).
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Brent S said:
I started relocating some of the wine out to the root cellar today. Kind of in between rain showers. It will be nice to free up some of the space in the house! I have wine/food/and bottled water stashed all over the house. The wife will appreciate having free space in all the furniture again :).View attachment 4264
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I know now who I can trade for some single malt whiskey for vintage wine when the balloon goes up!
 
Silent Bob said:
I know now who I can trade for some single malt whiskey for vintage wine when the balloon goes up!
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This stuff is meant for sharing, no doubt. Celebrations are always better when there's a little refreshment to go with it.
My next step is to camouflage it and make it disappear. I Have some pretty good ideas for it, but its going to take some more block laying unfortunately.
 
Just wanted to update the root cellar/shelter. I have all the wines and home canned goods out in it now. It stays cool and dry, but I noticed some mold growing on the wood shelving I made. Nothing major, but more than I am happy about. So, I brought a lot of the stuff, like my bug out bag and other supplies back inside. I bleached the shelving and went ahead and put in a small vent in the lower part of the from door, and drilled thru the concrete roof and installed a vent near the back. This should let it breath and hopefully slow down the mold issue. I will probably paint the shelving, but may end up having to replace it with some wire mould metal shelving. I had really thought about the ventilation before pouring the roof, but didn't want any potential leak spots so didn't do it. The ventilation will probably raise the temp a little inside, but I'm hoping not by much. I'm about ready to start camouflaging the shelter soon. I just bought a pallet of block and plan to hide it behind a retention wall where the elevation changes on the hill I dug into.
 
Brent S said:
Just wanted to update the root cellar/shelter. I have all the wines and home canned goods out in it now. It stays cool and dry, but I noticed some mold growing on the wood shelving I made. Nothing major, but more than I am happy about. So, I brought a lot of the stuff, like my bug out bag and other supplies back inside. I bleached the shelving and went ahead and put in a small vent in the lower part of the from door, and drilled thru the concrete roof and installed a vent near the back. This should let it breath and hopefully slow down the mold issue. I will probably paint the shelving, but may end up having to replace it with some wire mould metal shelving. I had really thought about the ventilation before pouring the roof, but didn't want any potential leak spots so didn't do it. The ventilation will probably raise the temp a little inside, but I'm hoping not by much. I'm about ready to start camouflaging the shelter soon. I just bought a pallet of block and plan to hide it behind a retention wall where the elevation changes on the hill I dug into.
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Given your location, a dehumidifier like 'no damp' would work wonders Brent though with the cross ventilation in the cellar it may warm it too much, I had mold problem in mine, I laid outdoor carpet on the cellar floor that help a great deal, any cloth material I had couldn't touch anything solid (moisture absorbent like wood) but since I stored my camping gear in the cellar I had to use a dehumidifier (no damp) I also replaced all my wooden shelf's with plastic shelving.

Edit: Another note, an old timer here years ago told me to enter the cellar at night and not during the day, I also installed a mechanical indoor/outdoor thermometer mounted on the outside of the cellar entering when the temps where as close as possible during the summer months.
 
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Maverick said:
Given your location, a dehumidifier like 'no damp' would work wonders Brent though with the cross ventilation in the cellar it may warm it too much, I had mold problem in mine, I laid outdoor carpet on the cellar floor that help a great deal, any cloth material I had couldn't touch anything solid (moisture absorbent like wood) but since I stored my camping gear in the cellar I had to use a dehumidifier (no damp) I also replaced all my wooden shelf's with plastic shelving.

Edit: Another note, an old timer here years ago told me to enter the cellar at night and not during the day, I also installed a mechanical indoor/outdoor thermometer mounted on the outside of the cellar entering when the temps where as close as possible during the summer months.
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I am a little concerned about the temp going up with the ventilation. The vents are only 2 inches so it shouldn't move too much air, but everything I've been reading points to moving air helps a lot with mold. I'll pick up a damp rid product at the grocery store today. I guess I'll start looking for another shelving system soon as well. I've been reading about veggies stored in cellars, and high humidity is better for them, so I'll try to make it as suited for that environment as possible, though right now it's just for wine and canned goods so dry and cool is better. I figured there would be a little bit of a learning curve with how best to use this thing. Luckily the shelving will be put to good use in my woodworking shop.
 
Well, the mold dosent seem to be worse anyways. I went inside to get a couple bottles of wine today, in the heat of the day, and was really happy and suprised that the temp was at 65. Better than I had hoped for. (I finally bought a thermometer and put it in there a couple days ago). I have only seen the mold on the unfinished wood shelves, so think I will replace them before long.
 
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I took out the wood shelving, and broke down and bought some chromed wire shelving. I'm still seeing more condensate than I like, but will see how the ventilated shelving helps. This is still a work in progress. Not sure if I'll do another vent in the door or not yet. I need to find a good bottle jack to help move debris from the door from a storm if blocked while inside. I want some tools to escape if need be as well. I'm open to ideas if anyone has advice here.
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Brent S said:
View attachment 4416 I took out the wood shelving, and broke down and bought some chromed wire shelving. I'm still seeing more condensate than I like, but will see how the ventilated shelving helps. This is still a work in progress. Not sure if I'll do another vent in the door or not yet. I need to find a good bottle jack to help move debris from the door from a storm if blocked while inside. I want some tools to escape if need be as well. I'm open to ideas if anyone has advice here.View attachment 4415
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I like the racks! ...and storage barrels.
 
Maverick said:
I like the racks! ...and storage barrels.
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The barrels are what I make batches of wine in now. I outgrew the 5 gal jugs. This year the grapevines are covered with grapes. I can legally make 200 gallons of wine per year, and should be close to that this year. I'm seriously considering getting a small farm/vineyard license to try selling the stuff before long. At least I'll have a good barter product in any event.
Luckily I got the shelves on sale, but at three hundred it still hurt. Like I said earlier, at least I put the wood shelves in the shop, so they didn't go to waste.
 
chain saw comes to mind.and so does hand operated drill and a hand saw of some kind..
 
Brent S said:
The barrels are what I make batches of wine in now. I outgrew the 5 gal jugs. This year the grapevines are covered with grapes. I can legally make 200 gallons of wine per year, and should be close to that this year. I'm seriously considering getting a small farm/vineyard license to try selling the stuff before long. At least I'll have a good barter product in any event.
Luckily I got the shelves on sale, but at three hundred it still hurt. Like I said earlier, at least I put the wood shelves in the shop, so they didn't go to waste.
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200gals that's a few bottles and a good barter product, the shelves don't look cheap though I wasn't going to rub it in by saying 'I bet them shelves wasn't cheap' :)
 
jimLE said:
chain saw comes to mind.and so does hand operated drill and a hand saw of some kind..
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I'm not sure I want to run a chainsaw in an 8x10 enclosed room, but like the hand tool ideas. An axe comes to mind, along with a hammer and chisel. I really want a strong metal pole to put against the back wall, and a strong bottle jack that can push the door open if blocked by debris. I saw on the news recently where a woman in Texas drowned in her shelter. At least I don't have to worry about water here. If I flood here, I'm thinking its a biblical event.
 
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