I want to build a root cellar at least 20×20. Since I’m in a flood prone area I’ll have to build slightly below or above ground level and cover it with several feet of dirt. Woof! This one is going to be a huge effort.

For starters, I don’t have a clue what I need to do. Reading the internet I see that I have to have drainage and ventilation. Ventilation I can handle but drainage is another matter.

For a 20 by 20 cellar I’ll need a 30 by 30 foundation. If I have to raise it three feet to ensure good drainage that’s 100 cubic yards of fill. That works out to roughly 4.65 gazillion pick up truck loads of fill from who knows where. Then there’s the problem of keeping it in place after you dump it on the ground. Dirt here tends to turn liquid and seek the lowest level. The obvious answer is rocks but there aren’t than many rocks in all of Florida much less sitting around with no one watching them. I guess I could build a three foot high wall around the perimeter with loose rocks then fill in the middle. Still that’s a lot of rocks to haul in. Logs might be another possibility.  Maybe I could start a gofundme page and ask everyone to send me a box of rocks.

Then there is the dirt to cover the building once it’s built. It will need about five feet of dirt over the roof and the sides filled. Again, a lot of hauling in unless I dig a pond next to it. Plus it’s getting tall. Figure floor, ceiling and eight feet inside height the building is about ten feet tall. Sitting on a three foot mound. With five feet of dirt on top. Eighteen feet tall sticks out like a sore thumb around here. “What’s that hill over there?” “It’s an Indian mound. Very sacred. Don’t even look at it.”

OK so where am I? I’m going to build a building that I have absolutely no knowledge of how to do it, with absolutely no resources or money and no help other than that gained from sitting in the shade and scratching the Boys head. Sounds about right.

I’m gonna do it. Stay tuned for more.