Picture this: you’re at home, spending a relaxing evening with your family in the backyard. All of a sudden, you look over to your neighbor’s house and notice that he’s dug a ten-foot hole in the ground. Most people would be completely surprised and some may even question the neighbor’s sanity. But this neighbor, in particular, isn’t crazy, he has a plan. And the end result of his plan is extraordinary.
When homeowner Wayne Martin started working on his larger than life project, he decided that he needed to go out and make a pretty big purchase. That’s right, Wayne went out and bought one regulation-sized shipping container. Used shipping containers can be purchased online and for a pretty decent price. A 20-foot shipping container usually costs a couple thousand dollars. You’re probably wondering what Wayne wanted to do with a used shipping container anyways. You’ll probably never guess.
Before we find out what Wayne did with the container, let’s talk about what he did to it. Shipping containers typically have huge, heavy doors on the end, that needs quite a bit of room to open. The project that Wayne wanted to complete would require him to figure out another option for the doors. So he sealed off the heavy doors and added a regular-sized door to the opposite end of the container. Wayne’s next step would be the biggest part of the project.
Wayne needed to dig himself a massive hole in his backyard. He recommends that the hole should be about two feet deeper than the container itself. Then six inches of peat gravel is added to the bottom of the hole. The gravel makes it so water can easily drain out of the hole and it also makes it harder for plants to grow up through the hole, as well. Once Wayne had finished digging the hole, and freaked out his neighbors, Wayne needed the container lifted into the hole, so he hired a local septic company to use their crane for the job.
Not only is it cheaper to pay someone to do the job, it’s also a lot safer than renting a crane to do the work yourself. The most important part when doing this, according to Wayne, is making sure that the shipping container has approximately a foot of air all around the container and at least four feet of air where there door is in the front. We’ll show you why in one moment!
Once the container is nice and stable inside the ditch, it’s time to take the next step. Because there is a pretty big chance for flooding, it’s important to take whatever precautions you can. A lot of times when a hole is this big it will sit below the waterline a little bit, especially if it rains, which means it could get into the container. This is something you definitely don’t want to happen, but Wayne solved that problem. The plastic circle is from the top of a perforated 30-gallon bucket, which is where Wayne put a “sump pump,” a machine that’s used to pump out water. Now that Wayne had completed that part, it was time to add some important additions!
Remember how we said Wayne left four feet on the door side of the hole? Here’s what that was for: Wayne added a concrete staircase that goes from the ground-level to the door of the shipping container. Wayne did most of the concrete work himself, but if you’re thinking about doing this and your skills aren’t up to par, you can hire someone to do the work! Because the next part depends heavily on the concrete work, it’s very important that the work is done correctly
The next part consists of putting up some I-beams in the hole. They must be level with the top of the container and the top of the stairs. The structure is finally coming together, but what could he be using it for? Is Wayne making a fall-out shelter? Or maybe he’s making a man cave? Or maybe he’s a mad scientist in need of a laboratory. We know the suspense is killing you, but you’ll just have to keep on reading to find out!
Since he had the I-beams and stairs in place, Wayne needed to put in supports to make sure that the structure was stable. This part is extremely important because without proper support the whole thing could be shifted and warped over time. This part also requires a bit of skill with the power tools. Things are starting to look really good! Check out the next slide to see it continue to take shape!
Now it was time to prepare for the concrete, which you’ll soon see. Wayne put up corrugated sheet metal over the top of the container, making sure they covered the entire hole. Next, Wayne took the rebar poles and welded them to the top of the entrance over the I-beams. After that, he put cinder blocks over the rebar and filled them with concrete to seal the entryway up nice and tight. The metal needed some support, so Wayne braced the metal from underneath using wood beams.
Finally, it was time to make it a permanent structure. Wayne needed to pour six inches of reinforced concrete on top of the metal, so he needed to hire a team for this part. Before the concrete was poured, Wayne added in two 12-inch PVC air vents down into the container. He also added some smaller PVC pumps so he could run utilities in. No one wants to be in a hole without air or light! Have you figured out what Wayne was doing with this huge shipping container in a hole? Keep on clicking to find out the point of all of this.
Did you guess? The structure is definitely starting to look more stable, that’s for sure. Wayne’s project most likely wouldn’t survive a nuclear attack, but it would most certainly protect someone from any elements, or nosy people. It’s nice to have some spare room in your house to do whatever you’d like with, but we have a few ideas of what we would want to do with a bunker underground. Hidden library? Underground movie theater? You’re so close to finding out what Wayne built! Keep reading!
There’s no more hole! Once the concrete was settled, Wayne used cinder blocks to build the entrance up to the ground level. Next, Wayne used a backhoe and good soil to fill in the area above the hole. Wayne says it’s important to use good soil because he thinks it would be perfect to plant some trees around the underground shelter. This room would be perfect if you needed a bit of privacy. It’s almost done, only a few more steps left!
Before we can find out what Wayne has been up to this whole time, he has to make sure to clean up the mess. So he’s got to take out all of the temporary wood supports that were put under the metal and concrete. Now’s the time to do all of the wiring and plumbing, as well. Finally, it’s all finished! It’s time to reveal the point for all of Wayne’s extremely hard work. Are you ready for it?
It would appear that our friend Wayne likes his wine! As soon as Wayne finished the basic structure he made the room the perfect space to keep his wine collection, as well as the all of the equipment to make his own! The room comes complete with wine racks, an industrial sink, a TV, and carboys, the huge jugs you see on the left that are used for making cider, beer, and more. We think it looks fantastic, but to Wayne, this isn’t the only option!
Wayne wanted to share how he created an underground room, so he left instructions on his YouTube channel, where you can also hear Wayne sing country songs and talk about doomsday prepping. Wayne says the room can be anything you’d like it to be! It’s a rather large project, but Wayne did an excellent job completing it. It looks professionally done and clean! Do you know what you would want to do with a room like this? Is anything stopping you from digging a massive hole in your backyard? All you need are Wayne’s instruction, roughly $13k, and some creativity, and you could have your very own hidden room! If there’s nothing in your way, the neighbors will be fine with it, you should just go for it!