Liberal use of shelves will enhance the storage capacity of your cellar considerably. There is less chance of flooding during very wet conditions Your cellar can be graded so any water that should run or seep in will run out the door. Can be much more difficult to excavate. Build your root cellar on flat ground. You can build a vertical door around a staircase if you don t want to be shoveling snow to get at a horizontal door.
Many older houses have a section of the basement that has an earthen floor.
It s primary reason was probably for vegetable storage. Dig a cellar next to the house with an entry way to your cellar through the basement. Put your cellar in an existing underground structure such as a pump house. In a very damp or very dry area you will want to put down three inches of gravel. If your cellar is unusually wet, you may want to even dig a sump in the middle of your cellar floor and fill this with gravel, along with the three inches on the floor.