I'm willing to compromise. It doesn't have to have a secret entrance from the floor of the master bedroom closet - but man wouldn't that be *cool* ???
So what are my options? I bought a book, I've seen blogs online and my Great Uncle Clarence and Aunt Effie had one in Arkansas (as did my daddy's parents) so I've been inside them. What I can't figure out is the easiest way without breaking the bank to put one in here.
I don't have a hillside. What I do have is a fairly huge crawl space that I thought would make a good start but SO went bananas when I said I wanted to start digging under the house. Would it really compromise the foundation if we are build on top of the ground?
I've seen septic tanks that have a flaw that can't be used for waste buried for root cellar. That seemed a bit pricey just for the tank, nevermind the burying.
Does mounding up a hillside sound like a good idea? Or just start digging a hole? This and a smokehouse are the two things I really want to add next.
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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
I want an above ground root celler, but im right about where you are in building one
Folks had one outside they called a cave. It was 20ft from the side of the house. They also had a celler underneath a quarter of the house.
The way it seems that they made theres is excavated the rectangle hole around 6ft down on level ground. Then they built in the side walls and steps. They domed the roof, but I don't know how they did it, then replaced back the dirt they had dug out over the top for insulation. It had 2 clay pipe sticking out of it for ventilation. Dad was too dumb to realize that rain water could get down those pipe and rot the taters laying on the floor.
I know that they make 16ft long RR ties. Seems like if you built the side walls as said, then lay those ties over the top, then, figure out a way to ventilate it, and then put the dug out dirt back on it in a mound and plant grass, it should work.
after watching this video i will be making the very back of my root cellar into a room to do this with it.my site is into my mtn side so it will be very deep under earth.my cellar is going to be a hybrid root cellar/ice house.i am getting the power company out of my life as much as i can.
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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
I bought this book this weekend! Been studying plans ... droooling over the smokehouse on top of the cellar. That would be about as perfect as it could get.
PP...a guy i know has a smokehouse/curing house/meat cutting area above his root cellar...i noticed something about it...the salt drips down through cracks over time. a root cellar is not a place for canning jars as its usually damp...but he had jars down there in his and they were extra rusty...i blamed it on the salt from above.
__________________
i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
__________________
i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
__________________
i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
dont forget a way to hang stuff from ceiling...such as onions,garlic,cabbages pulled up in fall roots and all....maybe even a salt cured ham.you either need eye-bolts or a suspended rod system that holds S hooks like a curtain rod or clothes rod type thing....and make it heavy duty....
__________________
i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
__________________
i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau
^^ I already asked him if he could dig a secret entrance from the floor of my closet that will tunnel underground to a separate secret door and not the main entrance.
I do want to make it a space where I can also age cheese but I don't know if I can dry herbs and age cheese or hang meat in the same spot. Off to google! ...
I'LLtell you about grandpa's cellar, in the year 1939 or there about grandpa decided to build a cellar. He started digging just off the back porch. After a while he had a hole 10 feet deep and maybe 10 feet across more or less in a circle.
Grand pa was in his 50th year and he got sick while digging and fell into the ditch.
His home was in north west arkansas and in that day there were no hospitals in our area. Grandpa's doctor sent grandpa by bus to oklahoma, where there was a hospital. The doctors decided grandpa was allergic to raw milk and sent him home with instruction about cooking the cream which he poured on his oatmeal every morning.
By this time grandpa had lost interest in a root cellar.
I was born in may 1938 and have memories of trees growing in this 10 foot hole just off of grandpa back porch. The trees were taller than the hole they were growing out off.
Grandpa's grand sons finally filled in the hole.
^^ I already asked him if he could dig a secret entrance from the floor of my closet that will tunnel underground to a separate secret door and not the main entrance.
I do want to make it a space where I can also age cheese but I don't know if I can dry herbs and age cheese or hang meat in the same spot. Off to google! ...
Sounds like the secret is out. ha. I think it's awesome if you can do all this. I have that book and have been drooling over it and thinking about how to get the best root cellar for us on our property. A sort of combination food storage, storm shelter and hide out seem pretty prudent for our times.
Have fun with your plans. I hope it works out really well for you.
I went with a friend to look at a house for sale that was a homesteader's dream. It had a really nice root cellar that had a trap door in the pantry (which was a good size itself) and you had to go down a ladder. The problem with a root cellar that uses a ladder is that as you get older, going up and down that ladder may not be an option. I couldn't do it myself due to really bad knees now.
My house has a root cellar and pantry that work together. It was built to do that in 1850 and I still use it that way. It has stairs. My husband has been working on our foundation to repair it and change it in the areas where it needed work, to cinder blocks. My biggest problem with it was mice. I would love to have my canning jars lined up on shelves, produce hanging from the ceiling or in boxes and baskets, but the mice would have a field day with it. I have to cover everything and keep my canned foods in Rubbermaid containers. I am hoping when he finishes it, we won't have such a bad mouse problem. But I will always take preventive measures to protect our food and other things.
Our root cellar has a big bin that is built-in connected to the ceiling, without any legs on the floor. Maybe that was in case of water in the cellar, though we have never had water in it. I think the bin was built to store apples, as our property has many old heirloom apple trees on it.
Good luck with your project, and please post pictures!
Along a river near us there is an old homestead. The only thing left is this magnificent cellar.
It got a gentle staircase that curves down into the cellar. There is artwork in the cement wall. Lovely door and inside in wonderful, dry, well ventilated, hooks for hanging. *drool* Very artistic.
I cant believe how much work somebody put into that cellar and now its the only thing left. Sad that nobody enjoys it anymore.
Along a river near us there is an old homestead. The only thing left is this magnificent cellar.
It got a gentle staircase that curves down into the cellar. There is artwork in the cement wall. Lovely door and inside in wonderful, dry, well ventilated, hooks for hanging. *drool* Very artistic.
I cant believe how much work somebody put into that cellar and now its the only thing left. Sad that nobody enjoys it anymore.
I see that in a lot of old foundations around us. The root cellars and the flowers are all that survived time.
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