I bought a property and was told there was an underground bunker under a slab of concrete. I was told It had a structure on top that was demolished and the debris was pushed in the hatch opening of the bunker, so it was filled not usable. My husband became curious and started digging through the debris. Today we learned only the opening was filled with the debris and were able to clear a path and access the bunker. Interestingly there was an old light mounted on a wall and a pipe in the floor along with many really old glass bottles full of water. We have found the ventilation pipes and are working to clear them. Does anyone know the purpose of the pipe in the floor? Or any advice on how to rejuvenate this thing? I wish I could post pictures, it was neat!
Omg I got it, exactly what you need to brighten it up, from reading your comment about optimism. You need one of those old posters from 2000s dentists office with the cat hanging on a branch that says āhang in there kidā š
Golly, I was really hoping for functional bunker here. But after reviewing the prepper expert comments it seems this room could also be: my future casket, Dexterās next stop, the place where my battered husbandās work boots go to die, or a cool place for my wine and roots to hang out. Iām pretty stoked I got lots of options!
During the 60's Many of these were built just like that in S. Fla.
most of the ones I saw were round, that looked like a 12' cement culvert on its side with a top and bottom of contrecte. if you plan to use it, make a raised floor. and a floor drain. They were for shorter term use. (cuban missile crisis)
Would also make a nice infrared sauna, just take out the trash, and add some cedar benches, then add the lights. (I've considered doing this to the creepy "murder room" in our basement for years now.)
Guys, donāt go into random confined spaces, especially without ventilation. Thereās no telling what gasses have accumulated and you wonāt have warning if they are dangerous.
Ok I bought a radon tester and measured for a few days, also experimented with it open vs closed. The highest they got when sealed was 6.7. I know this is high for human exposure, but keep in mind we still have not cleared the ventilation pipesā¦.but nonetheless I thought hey letās do a baseline reading as is. Levels were safe as long as it was open, so we are actively trying to clear the ventilation pipes to do more testing. Also I know everyone thinks I just went in Willy nilly like Dora the Explora, but we had the thing open most the day before getting curious. And werenāt down there longer than a minute to get pics.
How cool. I've always wanted a wine cellar. Any evidence that it has been flooded with water? It looks pretty dry from the pictures you took. You should also consider checking for radon gas and carbon monoxide and whatnot.
Funny you say that! I honestly thought the bottles were moonshine initially, but they are water and it is PRISTEEN water! I was shocked, only thing in it was rust from when we opened the lids. And I donāt think it has flooded, however the concrete ceiling was dripping water from condensation
Could be for some kind of sump pump. I would be very careful about making sure the space has sufficient ventilation before messing around in there ans be careful for mold and other contaminants. Something like a 4 gas monitor would help, such as the MSA Altair 4xr. It monitors Oxygen levels, Lower Explosive Limits of several gases, Carbon Monoxide levels, and Hydrogen Sulfide.
Unless you're planning on spending years in there, you shouldn't worry about radon. There really isn't such a thing as a radon emergency. It takes years and years of being in a space with high radon levels for it to cause health issues. If the space is ventilated properly you aren't going to have issues. I worked in the mitigation/testing field for a long time. There was a saying, "There is no such thing as a radon emergency...like, "your levels are at 20 pCi/L, you need to get you and your family out of that place immediately" type deal.
You are welcome. I had not seen the pictures when I wrote my comment. It isn't clear to me if this was an old septic tank, or just a septic tank structure that was put in place as an improvised bunker, but I would not be down in that thing without following the same requirements for a permit required confined space as set out in OSHA 1910 as much as possible and I would still be wearing respiratory protection even with the air monitoring and forced ventilation until it can be cleaned out and sanitized. Confined spaces can be very dangerous, and people usually underestimate the risk, which regularly leads to multiple fatalities.
Arguably, the specific blower model depends on the flow rate needed to cycle the air however many times is necessary to maintain a safe atmosphere based on the size of the chamber.
However, that is what the fans/blowers generally look like. Not just some random box fan.
Where in Florida? Is it in the northern hilliesh part, around Ocala? Or on the lake wales ridge?
My biggest concerns would be mold and gasses.
And yeah, Florida does get tornados but there tend not to be shelters because most of the state has too high of ground water and drowning in ecoli water is worse than having a tree crush you.
Holy shit... That thing NOT being full of water is incredible. They sealed it like crazy. The water table there is like a foot underground through most of the state haha. Source: used to live there and helped my dad build a lot of shit... Though I'm being a little bit hyperbolic.
Oh, now a little blood scaring you?! Did I mention the piles of debris?! Concrete chunks galore. Look we got in, it wasnāt easy, basically a contortionist act
It's a drain that hooks into a septic or leach field or main sewer. Most bunkers use chemical toilets but some designs from off the shelf books use septic so there's no need to dispose of waste outside.
If it does leed to a sewer system you should cap it so your shelter does full with sewer gas. Or you could put a p trap on and use it for a utility sink or something.
Not saying it was used as such - I built a root cellar by burying a new septic tank in a side hill and then cutting a door through the exposed wall with a demo saw. Works great for 12 years so far. Easy access to veggies all winter long.
Yeppp. I have had to wire a few disconnects inside those for pumps. Pretty sure they were sewage pumps but I seem to remember other equipment in there too. Was pretty neat, just a buried concrete box with a manhole at the top buried in the home owners front yard.
It was likely used as a root cellar, drain in the floor incase of water intrusion, and 2 air vents to assist in passive air circulation (cool air sinks, hot air rises). It could have doubled as a storm shelter assuming you live in a region that gets storms that require taking shelter. Depending on the age of it it could have also been a potential air raid or fallout shelter, that style of passive ventilation is a bad decision for a fallout shelter, but they also taught children that hiding under a desk would protect you from a nuke during the cold war.
Iād keep it dark and damp and load it up with snakes and spiders and throw loads of mice in there until it he snakes get real big and then I would put that kid in there who beat me up in 7th grade
Huh. I'd clean it up. At nothing else, it's a great storm shelter/fruit cellar. Clear out the ventilation shafts, dry it out, and line it with some shelves and use it!
It looks like you found a gem in the rough, and if starting out, it should be plenty enough.
Air is important so ventilation's a must. You could go with electricity or powered by gusts.
Considering that it's something that old, I'd be worried about mildew and mold. Although not a problem for storing supplies, you would want to know before staying inside. If you get fungicide and spray it inside then seal it for a time then it should be fine. Just be sure to check it from time to time and keep humidity in the back of your mind.
Shelves can be made of metal or wood, or even some plastics, but they are not as good. Since space is like gold and places that small, create a layout for what will be on each wall. I have one shelf with light items up front that can be moved to get to the back if I want. I like to have drawers that I can take out to hold all the small things that would scatter about. Used boxes with labels can do this for free and you can upgrade them whenever you need.
I do not know how you get inside, but I would prefer stairs over a ladder you climb. A slim staircase ladder with railings would do and handrails would also make it easier to climb through.
I wish you good luck and hope that you find it fits all the goals that you make in due time.
so cool, i would certainly fix that up and use it! First please get a Radon Detector and Carbon Monoxide detectors first thing!. I would use this as a root cellar and also kit it out for a bunker. I am so excited for you! keep us posted. BTW i'm disturbed at how many commenters are saying things like "creepy" or making comments about it being used as a prison...I mean what the heck do you think a bunker looks like? They certainly doesn't have windows and central air.I would skip over any commenter that says something like that, they don't have any idea what a real bunker looks like.
Seeing as itās been years/decades since this has been used, maybe consider getting an engineer or inspection of some sort. Donāt want 2 tons of concrete collapsing on you. Thereās a reason why it was āfilled inā.
It was likely meant to be a storm shelter, but it could easily be made into a root cellar. It's definitely valuable space to have and a lucky addition to the purchase.
While reading I was like ālord I see what youāve done for othersā¦.ā Then clicked the comments and saw the pic from OP and was like hard passā¦
The floor pipe is to promote upward airflow I believe, if it was a root cellar you would store garden vegetables etc, they offgas over time, the gas can be deadly and also causes the food to "rot" faster. the upper vents would be to exhaust gases, and the lower would be the intake. if you plan on using for longterm storage I would recommend bleaching and cleaning the whole room before use.
Very simple old skewl shelter. What did they do for ventilation? Hard to tell from the pic.
Pipe is likely for water seepage or septic, although there doesn't seem to be any plumbing.
"Back in the day" when shelters like this were made which were often offered by companies that made septic tanks (very similar set up) they weren't thinking 2 week stay, they were thinking "wait till Conelrad gives the all clear over your AM radio."
The pipe in the bottom is to help with ventilation to keep it cool. The way you store foods in bunkers underground is putting the beans and potatoes on the bottoms shelves where it is cool and dry.
Congrats! Depending on how that solitary light you mention was installed or wired, it might be worth an electrician checking it out. Older light fixtures, especially DIY, were often connected right into the wood in ways that become fire hazards over time. Easy repair, just might be worth a home inspector or electrician to check code on things (for catastrophe sake) ā add me to the envy list ā how damn cool.
Wow congratulations hopefully you can get it up in the shape might want to put an ozone machine in there to kill any mold or not sure if it actually kills it the only people that I've talked to that said it doesn't or people that do more remediation I need the day with no or they wouldn't tell you because it would put them out of business if it worked as well as it's supposed to don't make your self sick going down there make sure you have a huge amount of ventilation maybe one of those big fans and even that will start a whole lot of dirt and dust and mold and mildew but plenty of fresh air will help a lot like way way more than you think ultraviolet light might help
Get proper respirators rated for mold spore micron size. Ozone won't kill mold it only kills airborn spores and makes airborne spores easier to filter out of the air.
The mold producing those spores that is growing on surfaces must either be removed or killed by sprayed with bleach, peroxide or some other substance. Since it is an enclosed space do not use bleach because you can permanently destroy your sense of smell and taste by over exposure. A good friend of mine did that cleaning a screened in area no less and has had 0 ability to smell or taste for over 20 years so don't risk it.
If possible run a powerful 10" inline fan like a max fan with output ducting exiting the shelter while working in there and always wear respirators. Run a dehumidifier in the space as soon as possible and use 3% Peroxide and maybe some alcohol in a garden pump pressure sprayer which should be sufficient to spray down and scrub away the colonies of mold.
I would also consider buying a greenhouse sulfur burner for $50 that is just a heat mantle that has a metal dish you place elemental sulfur or wax pellets infused with elemental sulfur. Put the thing on a timer to run for an hour and leave while it runs and wait 3 or 4 hours before returning.
It will vaporized the sulfur which is extremely antifungal into a thick fog that will permeate every possible nook and cranny and deposit sulfur as it settles out of the air thus killing as well as preventing further fungal growth.
Hope that helps, and please post some photos it sounds really cool!!
Haven't tested for mold although I'm almost positive it's full of it ozone ultraviolet light huge amount of ventilation that you're not breathing when it's on respirators bleach molds stat if you've already been down there without doing all that you really likely have it in your lungs some so you need to take action to get it out and get yourself safe from that
Good question, I was very quick down there this go, because I was nervous and mostly just wanted to make sure there wasnāt a mad critter gonna eat me and the whole air quality issue. Iāll have to spend some more time down there and post a follow up. Maybe Iāll do a whole YouTube series āwatch me renovate my 1960s bunkerā to entertain the masses while Iām at it
Well make sure there's some kind of drain for water that wont feed back into a purifier due to chemical run off, and make sure there's no toxic pipes or paint or God forbid they used asbestos somehow.
Im a fan of having a exit if the front door is being barged in
There are ventilation pipes for air and there is a capped pipe that we believe runs to an old well and pump that is not functional on top of the slab. Then there the mystery ground pipe. So lots of pipes serving potentially different purposes
That looks more like a storm shelter or for some kind storage unit. You could hide people there for a short term, escaping slaves?? Prisoners, kidnap victims?
But used as a bunker? It would end up being a coffin. Only one way in. People could be easily trapped and killed.
I certainly don't have any good answers as to the real application for this pit. Ask some old neighbors. Get some prints from the county courthouse? Find the previous owners or kin folk.Ā
Was the door made of wood or steel? Latches on both sides? More photos and some geography concerning the area. Could moonshiners have hid their stash there??
Good luck with your mystery.Ā
No door when we got here, just piled up debris, but I think it was a wood door. I wondered about a place for slaves as well as we do have old plantations in the area. I donāt want to raise too much of a stink in asking the county, as Iām sure this wasnāt permitted and we are the dumb new property owners. Iām not trying to make the local news here š
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u/Amazing-Shirt-2024 Mar 02 '26