I got a Storey booklet on building your own root cellar. The author's plans called for digging into side of hill, pouring footings and then cinderblock construction. I was goig to follow it exactly then I realized the frost might heave the footings at the front as they would be more vulnerable due to the entrance door opening. Dirt would cover all other sides but the front. If the cellar were based on concrete & brick it could crack.
However, the soil is sand. The soil is not sandy, the soil is sand - so presumably it wouldn't be waterlogged, so maybe no frost heave. On the other hand, just to be safe I was thinking to maybe build out of wood, with wood footings, the idea being that if there was frost heave maybe the whole structure would be more forgiving, bending rather than cracking. Only problem - I hate the chemical contamination factor of treated wood. Cedar is about double the price, but does it really last longer. Any thoughts?
You're quite right not to risk the entrance heaving unless you know for sure that the sand has no drain/flow blocking somewhere under the surface .
If your door entrance is mainly an extended weather canopy to reduce water influx at that critical spot, you could just use Cedar posts/-socket blocks to support its front , even with large , leveled, floating , double patio slabs under them too.
These can be drilled and joined (loosely) with one or 2 bolt and nut with large washers . If you can find a pair of brackets which connect the posts to this kind of base, it would take a twister to lift these pads off the ground.
.... or just do it with an (elevated) metal socket bracket bolted directly to the slabs, with a bolt/nut thru the wood and the 2 opposite vertical metal tabs.
There is even a bracket out there which has a built-in level/height adjustment screw. I found one at home hardware, but havent used them yet.
If the canopy is a simple angled, flat flap, you could use HD gate-hinges to mount/hang the building end so there would be guaranteed flexibility. The roof /wall attachment- joint flashing would be flexible as well.
Without seeing the whole design, this at least gives the chance to save on an extended footing.
However, the entrance footing would still have to be below freezing level, 42-48 " depending where u are. and a good idea to include a 1-2" of rigid closed-cell foam board on the outside to have more consistency of inner temps. In such case , a canopy can be supported by angled posts back to the front wall about a foot from the top of the footings.
Any cedar which i have installed in over 40 years lasts as long as the PT , as long as it is not sitting in wet .
Further, you could dig a drain-trench and "BIG O" from the inside/under the entrance footing outwards if you have a lower place to go to, assuring constant drainage .
hope this helps a bit.... feel free to seek clarification 🙂
i built one 25 years ago, and that work very good
to keep patatos, apple ext
how deep did you build it, what building materials??
about 6 feet deep, we take some wood to built it ( pruche )
