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Has Anyone Built a Root Cellar?

allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,260 ✭✭✭✭
edited November 2012 in General Discussion
I am going to build one up here in the NC mountains. I am going to dig into the side of a hill with a back hoe.

I am thinking of an 8 x 12 structure made of concrete block.

Do you have to put dirt on the roof? I am thinking of just making a metal roof that is ventilated and insulated.

I will be filling some of the block solid and putting rebar in them. Do you need to fill all of the block solid?
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    minitruck83minitruck83 Member Posts: 5,369
    edited November -1
    Have saw some with a small room atop.
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    k.stanonikk.stanonik Member Posts: 2,109 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    You dont have to use soil on the roof but its a a cheap insulator,
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    sharpshooter039sharpshooter039 Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    if your going to use it like a true root cellar and keep food in it, the dirt on the roof will keep your stored food from freezing
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    He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,964 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Never built one, but all I have been in or seen in the mid-west (where it gets colder) have been completely buried except for door. Hillside construction will make it easier to bury. Roof needs to be solid and water proof. Block walls will tend to wick moisture, but old cellers with mortered rock walls did too. You will need to keep everything off the floor on storage shelves or racks.
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    tomahawktomahawk Member Posts: 11,826
    edited November -1
    you want a smoke house put a roof on it...you want a root cellar...bury it...try to dome the roof by forming and pouring 6 in of concrete ,waterproofing with tar and poly plastic then backfill with about 30 inches of dirt,,,dont forget to reinforce the roof with rebar[;)]
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    allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,260 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    That's great forgemonkey I think that will do the trick! Don't have to hire a mason.

    This is a root cellar not a bomb cellar so I know I need as much buried as possible.
    I don't have much spare time so I don't want to mess with a concrete roof. I know the concrete roof is better.
    So, I am wondering, if I buried 3 sides completely, and most of the front, would it be a good root cellar with a wooden roof, if the roof is insulated and ventilated?
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