# A man's home is his castle - or Bug In



## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

What modifications have you made to your home to prep it for bugging in or sheltering in place?
What would your top 10 list be if you were building a new home?

Pic's help this thread - post'em if you got em!


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

If I was building another home today I would go mostly above ground earth covered. Like an underground home but above normal ground level.
For many reasons . With todays building materials you can do it right where moisture is not an issue. If do right the home would be easy to keep warm and cool.
I would have a few exits and some good windows. A root cellar is a must. I would go with in floor heat wood stoves can make hot water, it would not be hard to refit it to work. I had wanted to do this when we built this house 14 years ago but did not happen.
My current home I did make the basement useable with out side entrance. A large room was built into it with 5 inch pour concert 1/2 steel then 5 more inches concert. It is will withstand anything.
As for security I am out side town a long ways with a large buffer zone so I am not concerned about that to much.
I have considered expanding the underground part some more.
1. Location away form the city .
2.above ground earth home 18 inches of dirt will stop most rounds 
3. floor heat with wood stove hook up .
4. well insulated 
5.Passive type tube sky lights
6. entrance/exits 360 degrees
7.built in fire suppression system
8. One set of large doors so you could drive right in id need be
9. room for the bikes (Have that now)
10. Back up wood heat installed just in case .


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## 9UC (Dec 21, 2012)

Smitty901 said:


> If I was building another home today I would go mostly above ground earth covered. Like an underground home but above normal ground level. For many reasons . With todays building materials you can do it right where moisture is not an issue. If do right the home would be easy to keep warm and cool. I would have a few exits and some good windows. A root cellar is a must. I would go with in floor heat wood stoves can make hot water, it would not be hard to refit it to work. I had wanted to do this when we built this house 14 years ago but did not happen. My current home I did make the basement useable with out side entrance. A large room was built into it with 5 inch pour concert 1/2 steel then 5 more inches concert. It is will withstand anything. As for security I am out side town a long ways with a large buffer zone so I am not concerned about that to much. I have considered expanding the underground part some more.










Have thought along the same lines, using both above and below ground using shipping containers, and enough property to put in some veggies. When I was younger and still in the service, I told people that my dream was 40 acres with a small house on a hill roughly in the middle of the property with a GAU 8 Avenger mounted on top and a good "castle law" to protect me defending the wife and I. Oh well, I ended up with a town house too darn close to the city, the local gang bangers and a single shot break over 22 short rounder.

Ok, I'm pulling your leg on the last sentence other than the town house that's too close to the city and gang bangere, but we do continue to look for a better property.


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## Anthony (Dec 27, 2012)

Top ten list? i dont think i could come up with that right now cause ive never thought of it.
But top two would be hidden room and then solar power





-Anthony


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Big thing to keep in mind is it needs to fit both prepping needs and still be a home, that will serve you will no madder what.


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## Southern Dad (Nov 26, 2012)

The home I bought was a foreclosure. It is a 1998 (28' X 70') modular on a basement, at the very back of the subdivision, in the last cul-de-sac.

Changes that I've made to the property...

Both outside doors replaced with steel doors and solid locks
Installed Night Owl camera system
Installed alarm system
Removed all bushes and shrubs from front of house
12' Privacy fence (8' Panel with 4' Lattice on top) on back yard

As I've been renovating a couple of things have been looked at. Since one bedroom is now used as a home office, I've considered cutting the closet size down by half and making that a small (4' X 4') hidden room that could be entered either from the office closet or from my DD10's closet. I've also considered putting a trapdoor in the floor that would allow access to the unfinished basement.


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## Alpha-17 (Nov 16, 2012)

On entrances/exits. I can understand wanting to have one in every direction, but you must always remember that an exit for you, can be an entrance for the bad guys, and thus something you will need to keep an eye on. Windows are a weak spot as well, but most criminals (and the military for that matter) prefer to use doors over breaking a window to enter.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

No madder what or how you build
1. If a marriage lives through building a house it can take anything
2.The garage is not big enough make it bigger
3. You don't need to spend half the budget on the kitchen
4. Those kids will grow up and move someday you don't need so many rooms
5. Single floor homes are better when you get older
6. Those lower cost floors look great but will not last a life time like good tile work no carpet last for ever.
7. Steel roofs are worth a little more, you'll thank me in 20 years.
8. Build your man cave now of it will be 20 years before you get another chance by then the roof will be shot if you did not go steel. And the kids college bills are now due
9. You going to blow the budget by 10%
10. Experts are really clever sales man and they know how to temp everyone.

It is not your castle it is her domain you just get to live there.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Rain catch system & large water filtration system.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

mods to my current home? 

Mainly yard. I've been replacing ornamental plants with fruit trees, and making a garden area. It won't be pumping out thousands of pounds of produce, but it's something to help keep supplies up.

I've also been experimenting with rain water collection. Without going into too much detail, collecting it is easy. Storing it seems to be another issue....

If I were to be building a new house, I would go metal roof as mentioned before. I have 2 metal awnings on my house, the rest is tar paper, and coating. I'm worried about contamination. I'm about to put blocks on the roof to re-route the water to another gutter that will just dump to the yard...ok enough rambling..

As for the inside, I would definately have a hidden area for hiding valuables and such. I would also look at incorporating water holding tanks somewhere for storage. Colect rainwater, and have it routed into the tanks INSIDE the house out of site. You COULD get picked off while getting water from outside.

Also have skylights. I'm thinking of putting one in my bathroom. In a SHTF situation, I could hang a camp shower up there to warm up, then take a shower in the comfort of my own home. I would also put skylights in the main rooms. MUST HAVE A WAY TO COVER THEM. I'm going to have the windows covered at night, so noone sees my lights, even if they're from lanterns, and skylights might be a give away too. So find a way to have a cover you can use from the inside

Also, metal doors, solid locks, better insulation, wood burning stove...just some things I've been thinking about....


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## WoadWarrior (Oct 10, 2012)

I heard that over 80% of accidents occur within 20 miles of your home... so I'm thinking about moving to a safer location. 

Sorry... I just had to do it... really... I had to. :evil:


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## GraywolfSurvival (Jan 1, 2013)

I'd put some kind of hidden cache area on your property, even if you have to plaster it into your walls. If someone breaks into your house or confiscates it for a while, you'll lose everything you didn't carry with you.


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