netpressions follows the My Self-Reliance YouTube Channel. The Building an Underground Root Cellar with Burnt Timbers series is one of my favorite video series on the channel, so I created a separate post just for this series.
I will add videos to this page as Shawn James makes progress on his root cellar. In the YouTube video comments, many have asked why Shawn chars the wood before building sections of his cellar.
In the video description, Shawn states that “burning the wood makes it more resistant to decay from moisture and insects.”
I also looked up the phrase “Shou Sugi Ban” on the internet, and, according to charredwood.com, Shou-Sugi-Ban literally translates to “burnt cedar board”, and, according to Wikipedia, Yakisugi is a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation.
The real beauty in the videos, however, is watching Shawn’s woodworking craftsmanship, while incorporating this wood preservation process into his root cellar build. The nature scenery Shawn includes also gives his videos a relaxing quality that is reflected in the videos on this page.
You can view more of Shawn’s woodworking craftsmanship on his My Self-Reliance YouTube channel. You can also view a time-lapse of his one-man cabin build, and other videos, on this site.
