What would you do with a Cold War era underground bunker in your back yard? - Page 3

Put a few dozen eye bolts in the walls. Can't really elaborate after that.

Rent it out to a "small" family to help with the mortgage

I lived during the 1st Cold War era when I was a youngster, maybe 3rd or 5Th grade....Not fun..All the drills at school etc.etc..A couple of our neighbors built really nice bomb shelters in their back yards. My dad hand dug a small basement under our 1st house with steel cellar doors and mom furnished it with some food/water mixes that would last...Of course flash lights, radios and plenty of batteries..etc.. What I find really interesting is I was talking to my close friend, Head Electrical Engineer (designer) who came out of retirement with his original boss and went west to UPGRADE all of our military antennas/communication systems for our top stealth bombers/satellites etc.....Anyway we were talking about the cold war with the Soviet Union and He said Duke, It's been proven that we didn't win the cold war with the Russians/ Soviet Union "We just out spent them)!!!!!  that's the sad truth.......We also talked about how China and a few other countries that are threats to us,today, who are spending, spending, big bucks (a lot of our payback loan monies from the good old USA) and letting more then half of their people starve to death/ without electricity,  no health care, in other words They don't care about their own people, (just like the Soviet Union) did back in the big cold war with us......Most of these conversations that he and I have had (he stops, and says, I can't really discuss this)...What an eye opening conversations we have had....1 more fact, It scared me because the USA is/ was the best equipped, RIGHT, for seeing (if you will) what's and who's attaching us, His answer shocked me, Not anymore duke!!!  They know of several countries who could send the big one so quick and we couldn't intervene/ destroy it before it did it's damage........So are we letting our country spend spend monies that you and I know we don't have, while many of the people here are starving living in boxes and without health care also....Now, don't get me wrong, even at 58 yrs old, I'd go and do anything I could to protect OUR GREAT USA, if called on.....This whole OP. just brought up a very scary discussion that I just had with one of the Top Dudes and the company he works for, were asked to cut their budget for this very important upgrade in our communications by, "Are you ready", 39 million dollars next yr..But, give us your same best most advanced designs but, You've got to cut your contract by 39 million Bucks.....Kind of scary.....So what kind of Bomb shelter would I build, I think I'd sit in my home and PRAY and Listen to my LPs and gather my family close by....Just something to think about!!! God Bless the Great USA and the rest of the free world, and what's FREE ANYMORE...

Is the shelter fully detached from the house, or is it accessed from within the house?

I had a buddy who was househunting a couple years ago, and hoping to find a place with a fallout shelter or speakeasy (since there were a lot of those hereabouts, back in the day), since then he could install his recording studio there and never have to worry about the noise disturbing the neighbors.

In the end, he got a nice place, but no hidden underground lair; nothing appeared on the market while he was looking.

Also - fifty grand? Holy cats. Good find.

It would make an ideal mother-in law apartment 

Oh I'd definitely make it a secret audio room. My only concern would be humidity though.

It would make a great hideout for you Headphoneus Supremus types. I voted secret clubhouse. Some of the posts here had good points--it's all fun and games until faulty electrical conks out, or until you warm it up into a little sauna with all the hubbub and have no way to clear the air. I figured general temperature regulation wouldn't be a problem--that was one of the "selling points" of these shelters, IIRC. But if it does have a ventilation shaft, that should also take care of expelling the stale air.

It sounds like a nice little project, and if I'm reading correctly between the lines, UE, you enjoy this sort of thing. Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

but is it raptor proof?