This post is to answer something that was bought up in another post here on this board ..also most of the major home building companys who build underground follows this rules to the letter because of them knowing that break one of the rules can cause problems down the line rule n1 never let the bad guys figure out where you air supply is comeing into the place ..like in the old western movie where the good or the bad guy's get up on the roof and put a coat over the chimmey pipe to smoke them out people out of the house .. that basically means have more air supply pipe units running into a main switch system that comes into the shelter or home with you can cut off the pipe air flow from the outside and switch to another income air pipe to draw the air that is needed it like a submarine snokel set up with multi lines runing into the switching system to allow one pipe to completely cut off and not have to worry about someone messing with it trying to force water down into it to get you out also make the pipe have a U-shaped bend with a bult in drain system over peagravel rocks to allow the water to be drained out before being drawn into the home .. it also better to have couple of these units inside the line to help keep water out of the system or someone is forceing water down the pipe in away to flood you out also have a bult in drain value right before the cut off value to allow you to check for water inside the pipe before switching to the open prostion to keep you from beening flooded out if that happens .. rule n2 that means anything that can spark like propane or lg gas or deisel or gas is left on the surface over the basic fact of a earthquake spending out ground shakeing temors going through the ground or full scale nbc attack can break the line and cause gas to become a fire hazard with it leaking out and cause a problem where it pool on the ground .. that why no appilances other than electric are allowed in a underground home..that why if ever toured a government cold war bunker there where no gas appilances in the kitchen .. allmost all completey underground house all are all electric in there house hold appilances that they use .. now earthberm is a diff story because of haveing one side open up to allow air inside the unit .. fire is number one problem underground so you have to limit the amount of ways a fire can get to you inside your home ..so remember somethings that are nice for a normal off grid home is not a good idea for underground home rule n3 the water tanks inside the place are design to ride the shock wave through the shelter set up .that why they are put up off the ground on a moveable plate stand system to allow them with the shockwave .. also the pipeing connecting everything is very lose and it allowed to move with the units or the socalled plex tubing is kept very lose to allow some give and take with the movement of the unit . rule n4 the outside septic system is design where the shock wave is going through the ground does not do alot of damage to the septic tank and lines ..if ever notice that the older shelter had a long runs outside to there septic tank along with a back up hand pumping system inside the shelter for the person to work the toliet if everything failed and they could still get the waste to outside system .. that way i ran my line out into a cattle pasture with long drain field set up to allow the waste to drain out to the pasture and be dealt with that way rule n5 landscapeing the land after the place goes into the ground and cover up ... like most people in the southwest i have a southwestern landscape going at my place and it made of rock gardens and metal fence post & cable wireing around the place ...but that was the design to give some the idea that is just another cattle loading station next to a open field or someone tried to make a home out of the area and failed to do so .. with the small & large rock cribs that hides some of the socalled air intake and exhuast system on the walkways around the place between two cable fences set up along with the metal fence post that are hollowed and hides the air intakes and exhaust pipe inside them and i also have hidden water points where i can get to the well water without giveing away much .. the gate entance support fence post with it hidden air pipes for bring fresh air into shelter the only thing i could not hide very well was the septic tank clean out cover and that is cover by dirt that i kept over the unit .. rule n6 french drains are your friend and make sure they are done right the first time around the place most french drains are about 18.inchs wide-x-18..inchs deep .. the french drain runs around your place in a complete circle of the base of the home i tell people to go down to the 2.1/2..ft level around the base and line it with a peagravel bed up to the top of the building and cover it with peagravel rock to allow the water to drain off into the bed then into the ground around the unit .. use fine peagravel rocks for the bottom layer and go with 1/4th size pea gravel for the rest of the bed up to the top rule n7 waterproofing ..this is the big one and this is the one where you can not or should not cut any corners on this one because it will come back to bite you in the butt later on .. this area is where is triple or more coating of the waterproofing system that is put onto the outside of the house to keep it from leaking down the line spead the money on the best waterproofing there is and you will not worry about your place leaking in the long run .. this are simple basic rules i have ran into alot when researching the how's and the why's of building underground also it does cost more to build underground and in the end it does pay you back in some of the cost of building the home through the years on the cost of enegry to heat or cool the home or the cost of upkeeps where the basic thing is to mow the grass on the roof of the place
liquified tar, tar melted and mixed well with linseed oil, sprays on nicely,dries and then new layers can be added this flexes with your structure quite a bit and keeps out the water
"make the pipe have a U-shaped bend with a bult in drain system over peagravel rocks to allow the water to be drained out before being drawn into the home .." P-traps are always a good idea. So many 3rd world bathrooms lack them and smell of piss and sewer gas all the time.
When i bult my first shelter in 1982 time frame there was only four shelter makers or company in the US that did full blown nuclear fallout shelters .. 1-Raduis Defense now known as Raduis Engineering 2-Survival center who i went with to build my first place .. 3-Utah shelter system they came in around 1984 or 85 era 4-a bunch of local or fly by night people or places like there is now so i learned from helping them and along the way i learned how they did some of the tricks of the trade when building underground
I have often thought of a way to hide an intake and exhaust vent pipe system. Find an old tree about 8-10" in girth. No more then 2' tall. DIG the roots out to about 12" below ground, then cut them loose. Drill out the center of the tree to accomadate about a 6" galvi pipe, and then sit the tree down over it and bury the roots once again. The pipe should be cut off to just below tree "stump" height and would no be readly apparant to a causual observer.
you driven US 60 right ..next time take a look at one person house about 10 miles past town of Show Low east of town where the guys front yard looks like old rancher place and look at the trees there in the guy yard and tell me what you think they are.. ..
I've been giving the idea of underground survival shelters a lot of thought, over the last few years. One problem that I kept encountering is...... What use will one have for a fallout shelter afterwords? One solution..... storage. However I didn't really like that option. It's an incredible waste of resources, in my opinion. One can spend thousands of dollars on a good shelter, that is designed to be used one time, and one time only. So I had the idea to design my shelter to be multifunctional. Not only serve as a fallout shelter, but also design it to be used as a workshop, or a weldshop, or mechanic's shop. I am limited only by my own imagination. Something for others to think about.
