Anyone build their own root cellar?

Per Old Grouch's request I have started this thread. If anyone out there has any ideas or info on building a root cellar, please feel free to post here. OldGrouch and I need info on this subject. Thanks.

Thanks for the links sonshine.

Thanks, I've been looking on the internet for different ideas and styles of cellars. I saw one yestureday where someone used an old school bus the same way you discribed. I'm still trying to figure out which way would be the best way to go for us. I don't want to work hubby to death,but I don't want to have any problems where we would have to rebuild it in a few years. If you think of anything else please post it. Thanks again.

I built two, one was with wood and plastic, the other was an old steel bulk tank that I came across in the salvage. The 20'x 11' tank I buried horizontally under three feet of dirt and filled about halfway with pea gravel to make a level floor. I then poured four inches of concrete over the gravel and added a smaller tank to the front to make a tunnel that gave us another 16 feet of buffer from the extremes of outside temps.
If I build again, it will be with either concrete or post and beam, using black locust for my timbers. I really like my steel tank cellar, but heavy equipment is all but required for the undertaking of building one that way.
Facing the doorway to the north is best, and don't forget to build where there is more than adequate drainage.

Thanks, The spot I'm looking at building is a northeast facing slope that just sits above a valley/Extra large gully to the back of the property. I'm still trying to figure out How big to make it. And what to build it out of. I would like to us it for Emergency/Storm shelter too.I guess I just need to make some personal choices. We don't have any heavy equipment for the tank idea,even though it sound really neat. I'm looking for designs/plans of the different kinds made out of the different materials in order to compare.

Forerunner wrote:.....Facing the doorway to the north is best,.....

Right now the best slope I have to build one on faces east... unless I move our driveway or get the neighbors to sell us an acre...

Thinking of getting a couple concrete culverts (approx 32" X 48") and trying those to see how well having several small "cellars" would work.

--Dwight

We have one under my house (built in 1850) but it is mostly filled in. Hubby and I have not wanted to go under the house to dig it out again. It is under the livingroom. That would have been the only room to this house at the time. We have huge snakes and bad spiders here. So when something needs to be repaired we hire someone to do it. Normally the neighbors kids that is not afraid of stuff like that. I would say it is about waist deep in the middle. The cabin across the street built around the same time has a little door under the porch that goes to under the house where they stored things (even found moonshine bottles under there). I thought of one of those tornado selters as being ours. I am looking into that but we have really rocky ground too.

I am in the earliest of the planning stages for a root cellar my self. For about $4.00 you can buy a phamplet on Amazon.com titled "Build Your Own Underground Root Cellar" It is a 32 page booklet that covers location, tools, materials, building plans and instructions, adaptive uses, maintenance, and storage requirements of various fruits and vegetables. This is for a concrete footed, block walled, dirt or concrete floored unit. The materials list is for an 8 x 12 foot cellar. Lots of food storage there, with shelves.

I'd love to have a root cellar, just don't have room for one.