Covering the Root Cellar

Winter is rapidly yielding to spring and work on our new root cellar continues. The progress has been slower than we had originally hoped, but we’re still scheduled to have it completed prior to the first cold weather crops maturing. We’re eager to begin shifting many of our prepping supplies from the nooks and crannies of the farmhouse to the underground, naturally climate-controlled environment of the root cellar.

After our prior posts about the root cellar, some have asked about the above ground area. Specifically questions were raised about how we are planning to keep water from running down the steps and making the entrance into the root cellar little more than a poorly functioning swimming pool. Good question.

We’ve created what appears to be a small storage shed at the top of the staircase for the root cellar. It has metal sides and roof and a lockable steel door that faces our house. This will help to keep water out of the staircase. And despite not being terribly fortified, we hope it will help deter would-be robbers since it is without windows, etc.

We plan to make use of the interior of the “storage shed” upper building by hanging supplies, etc, from the walls.

At the foot of the stairs, there is a second steel door firmly attached to the cinderblock walls. It, too, has a deadbolt lock. This will serve as an additional deterrent for thieves as well as help to preserve the temperature and moisture within the root cellar.

The roof of the cellar (the 6 inch concrete slab sitting on top of the bridge decking) is exposed to the air; it’s not buried beneath the surface of the earth. It will serve as the floor of an out building that we’re constructing. More about that in another post.

In the picture above, you can plainly see the pipes that allow air to circulate within the root cellar. These pipes will be less obvious once the top soil is replace after construction has been completed. We’ll also camouflage them with shrubbery so they are not so obvious.

We’ve run a water line to the edge of the root cellar’s wall. We did not feel a need to have a water spigot in the root cellar itself though. We’d just like for it to be close by.

Electricity is also run to the root cellar through underground conduit. We have lights and electrical outlets in the root cellar.

We’re very pleased with how this project is turning out and we’re eager to have it completed so we can put it into use.

Related Posts

• Breaking Ground on the Root Cellar
• The Benefits of a Root Cellar
• Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Country Living
• Product Review: Tattler Canning Lids