Thanks to: "The Practical Handymans Encyclopedia "

How to Build a Bomb Shelter

Some good suggestions that'll make your job an easier one

by Chuck West

If you should want to build your own shelter, how would you go about it? First
of all, you need a sharp pencil and a lot of paper. Shelter plans are designed
for the average person. You are not the average person. You have special
needs,and your shelter will he better suited for you if you design it for those
needs.OCDM plans are excellent, but let them be a guide only .You must
decide what type of shelter fits your individual needs. Each type of shelter
has its own type of plans and problems.

Finally, you should make a tour of all suppliers for bids. You will find prices
vary from place to place.If you live in or near a large city, check with local
wrecking companies. These places offer excellent buys in good used
materials at prices far below new products. Check all material for nails and
termite damage. Also with all suppliers, have them include delivery,prices
with the materials. Many of these items are much too heavy or bulky to be
carried by car. Some suppliers deliver free. Others make a charge for every
delivery. lf the latter is the case, plan your purchases to lower the number of
deliveries.
No matter what type of shelter you build, working with concrete will be a
major part of the construction. Concrete block are probably the easiest
material to use in shelter construction because of their ease of handling and
good protection factor. Poured concrete slabs can also be used, with heavy
half inch steel rod embedded, for strong roof and wall sections of a shelter,
but for the average do-it-yourselfer, it is much easier to build these sections
of block and to brace them from within the structure. It is also much cheaper.
Standard size for a cinder block is 8x8x12 inches. Solid concrete blocks in
standard size is 4x8x16 inches, although many other sizes are available, or
you can cut these to a size that is needed. In figuring number of blocks
needed, don't forget to allow for space mortar will fill in a series of blocks. A
good rule of thumb for walls is that a wall eight blocks high will give you a
ceiling just over six feet above your head. A footer row of blocks will be your
first problem in building with blocks. If this first row of blocks is to be laid on a
cement floor, such as you would have in building a basement shelter, a
keyway or slot must be cut in the present basement floor with a chisel. This is
cut the width of a cinder block and then dug out to accommodate all but the
top of a cinder block. After the keyway has been cleaned out, a layer of black
polyethylene 6 mil insulation material should be laid to prevent moisture from
seeping up through the floor. Cut this material so it will cover the bottom and
both sides of the keyway! and leave an inch or so above the floor level.

Mortar is then poured along this keyway and the first set of blocks set into
place. This will make a secure lock for your walls foundation. Many states
require that the footing for a block wall be poured as one continuous
operation. Additional locking for walls can be had by knocking a hole into the
existing basement wall at the end of each row of blocks put up. The end block
of each row is then mortared into the existing wall by about half its
length.The footer for a row of blocks set into the ground is done much the
same way, except it is advisable to place at least two blocks below ground
level. This will make walls more secure than using a shallow footing. Mortar
used in all concrete construction for a shelter should be a mixture designed
for earthquake areas: 1 part masonry cement 1 part portland cement 4-6
parts mortar sand. To mix your mortar, work all the dry ingredients together
thoroughly in the proportions above. Then slowly add a little water and mix
some more. If too heavy, repeat. It is better to use too little water than even
a little bit too much. When ready for use, the mortar should be a workable
plastic mixture. If the mortar dries a little faster than you are using it, add a
little more water as you need it, and remix. A good test for your mortar is to
put a shovel full aside from the mix, and if it stands alone without spreading,
and no water runs off, your mortar should be just right.

Don't try to economize on mortar. One fellow used the dirt he was taking
from the site of his shelter for the second part of his mix. It was much too
coarse. and his project met with disaster. You can build a mortar box for
mixing from a sheet of plywood. It is just as cheap and more conveniene to
mix in a wheelbarrow. When ready, the mortar can be wheeled to your
working site A hoe will be the easiest too to use in making your mlx.Another
tool you must have is a long mason's level. Every block you lay must be
checked to make sure it is level. Every row of blocks must also he tested to
make sure they are level. A 2x4 can be used to tap several blocks down
evenly and neatly.Once your footer, or base, for all your walls is in place, and
level, you are then ready to start your wall up in rows.

Start laying your first row at a corner, not on the end of a footer row. Place
the blocks in the opposite position of the blocks on the footer row. This will
put the mortar seams above a solid part of the block below, not above
another seam. Alternate the position of the blocks like this in every other row.
If your row does not come out the exact length desired, don't worry. Merely
trim part of the last block in a row with a mason's hammer. As the row of
blocks goes up, use you'll level along the vertical line of the wall to make sure
the rows are straight. Excessive mortar should be scraped off blocks with a
trowel as soon as possible.A neat job of making a professional-looking joint
between two blocks can be done by making a "V" in the mortar with a stick.
As the walls to your shelter go up you can get more radiation protection by
filling the holes in cinder blocks with dirt. This may not be needed in a
basement shelter, but in other types it is highly desirable. Now is the time to
use some of the dirt you excavate from your yard. When you have reached
the top row of your shelter's wall, either the basement or other types, you
can now put inthe supports for your ceiling.

The ceiling will have a great amount of weight, so more than a normal
amount of supporting must be done. Steel beams are best, placed close
together, as many as you can afford. Next best are wooden beams of at least
2x6. Two 2x6 beams nailed together and set onthe row of blocks will make a
support 4 inches wide and six inches high. Spaced four lnches apart, and
braced together with lumber, these beams will make a strong support. All
space around the ends of the beams on the block wall are then filled with
mortar to the top of beams.You are now ready for the first layer of your roof.
The easiest thing to use for this is two layers of 1inch plywood sheets. It
would be better if these were nailed to the supports. but if you can't reach
the centers in a basement shelter you can nail them down along the edges.
The weight of the next layer will hold them in place.
On top of the plywood, lay two rows of solid conclete blocks (4x8x16), to
make a radiation shield 16 inches thick. These blocks are merely laid tightly
into place.There is no need to mortar them together.Inside support for walls
can be had by bolting 4x4's up the entire height of the wall. Let the top ends
of these vertical supports wedge under the roof supports. If this job is done
before mortar has completely set it will be much easier to position bolts and
they will be locked tighter into the wall by the still wet mortar. These vertical
supports can also be used later to hang bunks and storage shelves, but make
certain plenty of support under these additions is provided to keep strain off
wall support, and thus defeating their purpose. Basement shelters have some
special design problems of their own. If doors and windows in the basement
are blocked by sandbags, air filtering for this type of shelter will not be
necessary. To provide a good air supplier, leave a row of small holes along
the second row of wall blocks from the floor level. Also, a second false wall, to
act as a radiation baffle, can be construct a part of the shelter across the
door. This can be left open to allow passage of air. When planning your
basement shelter, try to make it a dual-purpose room. If head room is
sufficient, a TV room, playroom, den, or darkroom can be had by adding
inside paneling to the walls. The size of a basement shelter is not too
important. It will depend upon how much of your basement you are willing to
turn over for this purpose, and upon how many people must be sheltered. A
10 x10-foot shelter is designed to accommodate six people. Earth covered
shelters present a number of probiems that are not met in the construction of
a basement shelter. Let us look at each of these problems separately:

(A) Excavate or Tunnel? If your house has a basement this will be the first
decision you must make. Should the shelter be attached to the house through
the basement, or should it be completely away from the house. The
preshaped shelter which is built at least partially above ground because of a
high water table or a rock condition to solve the problem for you. It would be
most difficult to connect it with the house basement. The underground
shelter is a different matter. Here you have a choice. Actually, it makes little
difference. It might be more convenient to attach the shelter to the basement
by means of a connecting tunnel, but your shelter will be just as effective
wlth an outside entrance. An inside entrance from your basement, however,
will probably be a little cheaper to build. The method you use to dig out the
ground for your underground shelter may also cause you to ponder. You can
either removre the dirt from above ground, by digging down, or you can
tunnel below ground from your basement. You may want to tunnel if you
don't want to tear up the lawn, or if a number of large trees are over the spot
you elect for a shelter. If you do tunnel, be extremely careful about cave ins.
Shore up as you work and tunnel only small areas at a time. This method will
be much slower and will cost some more than cutting down from the surface.
If you do dig down from the surface you can do the work by hand, but it will
require a lot of shoveling and time.If the extra money is unavailable, it would
be much faster and less labor involved to hire a tractor scoop to come in and
do the job within a few hours time. Any connection you may decide to make
between your house and your shelter, such as air vents, water lines, or
electricity, should be put in place before dirt is replaced.

(B) Heat: A small wood burning stove in your shelter would be ideal to supply
heat and for cooking. A hot water heater type available from Sears or Wards
would be a good choice. But in either an underground or basement shelter, a
stove of this type must be vented to keep fumes from filling the shelter. A
vent pipe should be run out of the shelter before construction has been
completed, if a stove is considered. The outside of the vent pipe should have
a gooseneck hood to prevent radioactive fallout from coming down vent pipe.
Aluminium vents would be better for underground use because of rusting
danger with other metals. To prevent a fire hazard make sure vent pipe does
not touch any wood.

(C) Water: This item of survival is your most precious one. Men have lived for
days without food, but only for hours without water. A simple, yet excellent
supply of water can be had by driving a pipe down through the floor of the
shelter until water is reached. Then fasten an old fashioned hand pump to the
pipe. But don't forget to have several gallons of water on hand to prime this
type of pump. You must pour water down from the top and pump it back up
to start the operation of the pump. A pump of this type can be had from
either Sears or Wards.

(D) Waterproofing and Drainage: This is the problem common with all earth
covered shelters. You must keep water from seeping or running into the
shelter after heavy rains or melting snows begin. If you do a careful
preventive job while your shelter is under construction, you should not have a
problem. There are three lines of attack against moisture. You should use all
three: 1. Ditching: Around each wall of your shelter, dig a trench one foot
wide and one foot deep. Fill this trench with six inches of gravel and rock.
Then, from each corner of the shelter, run clay drain pipes for at least S2X
feet away from foundation. Make sure you slant them down and away from
your foundation. If you dig a hole at the end of each rain and fill this with
rock, it will also help. 2. Paint: Special waterproofing paint should then be
applied to both the inside and outside surfaces of the walls3. Vapor Barlier:
Black polyethylene 6 mil insulating plastic sheets can help stop water from
entering through the floor and loof. As a final touch up these cracks.

(E) Roof: With a combination of weight from earth and concrete blocks on it.
An earthcovered shelters roof must be extra strong. It must also be
waterproof. The same roof as was outlined for the basement shelter can be
used here for maximum blast and radiation protection, but at least three feet
of earth must also cover it. Supports for this roof must be at least equal to
those described for the basement shelter. Added strength can be gained by
running another concrete wall through the center of the shelter for added
center support of the roof. Over the solid concrete blocks a large sheet of
black polyethylene should be laid, with the edges overlapping the edge of the
blocks by at least a foot. On top of this place sheets of corrugated aluminium
of at least .019 inches in thickness. Steel would do as well, but would rust.
Before dirt is filled in on top of shelter, add another layer of polyethylene.

(F) Air: When the door of an underground shelter, or the door on a preshaped
earth-covered shelter closes, radiation is closed out, but so is the vital air
supply needed for human life. Some means must be provided to get safe
ventilation to the people inside these types of shelters. Plans issued by the
OCDM for shelters of this type provide for the intake of fresh air through
vertical pipest reaching upward through the roof of a shelter. Attached to the
end of the vent, inside the shelter, is a hand-operated blower to suck the air
into the shelter through filters. There is a question, however whether these
projection air vents would not be snapped off in the high winds and pressures
that would be encountered near a 20-megaton blast. It is not until you get 15
miles away from such a blast that the winds subside to 80 mph speed that is
considered dangerous in a hurricane. Pressure from the blast at this range
will be down to 2.3 psi. The situation is much better at 20 miles where winds
are then down to 40 mph a mere breeze when compared with those
encountered from 15 mph on in toward the blast. Pressure at 20 miles has
also dropped to about 1.3 psi.
Official Atomic Energy Commission tests held in Nevada in 1950 showed that
in the area where pressures reached 30 pounds per inch, a one-half-inch pipe
was bent to the ground and the valve handle, stem, and bonnet were blown
off. At the same locationt two 4-inch ventilating pipes were sheared off just
below ground level. Pressures up to 30 plsi are encountered from a 20-
megaton blast up to three miles away from ground zero. vertical vents on
shelters as shown in CD plans, would have a good chance of being cut off or
bent to the ground, leaving the occupant of the shelter with no air supply. If
your shelter is to be located within 20 miles of a potential target, it seems
prudent to this author that the owner of such a shelter install a type of
ventilating system that would be protected from such hazards. A system of
retractable vents would work nicely, but the Atomic Energy Commission has
advised that the cost for a safe system of this type would be much too high
for the average shelter owner.

A relatively inexpensive method for providing air through a ventilating

system safe from high winds and pressures is an underground type. By using
a natural embankment, or making one at the edge of your yard, you have a
vent come into your shelter under the ground. This vent is of the type used
on hot-air furnaces, and it can be made of aluminium by any metal shop.
Aluminium should be used to prevent rusting of the buried unit. A large
diameter pipe could also be Used but there are two reasons for the
rectangular type. A coal chute door of steel can be attached to the outside
end of the vent. This can be shut from the inside during the most severe
conditions; it can then be opened from the inside to allow air to enter the
shelter. It will also accommodate a fiberglass filter used on furnaces. You can
have the vent made as large as you like, but a 20x25-inch opening should be
the limit. Of course, the larger the Vent the larger the air flow. The entire
vent system is braced at least three feet underground by a frame of 2x4's.
Attached to the frame is a series of pulleys for opening the steel door from
inside the shelter by a 4-inch steel rope. Another steel rope runs down inside
the vent to close it.

Another use for the vent might be for an emergency escape hatch, in the
event the shelter door was damaged by blast, or was blocked by debris. The
steel rope, normally used to close the steel vent door, would then be used to
allow a person to pull himself up through the vent. The vent would enter the
shelter near the floor level, and a similar vent, near the ceiling of the shelter,
could be used to carry off stale air, smoke, or fumes. This second vent could
easily be a round stovepipe made from aluminium, and available from
suppliers ready made. The exhaust vent should also have an air filter on it,
too. The outside ends Or all vents should be shielded from above to keep
fallout from coming down the vents line. Fallout particles are about the size
of an average drain of salt or sugar, reduced in size from one tenth to one
half. They are in the shape of small spheres of teardrop shaped cinders or
ashes. These particles settle to earth the same as dust and enter the same
places dust can. To keep these specks of radioactive dust from enteringthe
shelter with pure air, a filtering system is needed. Filters of glass fiber block
or other fibrous material is very effective for this job. Inexpensive filters of
fiberglass that are used for a home furnace are of this type. Filters are also
commercially available which have been designed for shelter use. A blower,
either hand operated or electrically driven can be attached in the shelter to
pull air in at a faster rate than will normally flow into the shelter.

(G) Doors: The door of your shelter must he considered one of the most
important pieces of equipment for the shelter. In a quote from the Atomic
Energy Com- mission points this out "This is the first line of defense against
blast and radiation; failure to lock the door could be disastrous.The size and
the type of door you pick for your shelter will depend upon several factors,
but whatever your choice is, you must pick a steel door that can be locked
from the inside by some type of bolt, and it must be hung in a steel and
cement frame.The door is all important!