We strategically placed spacers on the gravel (half bricks) to hold the rebar up 2 inches off the bottom, and laid down a 12-inch grid of #5 rebar (⅝”). Before forming up the walls, we also wired horizontal rebar to the verticals at 16 inches apart to create a 16-inch grid inside the walls. All around the perimeter on the lower inside of the 2×8 frame we fastened 2x4s laid flat with rows of holes drilled 16 inches apart down the middle to support the ⅝” rebar sticking up inside the yet-to-be-formed wall cavity and to keep it spaced in the middle of that cavity. Then we set up a plumb, level, and square 2×8 frame around the perimeter, braced across the corners at 45 degrees, and pounded in spikes to hold the sides from spreading during the 8-inch-thick floor-pour. We were a team!īecause we wouldn’t have to pay for any manual labor, I researched prices, and estimated that the cost of the dig, plus the materials and concrete, would total about $5,000 - not bad for a permanent and useful “Room-Without-A-View.” Excavating the hole The floorįirst we leveled the bottom of the hole, laid 6-8 inches of gravel down, and leveled it again. I first contemplated using pressure-treated lumber and treated plywood so I could work alone at a snail’s pace, but quickly changed my mind to using concrete instead, and got my good-natured boyfriend Kirt involved to help every step of the way. I have a tendency to build everything even sturdier than code would require so I was determined that this cellar would be safe and sound and overbuilt like all my other projects. In our county, we can build a structure under 200 square feet without a permit (but no plumbing and wiring) so I started to research underground construction. But it could also be used for a bomb shelter, hurricane safe-place, food storage room, or anything else a fellow mole might need - customized accordingly. I planned on using it mainly for storing all my photographs, negatives, CDs, videos, and 70 photo albums - from a lifetime of photography and videography. So when my house burned down 20 years ago and the backhoe man was on site digging new holes for foundation footings, I asked him to dig a 12x16x8-foot deep hole in the ground so I could build a large fire-resistant root cellar. I should have been a mole - it feels so safe and cool and quiet to be underground.
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