Gas is often not stored safely. A vaporized single gallon of gas cause catastrophic consequences if it ignites or explodes. People often store gas in 5-gallon cans. Cans are placed in barns, outbuildings, and garages alongside valuable equipment or stored household goods. Some people even store gas in the basement of their home in cans that are not properly sealed.
Our primary reason for constructing this gas station was to have a safe place to store fuel and provide some security from short to moderate gas supply disruptions. We also wanted to avoid unnecessary trips to town just for fuel.
Where are you located on the gas supply chain?
My husband and I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina. If there is any supply disruption in oil and gas refining in the Gulf of Mexico, our area is the last place to receive fuel. A refinery accident several years ago led to gas shortages. If you are in an area that is the last to receive critical supplies like fuel, then having a small supply at home can allow you to get to work or school until supplies stabilize. We saw a lot of people that did not have the fuel they needed to conduct business. Those with longer work commutes had a tough time.
Storing just 25 extra gallons could have made a huge difference for a lot of those people.
Here is how we put together our gas station for very little out of pocket cost—many of the supplies we had laying around from previous construction projects and tasks around the farm. I encourage you to be creative when considering what materials you use. We used sheet metal for our shed, but scrap wood, pallets, and shingles would have worked just fine too!
The Pallet Platform
We had a single pallet. My husband expanded it with treated scrap lumber left over from other projects. We wanted a large enough platform for two barrels so we could have two grades of gas. Regular for our truck, Kawasaki Mule, and walk-behind tractor and ethanol-free for our weedeaters and chainsaws.
The Shed
The framework was built around the pallets. Matt used some treated boards and a few untreated to build the framework for the roof and sides. We have been working on some barns, so we have some small pieces of metal laying around. Technically we probably needed them to finish up the barns, but one side was just the cover sheet they included when they dropped off metal. Of course, the cover sheet is a different color, but who cares. The metal is the thicker gauge normally used for the sides of industrial buildings, so the whole structure should be pretty durable over the years. The first thing that will fail is likely the pallets and lumber that the barrels are setting on. Pouring a little concrete pad and then using some lumber for air space between the barrels and the concrete would prevent that, but we just used what we had.Continue reading“How To Build a WTSHTF Gas Station, by Samantha B.”

