Demolishing an Air Raid Shelter
Jo
shelter which has been used as a shed. However we have discovered that it
is damp, leaks and everything we have stored in it has got ruined. We would
like to be able to demolish it and replace it with a 'proper' shed.
Has anyone had any experience of demolishing such a sturdy structure?
Usenet Nutter
I'm tempted to say " Angle Grinder" but I won't .
What's it made of..I'm only familiar with Anderson Shelters which are
sort of corrugated Iron .
Unbeliever
Hitler, Goering and the Luftwaffe demolition company had plenty of
experience in that field a few years ago!
T i m
Without a bomber you mean? ;-)
BIL and I took their concrete shelter down a few years back and it was
mainly done with some big, electric (hired) Kango hammers and
sledgehammer, pick axe and hack saw for some of the reinforcing rods.
Took us a weekend (and a couple of replacement Kangos) but we did it.
Cheers, T i m
Usenet Nutter
Or stop a friendly passing JCB driver !!
NT
You sure you cant repair it, I'd think it could outlast a modern
replacement
NT
Steve Walker
> NT <meow...@care2.com>
> wibbled on Saturday 30 January 2010 23:59
> I was going to say "tanking"... Cellar tanking to be precise.
>
> I'm not familiar with shelters by name, except Anderson shelters. Is this a
> fully submerged concrete box, or a half submerged concrete box with a bit of
> earth on top?
>
> I must admit, I'd look at cellar tanking techniques to water proof it then
> run some insulation round inside. It could make an excellent workshop, being
> submerged it would be quiet for the neighbours. And very pikey resistant if
> you stick a solid door on it.
>
> If it is fully submerged, stick a shed on top too :)
If it's anything like the one in my grandparents' yard, it's a very solidly
built brick box, with an open doorway and a foot or more thick reinforced
concrete slab on top! After the war, they just used it as a shed, it being
far too much trouble to remove it.
SteveW
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember Steve Walker
<st...@theend.demon.co.uk> saying something like:
>If it's anything like the one in my grandparents' yard, it's a very solidly
>built brick box, with an open doorway and a foot or more thick reinforced
>concrete slab on top! After the war, they just used it as a shed, it being
>far too much trouble to remove it.
My parent's house had one in the back garden when I was a lad - dead
solid and had a blast wall as an essential part of the construction. It
was used as a shed and things in it kept quite dry, but it was an
above-ground type.
Like every other one in the neighbourhood it was kept in case another
war broke out, but looking at Google Earth, I see it's gone now.
Jo
"Jo" <J...@home.again.com> wrote in message
news:0bqdnSpBFbQbIfnW...@brightview.co.uk...
>floor is a foot lower than ground level), brick built with a flat concrete
>roof.
Andrew Gabriel
"Jo" <J...@home.again.com> writes:
> We moved house in September and our new garden houses a Levenshulme air raid
> shelter
Can't find any such thing on google.
> which has been used as a shed. However we have discovered that it
> is damp, leaks and everything we have stored in it has got ruined. We would
> like to be able to demolish it and replace it with a 'proper' shed.
> Has anyone had any experience of demolishing such a sturdy structure?
The reinforced concrete ones are notoriously difficult to demolish.
Like someone else said, fixing the problems might be a lot less
effort, and last very much longer.
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]
Andy Burns
> "Jo"<J...@home.again.com> wrote:
>
>> our new garden houses a Levenshulme air raid shelter
>
> Can't find any such thing on google.
This page has information on shelters *IN* Levenshulme
The Medway Handyman
> We moved house in September and our new garden houses a Levenshulme
> air raid shelter
Tried to google & find what it looks like, but no joy - got a picky?
--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
Dave Liquorice
> We would like to be able to demolish it and replace it with a 'proper'
> shed.
Don't let the council know, they could sling a presevation order on
it...
Personally, like most others in here, I'd look to repairing it and
keeping it. It's stood for 60 years and unless it really is falling
apart (in which case you wouldn't be asking how to demolish it) it
will be a lot of effort to remove and whatever you replace it with
won't be anything like as sturdy or long lasting.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Steve Walker
The angle of the aerial shot hides where my granparents' shelter was behind
next door's "extension" so I can't tell whether it's still there or not.
Just a quick aside, is "extension" the correct word for a kitchen (in this
case with a bathroom and bedroom on top) that sticks out like a 2/3 width
extension, but was actually built as an original part of the Victorian
terrace?
SteveW
Andy Champ
>
> Don't let the council know, they could sling a presevation order on
> it...
>
Wouldn't blame them. There are fewer and fewer of these things about,
and they are a significant part of our history.
Andy
Mike
wrote:
Perhaps the council could take it away to preserve it elsewhere ...
problem solved :-)
Mike P
Graham.
"Andy Burns" <usenet....@adslpipe.co.uk> wrote in message news:IKSdnTLtY5Y00vjW...@brightview.co.uk...
D�j� vu perhaps, but I am sure there was a mention of a Levenshulme shelter
on a Usenet group that I read 6 months or so ago. It lead me to the
same frutless search and came up with the site you mention above.
Google groups won't bring up the thread, but it's been broken for a long time.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Steve Walker
I don't know if the term Levenshulme shelter does refer to the particular
type, but the communal shelter shown under that link is similar (thinner
roofed, but larger) than the one my grandparents had in their yard. They
were in Old Trafford, which is less than four miles from Levenshulme.
SteveW
mogga
Ring local history place and get them to take it away as a
historically important monument
--
http://www.Voucherfreebies.co.uk
http://www.holidayunder100.co.uk
John
Picture (set) here
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3994.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3993.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3992.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3991.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3990.jpg
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3989.jpg
As you can see there is a wooden shed attached to the shelter
ransley
If your house leaked you would fix it
mike
> Déjà vu perhaps, but I am sure there was a mention of a Levenshulme shelter
> on a Usenet group that I read 6 months or so ago. It lead me to the
> same frutless search and came up with the site you mention above.
>
> Google groups won't bring up the thread, but it's been broken for a long time.
>
> --
> Graham.
Yeah, I thought I remembered it too (and the fruitless search).
Is this it?
or
The Google search does seem to be working again but "Levenshulme" was
spelled differently in the old thread.
Andy Dingley
> we have discovered that it
> is damp, leaks and everything we have stored in it has got ruined.
Tank it. If you buy the right materials (important!), from the right
places (important! Factor of 10 pricing difference over the local DIY
sheds), then it's quite easy to do and fairly cheap. It's probably
easier to fix it then demolish it, especially if there's any poured
concrete involved.
The only reason I'd demolish one would be because the headroom too low
to be useful and the roof was poured concrete.
dennis@home
"John" <jo...@spamercity.stallan.plus.com.nospamhereplease> wrote in message
news:Xp6dnciY8c27XvvW...@brightview.co.uk...
That doesn't look like an airaid shelter to me, just a brick built shed.
There was a concrete panel shed at my dad's, built like Smiths houses were
built, it had about 6" concrete for a roof.
Dave Liquorice
> Picture (set) here
That looks in very sound condition but I'm not convinced it's an old
air raid shelter the bricks don't look quite right for WWII and the
roof is a bit thin. ICBWT.
Fit a proper door and frame set back under the roof a little, with a
raised threshold to stop water running in. Produce some form of drip
slot or ridge along the opening to stop water running in under the
roof.
There might be a requirement for a bit of ventilation row of 1" holes
along the top of the door and an airbrick somewhere.
--
Cheers
Dave.
ARWadsworth
"dennis@home" <den...@killspam.kicks-ass.net> wrote in message
news:hk6jl5$d73$1...@news.datemas.de...
Looks more like a coal bunker to me.
Adam
Andy Dingley
wrote:
> That looks in very sound condition but I'm not convinced it's an old
> air raid shelter the bricks don't look quite right for WWII and the
> roof is a bit thin. ICBWT.
It could be half an air-raid shelter. Brick structure for structure,
then a foot of soil on top. They were built that way early on, in
urban locations with no space to dig and while bricks were still
available, before the Andersons.
Graham.
"mike" <mike...@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:c5117b84-08e1-478d...@r6g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
On Jan 31, 7:55 pm, "Graham." <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
> D�j� vu perhaps, but I am sure there was a mention of a Levenshulme shelter
Is this it?
or
That's the one, same OP.
It would be interesting to know why he refers to them as he does.
Sometimes expressions we use in everyday speech have relevance only in
our own local community, and we don't realise that.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
js.b1
the road from an aunt :-)
- Fit a close fitting door.
- Cut out a hole for window (angle grinder with diamond disc, stihl
saw).
- Cover the roof in Wickes "High Performance Acrylic Waterproofer",
code 240148.
- Get power to it for a frost-stat controlled heater or dehumidifier.
Then re-evaluate re damp, the roof is probably the problem.
- Consider tanking membrane w/ O-ring-plug the walls or if triple
brick just waterproofer
- Insulate with Seconds Celotex/Kingspan etc.
I guess you could remove the roof and put a pitched roof on it, not an
easy thing to do.
Andy Burns
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3994.jpg
I'd be looking to fix/keep that rather than demolish it, if it was mine.
Andrew Gabriel
"dennis@home" <den...@killspam.kicks-ass.net> writes:
>
> That doesn't look like an airaid shelter to me, just a brick built shed.
If it was a shed, it would have a half-brick wall, possibly with piers.
The one-and-a-half brick wall is the giveaway as an air raid shelter.
You wouldn't otherwise find that until you have 3 further storeys
supported above, or in a basement to prevent soil pressure collapse.
geoff
Liquorice <allsortsn...@howhill.com> writes
>On Mon, 1 Feb 2010 12:03:43 -0000, John wrote:
>
>> Picture (set) here
>
>That looks in very sound condition but I'm not convinced it's an old
>air raid shelter the bricks don't look quite right for WWII and the
>roof is a bit thin. ICBWT.
>
It's from the Whalley Range meat pie wars (1963-1966)
--
geoff
dennis@home
"Andrew Gabriel" <and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hk7hfo$ja5$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> In article <hk6jl5$d73$1...@news.datemas.de>,
> "dennis@home" <den...@killspam.kicks-ass.net> writes:
>>
>> That doesn't look like an airaid shelter to me, just a brick built shed.
>
> If it was a shed, it would have a half-brick wall, possibly with piers.
> The one-and-a-half brick wall is the giveaway as an air raid shelter.
> You wouldn't otherwise find that until you have 3 further storeys
> supported above, or in a basement to prevent soil pressure collapse.
>
If it were a shelter one and a half bricks wouldn't offer much protection,
maybe a coal bunker as suggested by others ?
jgharston
> > case with a bathroom and bedroom on top) that sticks out like a 2/3 width
> > extension, but was actually built as an original part of the Victorian
> > terrace?
>
Offshot.
JGH
jgharston
> Picture (set) here
Looks like the garden is a bit too high, and damp is seeping in.
In my concrete/brick shed I tanked the floor and used pallets as
a base to put a slightly higher floor on. Bone dry.
JGH
Jason
>
> Picture (set) here
>
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3994.jpg
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3993.jpg
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3992.jpg
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3991.jpg
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3990.jpg
> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3989.jpg
>
> As you can see there is a wooden shed attached to the shelter
That brickwork is gorgeous. You want to demolish it??
Jason
>
>
> "Andrew Gabriel" <and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:hk7hfo$ja5$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>> In article <hk6jl5$d73$1...@news.datemas.de>,
>> "dennis@home" <den...@killspam.kicks-ass.net> writes:
>>>
>>> That doesn't look like an airaid shelter to me, just a brick built shed.
>>
>> If it was a shed, it would have a half-brick wall, possibly with piers.
>> The one-and-a-half brick wall is the giveaway as an air raid shelter.
>> You wouldn't otherwise find that until you have 3 further storeys
>> supported above, or in a basement to prevent soil pressure collapse.
>>
>
> If it were a shelter one and a half bricks wouldn't offer much
> protection, maybe a coal bunker as suggested by others ?
They only had to make people *feel* safe.
Nightjar
>
>
> "Andrew Gabriel" <and...@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:hk7hfo$ja5$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>> In article <hk6jl5$d73$1...@news.datemas.de>,
>> "dennis@home" <den...@killspam.kicks-ass.net> writes:
>>>
>>> That doesn't look like an airaid shelter to me, just a brick built shed.
>>
>> If it was a shed, it would have a half-brick wall, possibly with piers.
>> The one-and-a-half brick wall is the giveaway as an air raid shelter.
>> You wouldn't otherwise find that until you have 3 further storeys
>> supported above, or in a basement to prevent soil pressure collapse.
>>
>
> If it were a shelter one and a half bricks wouldn't offer much
> protection, maybe a coal bunker as suggested by others ?
Domestic bomb shelters were only supposed to protect people from bomb
splinters or falling shrapnel from the AA guns. None were intended to
withstand a direct hit or even a near miss.
Colin Bignell
Frank Erskine
To me, that looks too new to be a wartime air raid shelter...
It seems to resemble the type of building used by mobile radio (not
cellphone) firms for their base stations around the 1970/80s.
:-)
--
Frank Erskine
alan.holmes
"Jo" <J...@home.again.com> wrote in message
news:0bqdnSpBFbQbIfnW...@brightview.co.uk...
> We moved house in September and our new garden houses a Levenshulme air
> raid shelter which has been used as a shed. However we have discovered
> that it is damp, leaks and everything we have stored in it has got ruined.
> We would like to be able to demolish it and replace it with a 'proper'
> shed.
> Has anyone had any experience of demolishing such a sturdy structure?
What is a Levenshulme air raid shelter?
>
>
Jules
> On Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:47:34 +0000, Jason
> <jason...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>John wrote:
>>>
>>> Picture (set) here
>>>
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3994.jpg
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3993.jpg
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3992.jpg
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3991.jpg
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3990.jpg
>>> http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p243/jstallan/Shelter/NewIMG_3989.jpg
>>>
>>> As you can see there is a wooden shed attached to the shelter
>>
>>That brickwork is gorgeous. You want to demolish it??
>
> To me, that looks too new to be a wartime air raid shelter...
The external brickwork's certainly in very good condition compared to
other wartime "military" stuff that I've seen. *Very* thin roof, too -
about half what I would have expected. But then maybe the selling point of
most shelters was the reassurance they gave, not their actual performance
(plus I've heard that a lot of military stuff was far too weedy to
withstand much except for a quite far-off blast anyway; it was generally
all a little under-engineered for the purpose)
I have seen records of small surface structures like that which lead to
much more interesting subterranean things beneath - maybe the OP should be
hacking the floor up to see if there's a sealed-up staircase underneath ;)
cheers
Jules
iawake...@gmail.com
SteveW
> I've Just spent 16 hours of my weekend having a go at one of these. Good luck! There's about 3 weekends worth of work left. We have only got as far as caving the roof in and taking down half of the entrance. That's 3 walls to go and the clear up. Reinforced concrete roof with steel bars running through the bricks all the way to the foundations. Forget kangos. Get a concrete saw and a road drill. Hit it hard with a sledge hammer. Failing that. Blow it up. You may go to prison,but at least you will have won!
SteveW
Tim Watts
--
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If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
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For a better method of access, please see:
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alan
>
--
mailto:news{at}admac(dot}myzen{dot}co{dot}uk
fred
iawake...@gmail.com writes
--
fred
it's a ba-na-na . . . .
S Viemeister
Grimly Curmudgeon
wrote:
>My grandparents had one. They kept it and used it as a shed.
some hardy souls had knocked theirs down. Rather, paid some other
hardy soul to do it. In later years I really wished for one as a dead
handy shed that could have been made utterly impregnable.
Grimly Curmudgeon
>You're replying to a post that is over 3 years old you twit, get a grip.
dochol...@gmail.com
I kept it, put a strong door on and used it as a wine store (so dampness wasn't a major problem).
The one problem there was was manoeuvring the cases of wine in since it still had a blast wall.
Rick Hughes
>
would knock them down for nothing ... not been around for a while.
Gazz
"Rick Hughes" <rick_...@remove-me.btconnect.com> wrote in message
news:YO2dnfIA9d-q1ITM...@bt.com...
Jersey (or was it Guernsey) that found a nazi air raid shelter type thing in
his garden,
main site has most photo's not showing up, and the last entry in 2009 i
believe,
Or did he find the lost gold at the back of it and has buggered off to spend
it?
Grimly Curmudgeon
>Does anyone know of an alternative site or something about that bloke in
>Jersey (or was it Guernsey) that found a nazi air raid shelter type thing in
>his garden,
>main site has most photo's not showing up, and the last entry in 2009 i
>believe,
meow...@care2.com
> I've Just spent 16 hours of my weekend having a go at one of these. Good luck! There's about 3 weekends worth of work left. We have only got as far as caving the roof in and taking down half of the entrance. That's 3 walls to go and the clear up. Reinforced concrete roof with steel bars running through the bricks all the way to the foundations. Forget kangos. Get a concrete saw and a road drill. Hit it hard with a sledge hammer. Failing that. Blow it up. You may go to prison,but at least you will have won!
PS, do prepare the site properly, and keep a safe distance.
NT
dennis@home
You need to be sure the spotters aren't telling porkies about where they
are landing if you actually want to succeed.
charles
Nottingham called "Anchor" . There are probably others.
--
From KT24
Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18
Tim Watts
How would Fred Dibnah have done it? :)
Chris Holford
<cha...@charleshope.demon.co.uk> writes
> <meow...@care2.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, February 10, 2013 10:57:29 PM UTC, iawake...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> > I've Just spent 16 hours of my weekend having a go at one of these.
>> > Good luck! There's about 3 weekends worth of work left.
>> the hardware mongers tho. Could always try ebay.
>
>better than ebay might be a military surplus store. there's a big one in
>Nottingham called "Anchor" .
>
-but can you endure endless George Formby records while you are browsing
their stock?
--
Chris Holford
Rick Hughes
> Blow it up.
isn't that exactly what they protect against
polygonum
--
Rod
John Rumm
less resistant to being blown up from the inside ;-)
--
Cheers,
John.
/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/
Andrew Mawson
news:XZWdnWNzPoHGQ5bP...@brightview.co.uk...
>On 14/08/2013 19:45, Rick Hughes wrote:
>> On 10/02/2013 23:40, alan wrote:
>>> Blow it up.
>> isn't that exactly what they protect against
>
>They protect against being blown up from the outside - they will be far
>less resistant to being blown up from the inside ;-)
>
AWEM
dennis@home
polygonum
--
Rod