How to Build an Underground Shelter

i have some land out in the country that Ive been think of building a shelter on or rather in the ground Ive been toying with the idea of buying an old camping trailer or a old semi trailer and burying it in the ground the camping trailer being the better idea as it has lights that run off batteries and holding tanks for waste and water granted it would only be enough water for maybe a week with some modifications you could add bigger tanks for a entry way id cut a hole in the roof and weld a steel tube to it and put a hatch on it but the semi trailer would have a lot of room to store food water family and just about what ever else i thought i would need well that's just a couple of my ideas about a fall out shelter man i got way to much time to think and less time to build

Some time ago I read about a man who had taken an 8' culvert pipe 50' long and made it into an underground house by welding ends on it. He attached a smaller culvert (5-6' diam.) to a hole in the side (with a door installed) and two vent pipes welded in the top. I think he cut out the side of a hill and laid all this next to it and covered the whole thing (except for the door and vents of course) with the displaced dirt. Installed a wood floor a foot or so above the curved bottom and lined the sides with shelves, etc. for storage. Seperated "rooms" with curtains for privacy. He and his wife had lived in it for years.

Seems like, with a few modifications (sandbags lining the outside?), it might be do-able, if you happen to have the right type of property, have a source for water, etc. Wouldn't even have to be that large if you're not planning on living it it indefinately.





[edit on 1/4/08 by reblazed]

Sorry, but in my experience, an in-ground pool will not make a good shelter. Here is why: An in-ground pool's drain is not designed for you to "pull a plug" and all the water drains out, like in a bathtub. The floor drains are simply water intakes for the pump system. If you want to drain your in-ground pool you still have to pump the water out.

You theoretically could use an in-ground pool for a survival shelter, but you better have plenty of hand pumps available. If it is dry in the pool, water will enter your pool through the drain vent if one of the pipes crack or if heavy rains inundate the filter system.

In ground pools can be very helpful in a survival situation in a different way... On my fall-back survival location there is a huge in-ground pool that has not been used as a pool in about 20 years. It is full of green water... loads of algae and mosquitoes live in it. There are also about 12 turtles and dozens of frogs that have made their home in it. Large amounts of birds, owls, bats, and other tasty critters frequent the spot to eat all the bugs in it. My fellow survivalists and I could probably live off the wildlife the pool attracts for about a year.

For the $10,000 dollars it would cost you to install an in-ground pool you could actually build an excellent underground shelter.

In my neighborhood you can hire day-laborers for $75 each for a 10 hours day. Have them dig a hole as big as you want to make your shelter. You can then hire a concrete company to put in forms and pour concrete floors, walls, and ceiling. If you want to “do it yourself” head to Home Depot and buy cinderblocks, mortar, and tar (to waterproof the outsides of the walls, floor and roof). Then you need PVC pipe for plumbing and ventilation, hand operated pumps and fans, etc. There are tons of websites that show how to build a good shelter for under $10,000.

Bad idea.

One very important feature of any shelter is hiding it. It would be nearly impossible to hide whatever roof you build over the pool.

You cant just pile a ton of dirt over the roof unless its solid concrete.

Then you'll need to think about airflow which means a pipe exposed outside to draw in air below.

And dont forget there will be a record of your home having a pool. When Blackater goons show up to check the house they will wonder where that pool went and start poking around.

What happens if some of the goons decide to take up residence in your home ? Odds are they will eventually hear you

The best bet I would suggest is having a shelter nowhere near your home.

So, did you figure out how you would construct the roof of the swimming pool? I'd be curious to find out your answer.

Also, check out my website. My shopping cart in under construction.

2012shelteredtechnologies.synthasite.com...

reply to post by thelibra


Okay, you have my attention, but you did not say, how you would get a solid roof over a pool that would protect you. So what type of roofing would you use. Considering you would need the roof to be able to survive the elements, wind, rain, etc. and be structually sound during those things.

What is your solution there? Where it does not fall in on you.

reply to post by questioningall


I can see this working if you anchored steel beams across the top of the pool, roofed the whole thing with timber or steel plate. You would want to cover the whole thing with at least a meter of soil layered with erosion controlling mesh.

I think a nice rock garden planted on the top to disguise it and add more weight to the roof just might work for an in-ground pool conversion. And if you have a pool near the house you could use those pipes I posted on the first page to make a tunnel from the basement right to the shelter.

reply to post by lonemaverick


you're all nuts! I know replies are supposed to contribute to the discussion but you've got people talking about building a gate at each end of a small town and creating their "Kingdom". Here's a suggestion, get on with your lives and stop worrying about the end of the world. Save your money and enjoy life now instead of wasting time and resources on 'what if' scenarios. I only started reading this to get an idea how to create some kind den in my garden. Nobddy else thimk it's strange that people are posting details about how far a bullet can penetrate a sandbag? Imagine going for a beer with that guy. What a hoot.

reply to post by thelibra


Excellent idea, Libra. Has some kinks that need to be worked out but way to think outside the box. Good on ya.

Here are my ideas and opinions on building an underground shelter.

Location: Build it in a hill preferably, never in any valley's or low places where flash flooding could occur.

Materials: Use as much as mother nature provides as possible. This could keep the cost low.

Keep it simple!

For water, you could have an expensive well dug beside your shelter location then run a pipe with a manual water pump to the inside of your shelter. For bathroom, I would recommend that you not use any part of your underground shelter. Use an outhouse! Pick a location away from your shelter, away from your gardens, downhill of any water drainage. Dig a hole. build an outhouse on top of that. When it's mostly full. Fill with dirt, pack the dirt and move the outhouse to another location. If you needed to, use a bucket to do your business inside your shelter, then dump the bucket in your outhouse hole ASAP.

Use French Drainage system to keep your shelter dry.
You can also use this culvert method to protect any side of your shelter which water runoff can come from. Dig out your area and depth. Dig deeper trenches leading out and away from your shelter. This is for water runoff. In the trenches place culverts and punch holes all along the bottom and sides. This is to let in the water and the water is taken by gravity away from your shelter. Fill the trenches and a quite a few inches above covering the entire floor with gravel. Then fill with soil or just build your florring on top of that. This way if water does get in your shelter it will drain through the gravel and drain out away in the culverts. You can also place 55 gallon barrels at the end of the culverts to collect water for future use and purification. I would suggest this as a simple and cheap method of water purification. Cheap, easy water purification.

Once the french drainage is in place, then you start with the rest. For the walls you can use a number of materials. Adobe brick with quicklime plaster to keep waterproof, wood slanted outwards, etc... Keep in mind what I suggest for the roof. Basically use logs found around your property. There is a thread already on a shleter that a UK couple built for under 5k. Here is the link to the article with details on the roffing system I suggest. And here is a link to the ATS thread.

For the electricity. I would keep your electricity needs to a minimum. (You may have to forfeit your refrigerator). But the fridge does consume large amounts of electricity. I suggest a couple of indoor lights and 1 wall outlet. This way you can get by on a solar panel for your electricity. He re is one solar panel kit I am looking at. I am also considering wind generator as a source of electricity as well. A combo of the 2 would be great. But as many are already thinking, a wind generator sticking out somewhere gives your position away and a solar panel can reflect light also giving your position away. The solar panel is probably the way to go as plane and helicopters would be the most likely to see a solar panel reflection. But you may have to learn to conserve your stored electricity when the sun ain't shining.

To keep warm. As your shelter is underground, the earth is an excellent insulator. The more earth you have surrounding your shelter, the more insulated you will be. I would suggest a pot belly stove. Run the chimney pipe up and out your roof with a cap on top to keep water and critters out and stock with firewood. You keep warm and you use the same energy source for cooking. 2 birds, 1 stone = splat!

If you live in a hot area, the summer heat comfort might pose a bit more problems and needs exploring. Ventilation would be key to keeping cool. Since you should have an abundant sun source + solar panels you can use a fan to aid ventilation. Maybe, rig a few ventilation shafts which can be safely and easily plugged and filled for the winter then bore 'em back out for the summer. You may want some mosquito screen to cover the holes to keep the critters out of your area.

Beyond that, use your imagination and keep it simple.

Cheers! Feel free to add to, modify, as you see fit.