Safest structure built out of common materials

[pengyou]

What is the safest kind of structure to build (above ground) that will provide the maximum amount of protection against both nature and man? I have heard that domes do really well in high wind and snow conditions but I don't think they would be especially good against an attack of zombies....

 

[jontte]

a dome,that would be my cup of tea.

 

[Silent Earth]

Easy Peazy a Shotcrete geodesic dome by a large margin, no flat surfaces to be battered by wind, immensely strong geodesic design, simple to maintain but strong concrete outer lined with spray foam insulated inner. and if impacted by debris in a storm its rarely fatal to the structural strength and a doddle to patch. Domes, Houses, Bunkers, Redoubts, Retreats etc are always the LAST line of defence against two legged vermin and a concealed escape tunnel should be considered if you consider people not nature the threat. In rural parts of the US a few preppers some year back ( a guy called Rick) built some domes and covered them with earth and planted it, from 100 yards away you could not see it.

http://www.monolithic.org/domes

 

[jimLE]

what silent earth says..a person can go with 1 of 2 routes..1st is what he says.to me,that's the all around better route 2nd,is above ground.but only if the weather don't get to bad for that.like lightning and tornadoes.plus if you don't have to worry about people..

 

[pengyou]

a dome,that would be my cup of tea.

Dome, dome on the range...

 

[Silent Earth]

Dome, dome on the range...

Oh show me a home where the buffalo roam and I'll show you a house full of ****

 

[Mountain trapper]

A true log house. Not one of these milled log things that are sold to city people who just want the looks of a log house. A real log house/cabin will hold up to most anything. There are still a lot of old log barns around here that have been standing for over a hundred years.

 

[WGregMiller]

A true log house. Not one of these milled log things that are sold to city people who just want the looks of a log house. A real log house/cabin will hold up to most anything. There are still a lot of old log barns around here that have been standing for over a hundred years.

Hell, there are a lot of log houses here well over 200 years old. Some are pretty damn sweet too.

 

[WGregMiller]

What is the safest kind of structure to build (above ground) that will provide the maximum amount of protection against both nature and man? I have heard that domes do really well in high wind and snow conditions but I don't think they would be especially good against an attack of zombies....

Read up on insulated concrete form houses. May want to google ICF.

We saw one. 1 5/8 inches of foam on the outside and inside and about 8 inches of concrete and rebar inside. Very small utility needs, very tight house. Very impressive, but around $10 per square foot of exterior wall.

 

[Maverick]

Nuclear Reactor containment building that follows 10 CFR 50.55a In other words "must be strong enough to withstand the impact of a fully loaded passenger airliner without rupture."

 

[WGregMiller]

Nuclear Reactor containment building that follows 10 CFR 50.55a In other words "must be strong enough to withstand the impact of a fully loaded passenger airliner without rupture."

Yeah... I've thought about that a lot, since there is a nuclear plant 15 miles from here. When they built it, the biggest plane was a 727 or something similar. Airplanes are a lot bigger now.

I actually was thinking about that on 9/11/2001 while watching everything that went on.....

 

[Maverick]

Yeah... I've thought about that a lot, since there is a nuclear plant 15 miles from here. When they built it, the biggest plane was a 727 or something similar. Airplanes are a lot bigger now.

I actually was thinking about that on 9/11/2001 while watching everything that went on.....

Wish I had the money to build a modern containment dome though not as high up.

 

[WGregMiller]

Me too. Also, with the 2 hurricanes we've had, I bet the price of materials will to nuts for a while.

 

[jontte]

some will make some serious dough on those two,just like all the speculators during both WW1 and WW2

 

[pengyou]

Thanks for your input...and musical abilities . I have been looking at dome homes for a decade. I had decided that if I did one it would be a dome roof sitting on an 8 ft pedestal, with the pedestal being below ground level and at least 2' of soil on top of the dome roof.

 

[Gazrok]

While totally agreeing on the dome thing...likely far cheaper, and still realistically just as formidable, to have a metal formed, poured concrete ceiling with the right support beams, and cement walls. For any structure, you also have to consider the weakest points...windows and doors, and plan accordingly. (in which my advice is make them inset, with metal doors that close over them (preferably sliding out through layers of concrete).

 

[Silent Earth]

Just found this on YT hope it helps

 

[Brent S]

My root cellar was just concrete block filled with rebar in all the cells and poured concrete in the cells. The flat roof has rebar connected to all the walls and was poured at the same time. It's buried on three sides and top. The construction was simple and reasonably affordable. It would be easy enough to make it bigger with interior walls supporting the larger roof. Domes are great, but take some different construction skills.

 

[user 6493]

steel reinforced poured concrete for the walls brick exterior on the inside I would wood frame it for the interior walls giving you 16 inches of wall thickness I would go so far as to put a concrete lid on it,then a standard roof giving it the look of a brick house


this is not going anywhere you might lose the roof but the concrete and steel will not budge