Root Cellar Plans

These unique root cellar plans show you how to build a root cellar for food storage by
adapting a new concrete septic tank.
April/May 2014
http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/buildings/root-cellar-plans-zm0z14amzreb.aspx
By Steve Maxwell

Make this root cellar by burying a new concrete septic tank into a hillside.
Illustration by Len Churchill

The cool, moist and dark conditions of a root cellar make it the perfect place to keep
many fruits and vegetables crisp and delicious for weeks even months of
storage. And while there are myriad ways to store vegetables, our innovative root

cellar plans show you how to build a root cellar by modifying a new, precast concrete
septic tank. By following the plans, you'll cut an entrance, install a door, add a pair of
vent pipes and cover the tank with soil to bring an old-fashioned, walk-in cellar into
your modern life.

Choose a Concrete Septic Tank

You'll want to buy an unused septic tank for this root cellar design, but look for a deal
to avoid paying full price. A percentage of all precast concrete septic tanks end up
with small manufacturing defects that prohibit them from being used for sewage
treatment. Suppliers sometimes offer discounts on these flawed tanks. As long as the
tank is solid and sound, a chipped edge or a patchable hole won't prevent it from being
a root cellar. You wont need the plastic fittings or effluent filter found inside most
septic tanks, so ask the supplier to remove these before delivery.
Tank size is another detail you'll need to consider when planning how to build a root
cellar from a septic tank. The capacity of septic tanks is measured in gallons, with
different models being taller or shorter. While you might be tempted to buy a 1,000or 1,200-gallon tank because theyre common, youll get more food storage space and
headroom with a tank that's 1,500 gallons or larger. Standard 1,500-gallon tanks
typically measure about 5 1/2 feet wide by 5 1/2 feet tall by 10 feet long, while a
2,500-gallon tank provides more than 6 feet of interior headroom. Dont choose a lowprofile tank because it will be much too short to work in. Prices for new, undamaged
1,500-gallon tanks start at about $1,100, and 2,500-gallon models can be found for as
low as $1,600. Discounts for damaged tanks may be as much as 50 percent.
Most septic tanks have an internal partition that must be opened or removed to build
from these root cellar plans. Try to find a tank without a partition, or ask your supplier
to remove it before delivery. You can also punch through the partition yourself as part
of the doorway-cutting process.

Best Sites for Root Cellars

The perfect location for a root cellar is nestled into an existing soil bank in a welldrained location 10 to 20 yards from your house. Ideally, the door should face north to
keep out the suns heat. Youd be fortunate indeed to have all of these conditions, and
most people have to modify their sites. Expect to pay from $50 to $100 per hour for a
backhoe and operator to excavate your site for three or four hours.
Spread a 1-foot-deep bed of three-quarter-inch-diameter crushed stone beneath the
excavated tank site and the planned entryway to support foot and wheelbarrow traffic.

Crushed stone is easy to move around to make a level surface for your tank. Suppliers
usually offer a delivery service using a boom truck to set down the tank wherever you
want. Check the tank with a 48-inch level after the boom-truck driver has set it into
place. If the tank isn't level, have the driver lift the tank so you can get a rake
underneath to move the crushed stone. Keep setting, checking, adjusting and replacing
the tank until it sits flat and level.

Install a Door and Vents

The tank should be in its final position before you cut the door opening, because
removing concrete could weaken the tank enough to cause damage if it were moved
again. Use a level and pencil to mark a rough opening on the end opposite the effluent
pipe hole. Locate the bottom of the door 4 inches above the floor to keep dirt and
rainwater out of the cellar.
A concrete-cutoff saw is the tool of choice for making a door opening (see "Cutting
Concrete sidebar below). Set up a large work platform a couple of feet lower than the
tank's top, don eye and ear protection, and recruit a second pair of hands to hold the
masonry saw from above as you move along the top horizontal cut line. Make the two
vertical cuts next, then tackle the horizontal cut across the bottom. Leave a small
amount of concrete uncut in the upper corners to hold the slab in place until you're
ready to bust it into the tank with a sledgehammer. Repeat this process to remove the
inner partition if your tank still has one.
You can make your own root cellar door out of wood, but getting it to seal well will be
difficult. Consider using an insulated steel residential door pre-hung in a frame.
Exterior steel doors provide exceptional seals. Choose one without a window because
darkness is essential for maximizing the storage life of produce.
Good root cellar design requires two 4-inch-diameter vent pipes to control internal
temperatures and allow excess moisture and gases to escape. (For advice on using root
cellar vents, check out The Fundamentals of Root Cellaring.) One pipe should extend
to the floor inside the cellar while the other should end near the ceiling. This
difference in height encourages air circulation. All septic tanks have a hole for a 4inch pipe at one end, which will work for a ceiling vent, but youll need to bore a hole
somewhere else for the longer vent that extends down to floor level just inside the
door is best. While youre at it, bore a 4-inch drain hole in the floor so you'll be able
to hose out your root cellar at the end of the season.

Finish the Roof and Backfill

The tops of concrete septic tanks have access hatches that must be sealed. Apply a
generous bead of polyurethane caulking around the perimeter of the hatch openings
and close the hatches for the last time. Next, use a hand-held grinder to cut off the
hatches' protruding metal handles. Now that the tank is flat on top, you'll need to
apply a watertight barrier to prevent roof leaks. Use a heavy, self-adhering water-andice shield designed to be used as roofing underlay. The best shields are thick and have
a peel-and-stick adhesive backing my favorite products include Blueskin selfadhesive water-and-ice barrier, and Grace water-and-ice shield. Apply two layers of
shield that extend over the top in overlapping sheets and fold down the sides 4 inches
lower than the joint where the tank's top and sides meet.
Because your tank will be tucked into the earth, you'll need a secure way to hold back
the soil at the entryway. The drawings in the slideshow illustrate how to build a root
cellar retaining wall using 6-by-6 timbers, with a lintel across the top to stop
backfilled soil from falling down over the door. Find instructions on building a timber
retaining wall anchored by T-shaped tiebacks at How to Build a Retaining Wall With
Crossties. Another option is to construct a retaining wall using interlocking concrete
blocks. Retaining walls ensure the best cellar performance in cold climates because
they maximize the amount of soil contact on both sides of the door, and soil's
insulating factor is what stabilizes the temperature inside a root cellar and makes it
suitable for storing vegetables.
If your climate doesn't experience severe winters, an easier alternative involves
banking up the soil as steeply as possible on both sides of the doorway while leaving
some of the front wall exposed. Instead of building a tall retaining wall, you could
install horizontal layers of geogrid (a polymer material used to reinforce soils) in the
dirt as you backfill around the door, building as steep a slope as possible.
Haul in soil and spread it around the sides and top of your tank. Because backfilling
by hand is hard work, you'll probably want to hire the backhoe and operator for
several more hours. Sandy, light soil is best for backfilling because it reduces soil
pressure on the sides and top of the tank, drains better, and is easier to shape and
contour. Aim for a layer of 1 to 2 feet of soil on the roof.
Plant grass on the backfilled soil, build shelves and bins inside your cellar (learn how
to construct wooden storage shelves at our DIY blog), load em up with your healthy,
homegrown foods and you're finished with these root cellar plans. Money cant
buy the feeling of security and satisfaction youll get from a winters worth of good
eating sheltered by your own root cellar.

Cutting Concrete
These root cellar plans require you to cut through the walls of concrete septic tanks.
To do so, youll need to rent or borrow a gas-powered masonry cutoff saw spinning a
14-inch-diameter diamond wheel to make the door opening, and an electric rotary
hammer with a 4-inch carbide coring bit to bore vent and drain holes. Be sure to use a
saw that accepts a garden hose because water injection will tame the clouds of dust.
The rotary hammer with coring bit needs no water. Septic tanks usually have
reinforcing rods embedded in the concrete, so ask for a coring bit and masonry blade
that can handle metal.

Contributing Editor Steve Maxwell is an expert builder and stonemason who stores
his garden produce underground in Ontario, Canada. Find his homesteading advice
at RealRuralLife.com. Maxwell co-authored The Complete Root Cellar
Book, available at a 25 percent discount until April 30, 2014 at the MOTHER
EARTH NEWS store.