Walt builds a family fallout shelter : a how-to-do-it project (1959)

f well folks I'm glad you could come down to  see my Fallout Shel just finished painting it last night looks like a nice job W you  know this shelter is a real good idea if we should ever have a nuclear war we could  get a heavy Fallout even though we were not anywhere near the target area so Ruth and I  got to thinking about it and we figured we'd rather be prepared than sorry you know Walt this  gives me an idea remember I was thinking about building a dark room in my basement there's  no reason why I couldn't use it for that too oh this would make a perfect dark room as well  as a fallout shelter come on in see the inside hey isn't this nice well sir luk and I certainly  can live in here very comfortably for at least 2 weeks and you know this room can be put  to other uses as well yes was you could use this as an extra bedroom for company  yeah and when those grandchildren come it' be a great place to put them you certainly  have this well stocked radio extra batteries fire extinguisher yeah that's right  and you know besides being a fallout shelter it's a good place to be during  a tornado Walt youve done a real good job Walt how long did it take you to build your  shelter not so long oh I spent a few evenings and a couple of weekends it's really not so  hard to build anybody who isn't all fums can do it I'd like to know how you went about it  wouldn't you Helen we'll listen go ahead Rob well here's a way anybody can do just what I  have done to begin with the best way to build anything is the right way so I got this bulletin  it's the official bulletin put out by the office of civil and defense mobilization ation called  the family fallout shelter another booklet is available from the national concrete missionary  Association both can be obtained from your local civil defense office or the local concrete  block producer now my first suggestion to you would be to get these bulletins get these  bulletins and study them because in it there are various types of Fallout shelters not only the  Bas follow other but also others now once you have that then I would suggest that you and  the family go down into the basement and decide on just where you're going to  build that basement uh fallout shelter now I decided to put it in this corner once  that is decided then the next thing I did I drew these lines on the floor because these  lines show me exactly where the walls are to be before laying the blocks of a wall along these  lines that I have laid out here it's necessary that we check the floor to see whether it's level  the seat may be higher in one end or the other make or get a straight edge now a straight edge we  must have 1 in absolutely straight and the other Edge must be parallel to this Edge that is it must  be just as wide all the way along now this can be a 1x4 or a 1x6 just so that it's perfectly  straight and the sides parallel now lay the straight edge along the place where you're going  to have the wall now if it should rock that means that it's high in the center now if it is high in  the center you really can't make a good check so take two blocks they must be of the same thickness  though but one under this end and the other one under the other end now you can put your level  on or straight it any place along the way now if it isn't level that means that you have to raise  up one end or the other end until it is perfectly level then you can see what the difference might  be now if that difference isn't too great you can make up that difference with a first layer  of mortar under the first course of concrete blocks this is a heavyweight 4X 8 by 16  solid concrete block and they're readily available thck heavy walls and ceiling  protect against radiation the thicker the better concrete blocks therefore  are very well suited for this type of construction now in laying a wall you know  the Mason always starts by laying one block over here and the other Block in other words  he builds up the corners first in order that we know just exactly where to place this first  block since we must start here we will have to uh we'll have to lay out this wall dry that  is without mortar now you may wonder why we have scored this well I'll tell you we have  removed the paint so that when we bring this wall up against here there would be a good  Bond and the scoring helps to make a good Bond you have to have a piece of wood that's  38 thick because you see 3/8 is the exact thickness of the mortar joint between the  blocks put the block down put the board in there another block put the board  in between but be careful when you slide it up you don't bang because  if you do you know you're going to move the block and then by the time you  get over there you're going to be way out now this is the block we were looking  for to know exactly where this block is to now when we laid out this wall you'll notice  that we are supposed to stop here why because we have a doorway coming in now this last  portion of it is only a part of a block now we laid the wall out so that we would have a  half a block that makes it simpler you see in laying a half a block here the next block will  be a full Block in other words you see we'll be breaking joint that's the proper way to lay a  wall now if you have to cut a block the thing to do is to square a line all the way around and  then score it like I have scored it here but in scoring it the first time or maybe even the  second time be sure that you do it very lightly cuz if you do it if you hit too hard you may  find it'll crack the Block in the wrong place now if you wear glasses like I do  that may be all right but if you don't I would advise that you get  some safety glasses or the goggles to wear because when these particles uh  spit out you know they may injure your eyes now we can hit it a little heavier yeah all nice that broke now we put this in  here and we should have the smooth side out the Rough Side against the joint and then  we'll space it here now we're all that completes our wall on this end I'm using  this story pool to Mark the height of each course of the wall that we're going to build  where it meets the main hall now story pole is a 1 by two and you notice I've Drawn  Lines on here now these lines represent the thickness of the morar the thickness of  the block mortar block and so on all the way up and preparing the mortar to lay the  blocks I'm using a prepared mortar mix it has everything in it including the sand you  notice I have a nice little Mort box which is very easy to make but you can also mix it in  a wheelbarrow and in adding the water be sure that you don't add too much to begin with CU  if you aren't careful you'll get too sloppy a mixed after the mortar is mixed it's well to  put it on a Mortar Board it's so much easier to pick it up now here's a little trick that I  learned from a Mason friends shape your motor like this bring the towl underneath and then slowly  turn it and that way you can lay a nice ribbon see now it's well for you to practice  it just a little so that you can lay a ribbon of mortar down that  way when you start laying the blocks the first block we want to lay would  be the one in the corner we must lay these aside now be sure that you put plenty of mortar down for  the first course and as far as that's concerned for every course for the simple reason that it's  very important that we fill these joints well with mortar we the black right on top you notice  this line extending over here this line extending there now I can't see the line here  but I made this extension so I can line up my block and you see I settle it down and squeeze  out the mortar be sure to make a full mortar joint for every course so that the wall will  be as dense as possible to protect you from radiation now you see the story pole comes  into play now it's still a little high and I can lower it with a TR and I level it with  a level now it's it's still a little high out here now try and get this first one perfectly level then pi this mortar then we want to have  a little mortar on the end of the block because again here we want  to be sure that we get a full mortar joint Now sort of squeeze it down a little  otherwise it's have to drop when we set it down now set this block about an inch away from  this other block settle it down a little and then push the by pushing it this way you're filling  that joint now let's get it down to where we want it see with all this mortar oozing  out we're sure to get a nice tight well fil any check to see whether we're  oh we got to go down a little here also check at this way see that  we're in line all the way along and of course watch this line see again that  line is ahead of our block so that we know just where we should lay the Block  in order that it's in the line now we have to squeeze this a little more so  we can bring that right up to the 38 in joint now our next block will be on the corner  see that will then bridge over uh this joint here good Pro jump and we'll take  this back lay it on here very carefully and here's where we're going to use that story Point bring it down to the line and checking it with our TR to  see or with our level I should say so that it's plum Plum this way and level level both ways with this block laid in position and a  full bit of mortar tied against the basement wall and along the line that we have laid out  we're now ready to complete this first course but first we should put up a line now this  line serves two purposes one purpose is to keep the blocks in straight lines also  to keep it of the same height that is level be sure that you pull the line reasonably tight  and have it right along the edge of the block here as well as over on that side so we begin  laying our blocks here continue down to the other end when I laid the second course I  left these openings now these openings are made by using a half a block and  it directly over the joint below now when I laay the third course you see  it leave an opening here which is a vent just as described in The Fallout Shelter booklet after building up a section of the wall  and the mortar begins to firm up then it's time to Tool the joints now tooling the joint joint serves  two purposes one is to make a nice looking job and the other is to firm the mortar tight against the  blocks now I made a tool out of a piece of / in conduit in notice the end is bent up slightly  here also Bend up here and then down to make a handle since we need protection from radiation from  overhead as well as from the sides I'm now going to build the supports for the ceiling  of the Shelf now the ceiling is supported by Jo and these joists in turn are supported  by post bolted to the wall I have already already Drawn Lines around the wall to show  exactly what the height of these posts would be now you will notice that the line on this  side is about 4 in lower than on the side in other words we're going to have a 4x4 beam over  the top of these posts but we will not need it on this side since this is a um Hollow  concrete block wall I'm going to use a toggle the post should be divided  along this wall the spacing of the post and I'm going to put one  bolt about here and another one about here then I'm going to B holes for the boat I have already drilled a hole in the wall  for the toggle bow to locate that hole you put the bolt through the post set the post in the  exact location where you want the hold and then tap it lightly not too hard because it may spoil  the thread on The Bard then you use the star drill to drill a hole hole through and possibly open  it up a little large enough for the tarle to pass through put the toggle onto the bolt and run the  bolt just through the toggle just so it comes out on the other side okay then you bring it in  position squeeze it together and let it go through pull it back now before you tighten this put the  toggle into the bottom L same way and then you start tightening yourself pulling the post back  just a little so that the wings back there will flip around now that I have all the post securely  in place I'll place this Beam on top of these posts it will support the joist on this end and  the shter wall will support the joist on the other end one na from that side and two from underneath don't forget to make a shove joint  so that you have a full drink of mortar now here's another trick that will be of  help to you this stage that I've used at the beginning it be a great help to you to line  up these blocks so that they'll be perfectly straight all I'm getting along real well  with my fallout shelter wall but if you feel that you need some help why don't you  get a Mason to assist you I'm in the process of putting up the joist and it's necessary to  put rcing between the joist to keep them from tipping now it's also necessary to toll nail  the joist into the beam on both sides now that the ceiling DS are in  place I can put up the ceiling boards it's well not to put up too many boards  because you have to lay these concrete blocks in place you see you need two  layers of concrete block one laid in this direction and the other laid in the  opposite direction you don't need mortar for this just lay them up dry and  as tightly together as you can get them before completing the walls it's necessary to lay all of the uh ceiling blocks otherwise  afterwards you wouldn't be able to get in well this finishes my fallout shelter notice  this baffle wall which covers the opening now it'd be a good thing you know if you would  get your larger pieces of furniture such as the bunks and possibly table in there before  you Build That Wall otherwise you may have a hard time to get him in afterwards now you  don't really have to paint the walls but my wife thought it would be nice if I did so  maybe I better get busy and finish it right now folks here is a message from The Honorable Lio  a ho director of The Office of civil and defense mobilization you've just seen how Walt has built  a family Fallout shelter in his own home I have a shelter in my home it offers my family good  protection in case of a nuclear attack it also serves a dual purpose a spare bedroom we know  from tests and from study and from research that the single best action for the protection  of the greatest number of people in case of a nuclear attack is a family fallout shelter may  I therefore urge that you build a shelter in your home by doing so you not only protect your  family but also you contribute to the nation's security you add to another strong deterrent  to war we recognize that you need additional information and for that reason may I ask that  you contact your local civil defense office and obtain additional information or contact your  local concrete block manufactur for plans and information no home in America is modern without  a family fallout shelter this is the nuclear age