Bunkers to Order

[poppypiesdad]

Shipping containers are not an ideal bunker for the one reason that the roof is not load bearing , the four corners take all the weight and the floor is the load spreader, look closer on you tube and a lot of the American videos have steel beams spanning the ground to take the weight , with steel decking to hold the soil , if you like I'll upload a video of me jumping up and down on our container roof , it flexes , or it just could be my weight ........

Jamie
Just found this bit of info

In the case of container roof panels, an evenly distributed 200 kg load may be applied to a surface area of 600 x 300 mm, so meaning that two people may stand next to one another on the container roof. Under no circumstances may container roof panels be covered with cargo.


From here

http://www.containerhandbuch.de/chb_e/s ... 01_00.html

J

[unsure]

what poppypiesdad is saying is correct . the only real support is in the corners , the roof its self is quite flimsy .

[Charlie 5]

Just to agree with the other posters. There is a great video of a US guy who buries what looks like a 20ft ISO into the ground. There is several hundred tons of re-enforced concrete used to stop the ground swallowing up the container. Notwithstanding, the need for power, plumbing etc. Also agree, if you could do it covertly then do so, otherwise all the world and his wife will know where to go when the SHTF

[Partimehero]

Shipping containers are not built to withstand the pressures of being buried underground. They will fail no matter how much reinforcement is added...... I've seen the proof

You'll need planning permission but not building regs if the total floor area is no more than 30m2. I'm a tradesman and carrying out any building work without planning goes against my professional standards. BUT the prepper in me helps by pass this.

A previous client of mine wanted a shelter built. I obliged no problem but when I told her the planning process she asked me to proceed without it! This is because the planning process involves publishing the name, project type and the address. What's the point if half of the UK are going to know

She signed a disclaimer exonerating me if the project was ever found out and, as with previous clients, a non disclosure document was signed by both of us. Ultimately, it's ALWAYS the home / land owners responsibility to obtain planning permission. Not the builders.

She got her shelter. She and her husband are very happy.

If you're going to get a shelter, you might as well make it so it protects you from just about everything or there's no point. There's a company out there (in the UK) that's claims their design offers "All hazard protection". It's BS guys

The shelter is based on a design going back to the 1950s. The entrance will let gamma straight into the main area as the wrong geometry has been employed.

You need to be burying any shelter under at least 3m of earth with entry/ exit points correctly placed. Please don't bother wasting your money on shipping containers. They won't work.

You'd be better off spending the equivalent amount on food and other supplies.

[Rearfang]

Another thought would be needing a geological survey for the ground would it be liable to flood ect

[Partimehero]

For sure...... NOTHING buried underground can be classed water tight unless its a submarine! There's perils and pitfalls with any design you opt for. But in a nut shell, some are better than others..... By far! It's just a case of deciding which one is best for you.

[Karl C]

if you must use a shipping container as the basis of an underground structure then the previous posts about the strength of the roof and side walls of unmodified containers is absolutely correct. However, if a container must be used then carry out proper engineering calculations on the capacity of the container and nature of the soil that it will be buried in ensure a safe design; but in outline consider turning it upside down so that the container floor becomes the load bearing roof, ensure that the corners posts sit on adequate bearers that are level (to prevent them sinking and twisting the container), internally brace the side walls to prevent them collapsing inwards and don't forget that anything hollow buried in the ground will be subjected to buoyancy forces (either + or -) so plan on how you will stop the container "floating" out of the ground or sinking further than can be lived with.

Sealing against water ingress and ventilation will also be a big planning factor for long term burial.

A better shape to bury would be a tube, maybe something based on large diameter drainage pipes.

[Xtremeteamuk]

I've always liked the idea of a bunker in the back garden but with some many things to take into account its just not a feasible idea...especially now all the decking has just gone down lol

[2ndRateMind]

I really like enterprise. I like people getting up schemes that will, a) be useful to customers and b) make employment opportunities. If you can make your own living out of it that's just great, too.

My own feeling about this scheme is that you will need to research your market very carefully indeed. You need to find people with the right money and the right property and a prepping mindset. Then you need to be able to provide a product and service that justifies a retail price of, say, around 10x the cost of raw materials. Don't think for one moment that that difference will just slip nicely into your back pocket. It won't. Apart from ordinary overheads, I suspect your marketing costs will be very significant indeed.

But, having done the research, if you think this idea is a goer, I will lend moral support in any way I can.

Cheers, 2RM.

[Rumfitt]

I was all for the whole shipping container until I read an article recently which showed me how drastically fatal this investment could be.

http://graywolfsurvival.com/2625/why-yo ... tf-bunker/

Have a read guys because I think this fella makes a lot of sense.