Abandoned Missile Silos Just Went Up In Value

[TheMastersNemesis]

There was a story about a fellow who bought one of our defunct Minuteman missile silos in Kansas a few years back and turned it into a nice home. His huge garage door had 90 ton sliding doors. And he had a nice pad where the crew used to sleep and work. I think that if I were in some of these tornado zones I would like to have one. Or at least I might want to build a house underground. The damaging storms are becoming too common.

[ohheckyeah]

1. I've been in an abandoned

missile silo....I posted a photo of it in one of the photography contests for stairs.

It was a very eerie feeling knowing I was standing in an area where a nuclear missile had been housed. I don't think I would want to live in one.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I used to cruise around the ocean with nukes

Amazing what human beings can come to accept as mundane. The passage through the nuke reactor compartment was a bit worrisome at first, but I even got over my initial concern over rads to my 'nads.

[ohheckyeah]

10. It looks like it would take a lot

of work to get natural light into the one I was in. I'm sure someone could eventually get used to it and never think about what it was originally used for - I just don't think I would like living underground.

I have a friend whose husband was on a nuke submarine - the submarine part would bother me more than the nuke part.

[Cirque du So-What]

12. Yes, it did take a toll

I'm not in the least claustrophobic, but it definitely had an effect on my normally good nature. By the end of patrol, I was always irritable and occasionally confrontational.

[ohheckyeah]

15. That's not too bad-

being irritable and confrontational. I would be stark raving bonkers.

[DURHAM D]

2. I was in one years ago.

It was creepy.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. An invulernable fortress

built with millions in public funds, subsequently sold to some rich fuck for use as a private shelter for his family and chosen minions. Nice. There are salt mines in Kansas too, which are cavernous enough to accommodate thousands of people underground. I've wondered why some of these haven't been developed as emergency shelters instead of being sold or rented as warehouse space.

[XemaSab]

6. A lot of them aren't as expensive as you might think

I've seen them for under 500K, which is cheaper than real estate in a lot of California.

[csziggy]

13. Yeah, but the commute would be a PITA!

[TheMightyFavog]

18. But are the ones under 500K fit to live in?

I heard a lot of those old silos are very serious fixer-uppers.

[HooptieWagon]

5. An underground home has the potential to be very energy efficient.

[newfie11]

7. someone had one for sale in Eastern NE

about 6 years ago for 2 million. It had been turned into a house. I thought it was a joke at the time but guess not. Don't know if he sold it. Whomever has it probably slept well last night.

[trumad]

8. .

[kemah]

9. Off Topic But My Friend Bought An Old Elementary School.

His kitchen was the school cafeteria, his game room was the gym, and he had plenty of empty bedrooms.
His living room was the main office. How cool is that?

[Motown_Johnny]

11. What are the heating and cooling bills in something like that?

I know some people who converted an old one room school house into a cottage (with a loft) but nothing like that.

[TheMightyFavog]

19. I grew up in a converted one room schoolhouse...

The book cabinets are still there along with the original blackboard. Heck until my parents remodeled the kitchen when I was in college, it even had the original bubbler!

[jtuck004]

14. I was born and lived in Oklahoma City for most of 50+ years,

then moved to Eastern WA, (where, ironically, basements seem more common than in Oklahoma, probably because of the hills and mountains), have been through many tornadoes. Just for the record NOAA says the frequency is only greater for the EF0 and EF1, not the big ones. Better reporting and tens of thousands of homes being built in the historical paths make it look like it is worse. I remember one big one going through Moore, OK when I was a kid, just tore up mostly unoccupied fields and woods. same place a few years later it was on the ground for miles and killed 40+ people, as I remember.

NOAA and historical records here.

And, frankly, you may well go decades without ever seeing something this big, so most people don't bother. With the better reporting and alert radios of today it's pretty easy to find other shelters (though mostly people wait until too late to make the decision).

Still scary, sometimes

[jeff47]

25. Off topic: Basements usually come with a frost line.

Basements are common in cold climates because the house's foundation has to be deeper to get below the frost line. When you're already digging down 6 feet for the foundation, it's not that expensive to dig another 2 feet.

In warm climates, foundations are much shallower, about 2-4 feet. Adding a basement to that is very expensive.

According to the intertubez, the frost line in OK is less than a foot, so you'd expect shallow foundations and basements to be an expensive addition.

[malthaussen]

16. What's the radiation count on one of those things?

I've never seen it mentioned, so either a) it is inconsequential, or b) they don't wanna talk about it.

-- Mal

[Javaman]

17. The biggest issue with living or using old silos is...

condensation and or flooding.

Make sure you have a good pump and a dehumidifier.

[11 Bravo]

20. Here's the Kansas home. It actually looks like one Hell of a nice house!

[yellowcanine]

21. Topsail Island NC has these old WWII Observation towers

Some have been made into houses, presumably hurricane proof.

[yellowcanine]

23. Here is one made into a private home. Not exactly Frank Loyd Wright but cozy in a storm no doubt.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. The reality show "doomsday preppers" a couple of the segments featured folks living in them

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

24. If you have $1.8 million, while not exactly in a tornado area...

...this former base has a lot of the work done.



It does include a functioning runway.

Check it out at http://www.silohome.com/.