Bike storage, opinions please.

Tariq

I would welcome all comments (serious sand humorous) on my plan for storing my bike. I have other storage options but this one strikes me as being neat, discreet and novel.

The plan is to make a damp-proof wooden box large enough to stand the bike in and then dig a hole in one corner of my front-drive and drop the box in, waterproof it and attach a hinged, locked lid. Once the bike is in the lid will shut flush to the ground. The perimeter of the hole will be squared off, tidied and any gaps filled in to make it look inoffensive. My bike will be easy to lift out/put back in

The labour involved in digging the hole will be carried out by a friend who owes me a (big) favour!

I welcome all opinions.

Tariq.

Nickp75

depending on the water table level where you are Waterproof box maybe a better idea.

shouldbeinbed

have you thought about internal drainage for putting a wet bike in or from the rain that'll get in whilst its open.
Will you be able to get yr bike in & out safely with solid ice on the ground.
Do you want the faff of digging it out on snowy/icy days.
How secure will it be & have you run it by your insurance provider.
Can't help think an enterprising scrote seeing where its stashed could be into and away on yr bike in a matter of seconds with a sledgehammer or pickaxe unless you reinforce the lid & have decent locking.

DrLex

Tariq wrote:

[...]I have other storage options but this one strikes me as being neat, discreet and novel.
[...]

Strikes me more as expensive, impractical and novel. In addition to the other comments, it's going to be quite awkward to lower and raise a bike from below ground level.
I can't help feeling that even if you live in a terrace house, it's got to be easier and cheaper to wheel your bike through the hall and into a locked shed at the back.

Oh, and should you proceed with your plan, I wouldn't try and make a waterproof box out of wood; better to dig a larger hole and use ply for shuttering a concrete tank. Then, once you tire of bike storage malarky, you can make a nice water feature out of it.

EssexSuffolk

In addition to the comments above, I would add that - at the depth required - you are likely to hit some pipes leading to your house. You'll also find the box fills up with water whenever it rains - water runs across the ground and will immediately fall through the edge of your lid. I'd also check what the planning office/building regs has to say about it.

tlw1

are you really planning to kill the wife & dump her in there.

This thread is obviously just a way of proving it wasn't premeditated

merkin

Any rainwater would need to be routed away from your lid. The lid would need to be strong enough to take the weight of anything that could conceivably go on top of it (people, cars etc), not just now but for the long term future which would probably rule out anything made of timber due to rot. Maybe a steel frame and some galvanised steel chequer plate Unfortunately it would be quite heavy but you may be able to overcome that with some gas struts from a car boot courtesy of a local breakers yard.Below ground is effectively under water as far as rot proofing and water ingress is concerned so shuttering and concrete is probably the best route. If you manage to make this I would imagine a d lock and an anchor on the wall of the grave would be very difficult for a thief to overcome.
If you dig the hole deeper than it needs to be and put a soakaway in it that will stop it filling with water as long as the water table is low enough. I also imagine it will get quite damp over winter unless you manage to ventilate it, not impossible with a bit of ingenuity and some plastic pipe but one more thing to consider.
I doubt that building control or planning will be too interested if it is so small (as long as you don't plan to live in it!) but I stand to be corrected. maybe check your local authority website to see examples of what they are interested in.
Good luck, let us know what you do. :idea:

ooermissus

You can use it to store wine too, though given your name, maybe you don't drink.

jimilindley

Really great idea, if you can over come the drainage issues, and avoid the utility pipes.

I'm always trying to think of innovative bike storage solutions.

But continue with that sort of thinking and you will come up with a great solution, nice to see some creative thinking on here