Rolling Greens resident's invention: Trash Can Storm Shelter

Ocala.com (Florida) ^ | 7/15/11 | Tom McNiff

[rockrr]

I was trying to avoid appearing too ostentatious...;-)

[almost done by half]

Saw those too. How do you keep it dry?

[ops33]

If you mean my shelter it is sealed on the inside to prevent water seepage. The top has a turban vent which allows air inside and keeps water out. The door is also sealed from the inside to keep water out. I’m not sure how the trash can shelter keeps water out. Any puncture in the side will allow ground water to seep inside. Also, I have never seen one of those type of trash cans that has a water tight lid.

[darth]

Russian fallout shelters often have a metal door like a manhole cover that is hinged to ROTATE to the side. That is, it does not open to the outside or the inside, it just rotates to the side. They have a flange on it so that a hydraulic car jack can force the door open against debris.

Clever designers, those Russkis.

[Mountain Troll]

I’ve seen experiments with buried Conex containers. You have to reinforce the roof, otherwise the weight of the dirt will crush it.

[almost done by half]

I’ve seen a number of plastic, metal, or fiberglass models similar to this that seem to be pretty cost effective.

http://www.stormshieldtornadoshelter.com/

[Salamander]

Go for the gold!

Make a tornado watch palace.

:)

[Salamander]

My dad claimed he was making a “root cellar” out of one of those huge, used fiberglass gas tanks we can buy in this area.

I watched with amusement as he dug the ditch into the bank, carefully placed it and then...poured concrete over it for good measure.

Not surprisingly, it collapsed.

So, there went his fallout shelter....er....’root cellar’.

[UCANSEE2]

Actually, the best idea would be to purchase old trailer rigs, or shipping containers (like the ones used on ships and trains).

There are places where jillions of old containers are stacked.

Drop one of those into the ground,and I don’t think you’ll need any concrete or rebar.