Hit 12 feet of dug out shelter space this weekend and it threw me off

Been chipping away at this backyard bunker project for about 6 months now. Mostly weekends and evenings. But this past Saturday I measured and realized I've got 12 feet of trench dug out and shored up. When I started I figured I'd be lucky to get 6 feet in a year. It just hit different seeing that number on the tape measure. For context, my target is 20 by 8 for a small family shelter. Anyone else get surprised by how much or how little progress you actually made after a long stretch?

3 comments

3 Comments

taraross1mo ago

Hold your horses for a second. 12 feet in 6 months sounds like you're way overbuilding for a problem that might never happen. Why not just put that time and money into a good storm cellar or a reinforced closet in your basement? You're digging a trench that's going to take another year to finish, and that's if you don't hit rock or water. Meanwhile, you could have a simple, safe space done in a month for a fraction of the stress. Seems like you're just making more work for yourself just to feel like a survivalist.

kim.nina1mo ago

A buddy of mine tried the storm cellar route. Spent like three grand on one of those prefab fiberglass units, had it installed in a weekend. First heavy rain, it flooded because the drainage was terrible. Took him weeks to dry it out and now it smells like mildew all the time. Meanwhile I helped another friend hand dig a trench shelter, he took it slow over a couple years, hit rock twice, but that thing is bone dry and solid as a house. Guess it depends what kind of luck you have with the easy option, @taraross.

charles_young921mo ago

I used to think like kim.nina, that the prefab route was the smart move, but seeing your progress and hearing about that flooded fiberglass unit really changed my mind. That mildew story alone gives me nightmares, man, and it sounds like your hand-dug trench is actually built to last through whatever comes. Slow and steady wins this race for sure.