Oh man, those sausage rolls reminded me the really good calzone place is no longer in business.

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For the few that may be curious about the scaredy hole I had put in yesterday...

Cool tool alert. This is what a bad ass concrete saw looks like. This thing gets after it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401283601.jpg

It did not take him long to get the hole cut. He cut a few slices on one end only to break them up easily.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401283819.jpg

The back-hoe operator is a master at that thing. It was obvious he did not just watch a Home Depot video and sleep at Holiday Inn last night. He was amazing to watch. In short order the pit was empty and the trailer was full.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284177.jpg

Before the drop in

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284058.jpg

Just set it down.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284336.jpg

They have a simple bar that hold the unit in place and can hold it down or lift it up. They use wedges of wood to position the unit into the center of the hole and big C-clamps to hold the unit down so it does not float up in the concrete.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284595.jpg

Squared up, level and ready for 2.5 cubic yards of 3,500 PSI concrete.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284755.jpg
After the pour just a little smoothing. than more cleanup with a power washer, and final concrete smoothing, and bolt on the back lid. It comes off with two 9/16th bolts. if for some reason I ever wanted an inspection pit. :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1401284998.jpg

Ta-da. The handle slips into the square hole in the bottom right of the photo. It has 4 steps to get to the bottom. They are removable to give us more room once down there. There are two bench seats that run the length of the unit. Now we just need to stock it up and hope we never ever need to use it. I hope it is a total waste of time and money and we never need it, ever.

They started at 11:00 and finished ant 4:00.

Looks safer than the bath tub wearing an autocross helmet.

Likely so.

looks cool. I hope you never have to use it.

How do you get air into that pit once you're down there and hunkered down?

Byob?

The holes in the front are vents. The rear of the lid has a gap as well. It is not sealed tight. There is a come-along inside to help open the lid if debris is on top of it. It is registered with the fire department and rescue personnel. They have the GPS location and pictures of what part of the garage it is in. The city has a complete program to register every shelter in the metro area.

Do not go near it if the wife is mad at you. She will park the car on top of it.

Under normal conditions the 911 is parked over there. It will be easy to get in or out of the shelter with the 911 parked there. I really think even with the long El Camino parked there we can still access the shelter. I will find out when I pull it in.

Ever see the Mash show where they parked the jeep over the fox hole?

Glen, that pit isn't big enough, how do you expect to fit the 911 down there with you 2?

Looks good glen! My folks had a bit bigger fraidy hole put in, but they were adding on to the house at the time so it worked out nicely. Glad see the style like you got is becoming popular. Easy to add to a home and not too terribly expensive. And yes, we hope you never have to use it, but if you are like us there will be a least once a season where you go ahead and open the door and start preparing to head down, just in case. Nice having the added piece of mind though.

Lets see the North spot has the shelter, the south spot has the lift. This would work for the center spot! I could keep my 918 down there. Yea, thats the ticket. Sure.


Yep, just like the insurance I carry on the cars and the house. I have it "just in case" and I really don't want to ever need it.

Aren't those things supposed to have a small escape hatch for the varmints to run out when you jump in?

Then what would you eat while you were down there? Just be sure to take a pointy stick with you when you go! ;)

Nature comes knocking it is a surprise no warning when you live here. The only thing giving out warning signs are the volcanoes.

I do not ever worry even a little about:

Tsunamis, (600 miles to the closest ocean)
Hurricanes, (we usually get a nice heavy rain if the remains of the hurricane gets here)
Volcanoes, (none around here at all)
Mountain slides or hill slides. (Ya gotta have a mountains or large hills)
Forest fires. (we do get grass and brush fires but there is no forest around OKC)
LA or Watts type race riots.
Damaging earthquakes are very very low risk.
Flash Floods. (The low lying areas sometimes have floods but not in my part of town)

I do pay attention to the weather. I have several redundant sources for weather warnings. Tornadoes pretty much can't sneak up on the metro. In the rural areas it is possible to have very little warning if you are not weather savvy.