Man Looking At Blueprints Uncovers A Strange Hatch Concealed In His Own Yard
Even if you pay for a home inspection, there are usually a few surprises waiting for you to find in a new property. And sometimes those unexpected features give your new home even more value. That’s exactly what happened to this man, who spotted something strange on the plans to his house, and at first, he wasn't entirely sure what it was.
Examining The Original Plans
Paging through looking at the original plans to his house, the man noted the peculiar shape in his backyard. Despite living at the residence for some time, he'd never noticed anything out of the ordinary about his backyard before.
X Marked The Spot
To find out what it was, he hired a metal detector expert to search through his yard. The expert marked two Xs for the best spots in the yard to start digging.
What Could It Be?
Like anyone, the man had his suspicions about what might have been buried in his backyard, though he wasn't entirely sure. What purpose could this addition have served if it was just covered up and forgotten?
Shovel Hits Metal
He started digging, and it wasn't long until his shovel clanked on something in the soft soil. It turned out to be a metal object, though the dirt covering it made it hard to distinguish exactly what it was.
Revealing A Hatch
So he continued digging. As he got deeper down, it was revealed that it was actually a metal lid, or, more specifically, a hatch. It was so heavy that he had to dig around it.
Unsure Of His Discovery
When the lid was lifted, he attempted to determine what was below it. Were those stairs? Were those blades for something? He would have to continue to find out.
Descending The Staircase
Luckily, once the lid was removed, no dirt stood in the way of him entering the hole. Slowly and carefully, he descended what actually was a staircase, until his feet hit solid ground...
Bomb Shelter
He was standing in a state-of-the-art bomb shelter. Impressively, it utilized some sort of electric fan and a hand-crank fan. Whoever had made it was planning to be down there for a long time...
Safety Concerns
The man wanted to make sure it was safe to be down there — and make it a viable place to just be in. To do this properly, he was going to have to get all of the debris out of his way.
Clear Pathway Inside
After some grueling labor, the rubble was finally all cleared out. He could climb back up to take a better look at the entrance and determine what the next step in identifying the structure would be.
Calling In Backup
To fully explore the shelter, he figured it was probably a smart idea to enlist the help of his friends. Having some extra manpower — and people to help him were poking around in a hole in the ground to go wrong — couldn't hurt.
Strong Reinforcements
The group did their best to reinforce the entrance so it was safe. Once the space around it was cleared, they epoxied rebar securely into place; these would help the future supports for the entrance.
Wooden Frame
When they were finished pouring the initial batch of concrete and securing the rebar, it was time to finally add some concrete forms to the exterior of the shelter. They began this process by building a wooden frame.
Temporary Protection
The next step the men took was to apply a SonoTube cardboard form. This would provide a temporary type of protection for the interior of the shelter's entrance. They didn't want to damage anything while they were exploring the grounds.
Giving The Shelter New Life
Now it was time to add a conduit for electricity and other utilities. No bomb shelter would be complete without some basic utilities, just in case they needed to be down there for a while during an emergency!
Clean Air Supply
And when it comes to life beneath the ground, you can never be too careful about making sure there's breathable air down there, right? A lack of clean oxygen would make for a useless shelter. It was time for an air vent installation.
Pouring Concrete
Next, concrete was added between the forms. This was really going to fill in the gaps and completely add to the structural integrity of the entire project. They poured concrete between the upper forms as well.
Smoothing Out The Bumps
They still needed to smooth over the concrete and make sure everything looked good. Because what's the point of a bomb shelter if it isn't also aesthetically pleasing?
Finishing Touches
While this almost looked like the finished product, you can see from the two-by-fours, there was still some work (and lots of drying!) to be done.
Epic Transformation
The men removed the forms from the top part of the entrance. It really was finally starting to take its final shape. Just look how different it looked from when they first began!
A Whole New Hole
When the concrete was finally finished, it was time to take a trip down to have a look inside. It was like going down into a completely different structure. It looked brand-spanking new — and much safer!
Professional Quality DIY
The difference between this image and how it was first found is like night and day. It almost looked like he and his friends paid a real professional to pull this project off, but it was all done the DIY way!
New Stairs
Still, the inside wasn't totally finished just yet. There was work to be done! Now it was time to remove the old steps. Getting them loose would be a problem, as the screws were also rusted. It was time to break out the propane torch and the grinder.
No Longer Safe
Here's what was left of the steps. Clearly, they were about as old as the hills, and would never have supported anyone climbing into the shelter. So it was a very smart decision to replace them.
Inside Look
The support pole for the steps was rusted as well, so it also had to be removed. This picture provides a really good perspective of the space that the workers were dealing with down there.
Blank Canvas
They finally got a much better look at the interior of the shelter. It was nothing spectacular or extravagant, but with a little work, it could, they knew, be something truly special. Time to get to work!
Unforseen Risk
Unfortunately, the fiberglass on the ceiling started to come apart. This meant that there was going to be more work than planned. Fiberglass is dangerous when it touches bare skin, and it can affect your lungs, so it needed to be fixed as soon as possible.
Chipping Away
Bit by bit, they chipped away at the fiberglass layer until it was totally gone. All that was left was a dome of concrete. After all of that work, it must have felt like looking at the Sistine Chapel.
Endless Potential
He wasn't nearly finished with the shelter just yet. He had a lot of work left to do on the interior alone. Still, enough had been done that you could see how much potential it had! Some projects take longer than others, but this one was worth it.
Ongoing Project
After exceeding costs, it was time to call it a day. It's one of those DIY projects that'll require several years to tackle, but at the end of the finish line is a backyard hideaway you can't find elsewhere. Chasing the same customized backyard hangout, YouTuber Colin Furze attempted a project of a similar scale.
Fulfilling A Dream
For years he dreamed about having his own private backyard sanctuary where he could spend time away from the bustle of the outside world. So, one day he stopped dreaming and started doing.
Rough Sketch
These were the blueprints he initially drew up for his DIY project. As you can see, he didn't put a heck of a lot of effort into them. He had the vision in his mind, simple though it may have been.
Idyllic Setting
Colin's backyard was pretty idyllic; there was a decent amount of open space to lounge, and he had a great view of the rolling hills behind his home. However, his backyard would soon be the site of major construction.
Clearing Out The Old
This was Colin's old shed. It had done its duty as a fine place to store his stuff, but now it needed to disappear to make room for the huge undertaking Colin had planned. He would miss his Clay Badger Shop, though.
Knocking Down Walls
Colin and his friend removed everything from the shed, hopped inside of it, and knocked down all the walls. The shed was old and the wood wasn't nearly as sturdy as when it was first built.
Mapping Out Space
After the walls were down, Colin broke apart the wooden boards into smaller pieces and brought them to the dump. Look at all of the space he had to work with now that the structure was gone!
Heavy Machinery
Colin called in some heavy machinery to do some digging next. In no time at all, Colin and his crew had dug out a decently sized crater where the shed once stood.
Breaking Through Bedrock
After removing several feet of the soft earth, they came into contact with bedrock. To get any further, they'd need to bring out the jackhammers. They held their hammers to the sky and went to work.
Putting Down Foundation
Once all of the large rocks were broken down to manageable pieces, the crew excavated the remaining debris. With that complete, the team started putting down the foundation.
Metal Framework
Once metal flooring was placed over the frame, it came time for Colin and his crew to start stretching metal beams across the top to create the ceiling.
Structure Was Key
Fiberglass-reinforced concrete was laid on top after the roof was in place. Colin was on a mission to make this project as sturdy as possible. This would be a DIY adventure that would live on long after he was gone.
Load Bearing Beams
They had to install load-bearing beams and wiring to help hold the weight of the concrete. The beams definitely made the entire project more complicated, but Colin wanted as much reinforcement as possible.
Slowly Coming Together
Remember that idyllic backyard? It was still there, but it was a little messy. This was when they installed ventilation pipes for what was going to be Colin's own private backyard bunker!
New Fence and Shed
Finally, it was time to reconstruct that fence and shed! One last systems check was put in place before it went into production! This shed, however, was going to have something very special installed inside.
Not As It Seems
Colin and his crew built all of the walls and roof separately, and then they raised the whole shed upright and bolted it all together. Just wait until you see the secret hiding inside...
Under The Grill
When you first walked into the shed, it looked like any old normal storage spot: lawn tools were hanging from the walls and Colin's grill was nestled in the corner. But underneath the grill was something incredible.
Hidden Door
Look! A secret handle in the rug beneath led to a hidden hatch. After weeks of major construction in Colin's backyard, he was finally ready to unveil the secret project that was through the hidden door.
Bunker Of His Dreams
It was Colin's very own private bunker! Colin knew his man cave was a success, and he sure couldn't hide his excitement. It was finally complete, and there was so much cool stuff to show off!
Doubled His Livingspace
Colin had a kitchen stocked with non-perishable food items, his very own toilet, and even a twin-sized bed in his dwelling. If Colin was ever bored of the above-ground world, he could seek solace in his underground kingdom, pig out on food, and then take a snooze.
Fully Powered
In case there was ever inclement weather that knocked out the power in his house, the generators made his bunker a welcome place to stay until electricity resumed.
Fun Final Touches
And no bunker is complete without a flat-screen TV and drum set! He had the means to watch his favorite flicks and play along to his favorite music. Colin really couldn't ask for much more than this home away from home.
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