( lively string music ) [ Walt builds a FAMILY FALLOUT SHELTER ] [ A HOW-TO-DO-IT PROJECT ] [ Presented by NATIONAL CONCRETE MASONRY Association ] [ Technical Assistance by OFFICE of CIVIL
and DEFENSE MOBILIZATION ] ( music fades ) Well folks, I'm glad you could come down
to see my fallout shelter. Just finished painting it last night. Looks like a nice job Walt! You know this shelter is a real good idea. If we should ever have a nuclear war
we could get a heavy fallout even though we were not anywheres near the target area. So, Ruth and I got to thinking about it and we figured we'd rather be prepared than sorry. You know Walt, this gives me an idea. Remember
I was thinking about building a dark room in my
basement? There's no reason why I couldn't use it for that too! This would make a perfect darkroom, as well as a fallout shelter. Come on in, see the inside. Say, isn't this nice? Well so Ruth and I certainly can live in here very
comfortably for at least two weeks. And you know this room can be put to other uses as well. Yes Walt, you could use this as an extra
bedroom for company. Yes, and when those grandchildren come in here,
it would be a great place to put them. You certainly have this well stocked, radio,
extra batteries, fire extinguisher. Yeah, that's right, and you know, besides being a
fallout shelter, it's a good place to be during a tornado. Walt, you've done a real good job. Walt, how long did it take you to build your shelter? Not so long, I spent a few
evenings and a couple of weekends,
it's really not so hard to build. Anybody, who isn't all thumbs can do it. I'd like to know how you went about it,
wouldn't you Helen? We'll listen; go ahead Walt. Well, here's a way anybody can do just what I
have done. To begin with, the best way to build anything is the right way. So I got this bulletin. It's the official bulletin put out
by the Office of Civil and Defense
Mobilization called the family fallout shelter. Another book that is available from the National Concrete Masonry Association. Both can be obtained from your local civil defense office, or the local concrete block producer. Now my first suggestion to you would be to get these bulletins. Get these bulletins and study them, because in it there are various types of fallout shelters, not only the basement fallout shelter but also others. Now, once you have that, then I would suggest that you and the family go down into the basement and decide on just where you're going to build that basement fallout shelter. Now I decided to put it in this corner. Once that is decided, then the next thing I did, I drew these lines on the floor, because these lines show me exactly where the walls are to be. Before laying the blocks of the wall along these lines that I have laid out here it's necessary that we check the floor to see whether it's level. You see it may be higher on one end or the other. Make or get a straight edge. Now a straight edge, we must have one edge absolutely straight, and the other edge must be parallel to this edge, that is it must be just as wide all the way along. Now this can be a 1x4 or a 1x6, just so that it's perfectly straight and the sides parallel. Now lay the straight edge along the place where you're going to have the wall. Now if it should rock, that means that it's high in the center. Now if it is high in the center, you really can't make a good check, so take two blocks, they must be of the same thickness though. Put one under this end, and the other one, under the other end. Now you can put your level on the straight edge any place along the way. Now if it isn't level, that means that you have to raise up one end or the other end until it is perfectly level. Then you can see what the difference might be. Now if that difference isn't too great, you can make up that difference with a first layer of mortar under the first course of concrete blocks. This is a heavyweight 4x8x16 solid concrete block. And they're readily available. Thick heavy walls and ceiling protect against radiation, the thicker the better. Concrete blocks therefore are very well suited for this type of construction. Now in laying a wall you know the mason always starts by laying one block over here and the other block, in other words he builds up the corners first. In order that we know just exactly where to place this first block, since we must start here, we will have to lay out this wall dry, that is without mortar. Now you may wonder why we have scored this, well I'll tell you. We have removed the paint so that when we bring this wall up against here there will be a good bond and this scoring helps to make a good bond. You have to have a piece of wood that's 3/8" thick because you see 3/8s is the exact thickness of the mortar joint between the blocks. Put the block down, put the board in there, another block, put the board in between, but be careful when you slide it up that you don't bang it because if you do, you know you're gonna move the block and then by the time you get over there you're gonna be way out. Now this is the block we were looking for. To know exactly where this block is to come. Now when we've laid out this wall you'll notice that we are supposed to stop here. Why? Because we have a doorway coming in. Now this last portion of it is only part of a block. Now we laid the wall out so that we would have a half a block, that makes it simpler. You see in laying a half a block here, the next block will be a full block, in other words you see we'll be breaking joint. That's the proper way to lay a wall. Now if you have to cut a block, the thing to do is to square a line all the way around and then score it like I have scored it here, but in scoring it the first time, or maybe even the second time, be sure that you do it very lightly, because if you hit too hard you may find it'll crack the block in the wrong place. Now if you wear glasses like I do, that may be alright, but if you don't, I would advise that you get some safety glasses or the goggles to wear because when these particles spit out you know they may injure your eye. Now we can hit it a little heavier. See how nice that broke? Now we put this in here, and we should have the smooth side out, the rough side against the join, and then we'll space it here. Now we're all ready. That completes our wall on this end. I'm using this story pole to mark the height of each course of the wall that we're going to build where it meets the main wall. Now a story pole is a 1x2 and you notice I've drawn lines on here. Now these lines represent the thickness of the mortar, the thickness of the block, mortar, block and so on, all the way up. In preparing the mortar to lay the blocks I'm using a prepared mortar mix. It has everything in it including the sand. You'll notice I have a nice little mortar box which is very easy to make but you can also mix it in a wheelbarrow. In adding the water, be sure that you don't add too much to begin with. because if you aren't careful, you'll get too sloppy a mix. After the mortar is mixed, it's well to put it on a mortar board, it's so much easier to pick it up. Now here's a little trick that I learned from a mason friend. Shape your mortar like this, bring the trowel underneath, and then slowly turn it. And that way you can lay a nice ribbon, see? Now it's well for you to practice this just a little so that you can lay a ribbon of mortar down that way, when you start laying the blocks. The first block we want to lay would be the one in the corner. We must lay these aside. Now be sure that you put plenty of mortar down for the first course, and as far as that's concerned for every course. For the simple reason that it's very important you fill these joints well with mortar. When you lay the block right on top, you notice this line extending over here? This line extending there? Now I can't see the line in here but I made this extension so I can line up my block, you see I settle it down and squeeze out the mortar. Be sure to make a full mortar joint for every course so that the wall will be as dense as possible to protect you from radiation. Now you see that story pole comes into play? Now it's still a little high, and I can lower it with a trowel, and I level it with a level. Now it's still a little high out here. Now try and get this first one perfectly level. Then pick up this mortar. Then we want to add a little mortar on the end of the block, because again here we want to make sure that we get a full mortar joint. Now start squeezing down a little, otherwise it's apt to drop when we set it down. Now set this block about an inch away from this other block. Settle it down a little and then push, see. By pushing it this way you're filling that joint. Now let's get it down to where we want it. See with all this mortar oozing out we're sure to get a nice tight well built shelter. Maybe I'd better check. To see whether we're level, no we've gotta go down a little here. Also check to see that we're in line. All the way along. And of course watch this line. Again that line is ahead of our block so that we know just where we could lay the block in order that it's in line. Now we have to squeeze this a little more. So we can bring that right up to the 3/8ths inch joint. Our next block will be on the corner. See that will then bridge over this joint here. Beautiful joint. Now we'll take this block, lay it on here very carefully, and here's where we're going to use that story pole. Bringing it down to the line. And checking it with our trowel, or with our level I should say, so that it's plumb this way, and level both ways. With this block laid in position in a full bed of mortar, tight against the basement wall and along the line that we have laid out, we're now ready to complete this first course. But first we should put up a line. Now this line serves two purposes. One purpose is to keep the blocks in straight line, also to keep it of the same height, that is level. Be sure that you pull the line reasonably tight and have it right along the edge of the block here as well as over on that side. So we begin laying our blocks here, continue down to the other end. When I lay the second course I left these openings. Now these openings are made by using a half a block and laying it directly over the joint below. Now when I lay the third course you see it'll leave an opening here which is a vent. Just as described in the fallout shelter booklet. After building up a section of the wall, and the mortar begins to firm up, then it's time to tool the joints. Now tooling the joints serves two purposes. One is to make a nice looking job, and the other is to firm the mortar tight against the blocks. I made a tool out of a piece of half inch conduit. You notice the end is bent up slightly here? Also bent up here and then down to make a handle. Since we need protection from radiation from overhead as well as from the sides I'm now gonna build the supports for the ceiling of the shelter. Now a ceiling is supported by joists, and these joists in turn are supported by posts bolted to the wall. I have already drawn lines around the wall to show exactly what the height of these posts would be. Now you will notice that the line on this side is about 4 inches lower than on the side. In other words we're going to have a 4x4 beam over the top of these posts but we will not need it on this side. Since this is a hollow concrete block wall, I'm going to use a toggle bolt. The post should be divided along this wall, the spacing of the post, and I'm going to put one bolt about here, and another one about here. Then I'm gonna bore holes for the bolt. I have already drilled the hole in that wall for the toggle bolt. To locate that hole you put the bolt through the post, set the post in the exact location where you want the hole, and then tap it lightly. Not too hard because it may spoil the thread on the bolt. Then you use the star drill to drill a hole through and possibly open it up a little, large enough for the toggle to pass through. Put the toggle onto the bolt and run the bolt just through the toggle, just so it comes out on the other side. Then you bring it in position, squeeze it together, and let it go through. Pull it back. Now before you tighten this, put the toggle into the bottom hole in the same way. And then you start tightening this up, pulling the post back just a little so that the wings back there won't flip around. Now that I have all the posts securely in place, I'll place this beam on top of these posts. It will support the joists on this end and the shelter wall will support the joists on the other end. One nail from that side, and two from underneath. Don't forget to make a shove joint, so that you have a full joint of mortar. Now here's another trick that'll be of help to you. This straight edge that I used at the beginning will be a great help to you to line up these blocks so that they'll be perfectly straight. I'm getting along real well with my fallout shelter wall, but if you feel that you need some help why don't you get a mason to assist you. I'm in the process of putting up the joists and it's necessary to put bracing between the joists to keep them from tipping. Now it's also necessary to toenail the joists into the beam on both sides. Now that the ceiling joists are in place I can put up the ceiling boards. It's well not to put up too many boards because if you have to lay these concrete blocks in place. You see you need two layers of concrete block. One laid in this direction and the other laid in the opposite direction. You don't need mortar for this, just lay them up dry and as tightly together as you can get them. Before completing the walls, it's necessary to lay all of the ceiling blocks, otherwise afterward you wouldn't be able to get in. Well this finishes my fallout shelter. Notice this baffle wall which covers the opening. Now it'd be a good thing you know if you would get your larger pieces of furniture such as the bunks and possibly table in there before you build that wall, otherwise you may have a hard time to get them in afterwards. Now you don't really have to paint the walls but my wife thought it'd be nice if I did, so maybe I'd better get busy and finish it right now. Folks, here is a message from the honorable Leo A Hoegh, Director of the Office of Civil and Defence Mobilization. You've just seen how Walt has built a family fallout shelter in his own home. I have a shelter in my home. It offers my family good protection in case of a nuclear attack. It also serves a dual purpose, a spare bedroom. We know from tests and from study and from research that the single best action for the protection of the greatest number of people in case of a nuclear attack is a family fallout shelter. May I therefore urge that you build a shelter in your home. By doing so you not only protect your family. But also you contribute to the nation's security. You add to another strong deterrent to war. We recognize that you need additional information and for that reason may I ask that you contact your local civil defence office and obtain additional information, or contact your local concrete block manufacturer for plans and information. No home in America is modern without a family fallout shelter. This is the nuclear age. (music)
