Now it's time to start on the second phase of the storm shelter project, the concrete walls. 

Things you'll need:

3/4" Plywood

1/2" All Thread Rod

1/2" Nuts And Washers

Few 2X4 Boards

1/2" Rebar

1 In Part 1 we got the slab ready with the 1/2" rebar turned up for the storm

shelter walls. Now we will get the walls ready to pour, assuming the forms have

been torn off from the storm building slab. The tornado shelter walls will be

formed with 3/4" plywood held together with 1/2" all thread rod.

2 Decide on the thickness of the storm shelter walls and that will be the distance

between your two pieces of 3/4" plywood. I would advise an 8" wall and turning

the 4'x 8' plywood on its side forming a 4' high wall by 8' long. This

accomplishes two things. You are only filling the forms with 4'x 8" of concrete

instead of filling it with 8'x 8" thick. Your forms can handle the pressure of the

concrete much better with only 4 feet instead of 8 ft. It will tend to bow your

forms for the storm shelter walls outward if you are not careful.

3 The second reason for pouring a 4' x 8" inch storm shelter wall would be your

option to finish out the upper 4 feet by laying 8" concrete blocks on top of the

concrete wall, or you could pour the other 4' the same way after the bottom

sets up. If you are feeling somewhat brave you can form it the full 8' high and

pour it but I would get a concrete guy to give his thumbs up on that before I

attempted it.

4 Next you will need to cut some pieces of 1/2" all thread rod. These will go

through both pieces of plywood and both the  2×8 vertical support boards with nuts and washers to hold and support the plywood forms.

For an 8" thick wall plus your 1 1/2 inches of plywood, (2-3/4" thick

pieces)along with a 2X8 board on each side of the plywood form, that is around

13". Then you want to add about 11" to that, so you need to cut your all thread

rod pieces about 24" long.

5 I say 24" long on the all thread rod because the form boards will take up 8"+

3/4"+ 3/4"+ 1 1/2"+ 1 1/2"= 12 1/2".

8"- wall.

3/4"- Outside Plywood.

3/4"- Inside Plywood.

1 1/2"- Outside 2×8 Vertical Support Board Bolted Over Plywood

1 1/2" Inside  2×8 Vertical Support.

2" Sticking outside for nuts and washers.

10" Sticking out on the inside of wall to use for bolting shelves and such.

= 24" Long all thread rod each.

Then the outside of the form will need about 2" sticking out of the plywood for the

nuts and washers. Then on the inside form boards you can leave the remainder of

the all thread rod sticking out and use those after you pour it to bolt seats or shelves

on the inside wall of your storm shelter.

A storm shelter can be your safety net during severe weather outbreaks. The following article will show you how to build one of these storm pits for yourself.

Things you'll need:

Form Lumber

Plywood

1/2" All Thread Rod

1/2" Nuts & Washers

1/2" ReBar

1 First you will need the storm shelter location spotted. A hill or a bank is good.

You will need a backhoe to dig down 6' or so and about 9 or 10' wide. You will

need to form up and pour your slab first. I would advise pouring a slab at least

8' wide, 10' long, and 6 inches thick. I poured mine 6 inches thick. I also sloped

it at about 2" of fall with a 2' X 2' X 4" deep drop down at the sloped end to hold

any water that might get in there. A sump pump in the drop down can pump any

water out, if that is the case.

2 Cut your 2- 2X6 boards at whatever length the storm shelter slab will be and

cut your other two whatever the width of the slab will be. Nail them together on

the ends making a square or rectangle. Then get it squared up by measuring

from one corner diagonal over to the other corner. Then measure the other two

diagonal corners. It is squared up when those measurements match.

3 Cut your 2X4 bracing boards about 24" long with a point cut on one end of

each one. You want to drive these in the ground up against the outside of the

storm shelter 2X6 form boards about every 3' or so so they don't bow outwards

from the pressure of the concrete. Nail your 2X6 form boards to the bracing

stakes. Then you want to go straight out from each one about 12 to 18 inches

and drive another one and then measure between those from the bottom of the

outside one to the top of the one against the form board.

4 You will want to spread a layer of gravel down inside the storm shelter form

area, evenly spread throughout the entire slab area before the rebar goes

down.

5 Inside the form use 1/2" rebar tied together with baling wire. Run the rebar the

length of the underground shelter slab area about one foot apart all the way

across and then cross those runs across the width of the slab area one foot

apart also. You should end up with a bunch of 1' X 1' squares with the rebar.

You want to turn the ends up about 3" from the side form boards where they

will be in the side walls.You can heat the rebar and bend a 90 degree angle

and turn straight up all the way around the slab. I would at least turn every

other one up inside the walls.

6 It is also a good idea to place some blocks of short 2X4's under the rebar in

several places to keep it off of the ground. You want your rebar to setup in the

middle of the concrete for strength and less chance of the underground shelter

slab cracking.

7 Once you have the rebar tied together and all the form boards braced up good

then it is time to call for the the concrete. To get your yardage amount of the

ready mix you will need for your storm building slab just multiply your length by

your width in feet, then multiply that by your thickness which would be 0.50 for 6

inches thick. If your thickness is 4 inches you would multiply the width and

length by 0.33, then you divide that total by 27.

8 So if your storm building slab was 8 feet wide by 10 feet long and 6 inches

thick, this would be your figures:8 X 10 = 80 X .50 = 40 divided by 27 = 1.48.

So you would need to order about a yard and a half of concrete. I would advise

getting the fibered concrete even though you have the rebar in place because

you want the storm shelter to have as much strength as you can get and this

will give you that.

Tips To Remember

Make sure you have your form braced up good with the outside stakes and kickers because the concrete will put a lot of pressure on them.

Bend your rebar ends to turn up out of the slab about 3 inches from the edge so they will be inside the storm shelter walls.

Wear gloves and eye protection when driving the bracing boards and nailing the kickers for the storm shelter slab.

Click on the link below to see part 2 of the storm shelter construction.

How To Build Your Own Concrete Storm Shelter-Part 2-The Walls

Follow these few simple steps and grow garden tomato plants much bigger than average that bear bigger and better tomatoes. What type of tomato plants you buy means a lot in the size of your tomatoes so keep that in mind when purchasing your plants. The basis behind this technique is all in how you water the plants that makes a world of difference in their growth pattern.

Instructions

Things you'll need:

Post Hole Diggers

3 or 4 inch PVC Pipe

Drill and bit

Good rich soil

Potting Soil

Plant Food

Tomato Cages

1 For each tomato plant that you want to use this method for, you will need a

piece of 3 or 4 inch PVC pipe about 3 feet long. Take your drill and a 1/4" bit

and bore your first hole about 1 inch from the end of the pipe and then measure up

the pipe about 8 to 12 inches and bore a hole there. You need a line of holes bored about

1 inch apart all the way around the pipe Then move down 1 inch towards the end of the

pipe where your first hole is and repeat the procedure until you have 8 to 12 lines of holes

all the way around that end of the pipe.This end with the holes will go in the ground.

2 Take your post hole diggers and dig the hole where your tomato plants are

going about one foot wide and 12 to 18 inches deep. If you are digging in good

rich soil you can use the same dirt but mix it with potting soil and chicken

manure to backfill your hole. Good soft and rich dirt is what you want.

3 Now you want to dig the hole for your three inch PVC pipe just off to one side of your plant

hole and just deep enough to where your top holes are just below ground level,

which should make your pipe hole about ten or twelve inches deep. The idea is

you water your garden tomato plants through the pipe and the water comes out

the holes, right at and just below the plants roots.

4 Set your pipe in the hole just beside your tomato plants hole and fill in around it

with the same dirt mixture. Set your plant in the bigger hole. Water the plant

through the pipe. The water will fill the pipe then slowly drain out the holes

delivering the water down deep at the roots every time. There should be about

two feet of pipe sticking up out of the ground.

5 Once the tomato plants start growing good set your wire tomato cages around

them for protection and support. Mix some miracle grow and water with that

mixture every couple of weeks or so. An old man, which was a good friend of

mine, taught me this method. Believe it or not, I have watched him step up on a

ladder to pick his tomatoes.

It is rather easy to build an outdoor fireplace for your yard by using the drums out of a clothes washer and dryer. The washer drum will hold the wood to burn and the dryer drum sits right on top of the washer drum to help contain the fire.

It is best to remove the grass where you plan to set the outdoor fireplace and put some gravel down. You can also use bricks so the washer drum isn’t sitting right on the ground. The holes in the washer drum feed air to the fire while containing the fire at the same time. The lip around the top of the washer drum fits the bottom of the dryer drum nicely to hold it in place.

It is a good idea to mount or weld some handles on the dryer drum for easy handling. After each use just dump out the ashes from the washer drum and it is ready for the next time you need an outdoor fire pit.