How to Build a Root Cellar on the Slope of a Hill

Across the upper Midwest, little doorways peak out of hillocks, reminders of another time, when farm families made their own cheese and stored autumn vegetables for use during the cold winter months. Root-preserving humidity stays high, and temperatures range from the mid-30s to mid-50s, depending on season and management of these buried cellars. Use the slope of a hill near your home to build an energy-saving, food-preserving room. Recycle railroad ties for the framework of your old-fashioned cool root cellar.

Shovels
Fluid or digital level
Chalk line
Plumb line
60 to 70 6-inch-by-8-inch-by-8-foot railroad ties
12-inch nails
8-penny galvanized nails
Hammer
Chain saw
Circular saw
Sledge hammer
Foam insulation board
4-penny galvanized nails
4 sheets 1-inch-by-4-foot-by 8-foot plywood
Roofing tar paper
Strap hinges
Galvanized wood screws
Gravel

Instructions

- 1
  Dig a 12-foot semicircle into a hill. Dig deeply enough to make the cellar height about 7 feet deep under the surface of the hill -- dig down on the exposed side if necessary. This larger hole gives you room to work around your cellar as you build it.
- 2
  Level the floor of the cellar with a hand shovel and check it with a large level. Tamp the floor down firmly.
- 3
  Lay out a wall pattern for an 8-foot-deep and 8-foot-wide cellar on the floor, marking corners and snapping a chalk line between them.
- 4
  Lay railroad ties around the perimeter of the cellar, beginning with the back wall. Cut the ties so edges overlap and attach each layer to the one under it with 12-inch tie nails. Leave a 3-foot opening on one side of the front of your cellar.
- 5
  Lay ties around, overlapping, and nailing ends on each course, until your cellar stands tall enough to walk into.
- 6
  Cut to fit and nail an 8-foot-long 2- by-6-inch header across the top of the front wall. This header will tilt the roof back slightly so that water drains away from the doorway.
- 7
  Cut two pieces of 2- by-6 to form the upright frames on either side of the door and nail them into the ends of the ties on either side of the doorway. Fit another piece of 2- by-6 between the frame sides and knock it into place as a threshold.
- 8
  Nail two sheets of plywood across the top of the cellar to make a roof. Nail the plywood down with 8-penny nails. Staple roofing tar paper over the roof, overlapping the seams between the plywood and down around the railroad ties.
- 9
  Cut a hole through the wall near the floor on the open face of the cellar and install a 2-inch PVC pipe through the wall. Drill a second vent on the top of the roof, ending 6 inches above the roof to vent warm air.
- 10
  Backfill the space around the cellar with 2 to 3 feet of gravel. Then backfill with subsoil, leaving 6 to 8 inches space for topsoil.
- 11
  Nail exterior grade foam insulation panel to the roof and cover the roof and sides with topsoil.
- 12
  Fill the inside floor with 3 to 4 inches of gravel, so humidity can percolate up through the soil but can’t muddy the floor. Cut a piece of plywood to fit the door opening and mount it on strap hinges.

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