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Safe room in new house?

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jpb1999
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2:16p, 1/16/17
AG
I remember reading a thread a while back that had recs or links to someone that builds or installs safe room doors, but can't find it now. I did a search and found another thread about safe rooms but centered around a pier and beam house, while mine would be on slab. Can anyone link me to it or have recs on safe room doors or safe rooms in general?

At this point not sure what the end product will be... maybe just a hidden door/room with gun safe in it, reinforced room of some sort with entry key pad, or a prefab box sat in place and bolted down... trying to weigh all options at this point.

Goal is multipurpose to store a few survival supplies, guns and ammo, and protection from bad weather for a family of four.

Any help or recs would be muchly appreciate!!
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MonkeyKnifeFighter
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2:23p, 1/16/17
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Aggietaco
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2:27p, 1/16/17
AG
There were some good threads on safe rooms over at Arfcom that you might search for. If I were building, I absolutely would build a reinforced room with a safe door versus buying a new safe, especially if you are in a storm prevalent area. Most of the big safe names also make vault doors.
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Texmid
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2:41p, 1/16/17
AG
The next house I build will have a basement that is as large as the first floor. It will be divided into two parts that are completely separated by a thick concrete wall. The main basement area will be a game room, bar, and theatre. The other part, located directly below the master bedroom will be a safe room and valuables storage area. To enter the safe room you would have to go through the master closet and find the hidden door.
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sjislepilot
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2:48p, 1/16/17
AG
That sounds pretty sweet.
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$240 Worth of Pudding
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In reply to Texmid • 3:06p, 1/16/17
AG
Texmid said:
The next house I build will have a basement that is as large as the first floor. It will be divided into two parts that are completely separated by a thick concrete wall. The main basement area will be a game room, bar, and theatre. The other part, located directly below the master bedroom will be a safe room and valuables storage area. To enter the safe room you would have to go through the master closet and find the hidden door.

You forgot the revolving bookshelf that Shaggy keeps going round and round on while Scooby is opening drawers looking for snacks.
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metrag06
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3:08p, 1/16/17
AG
FEMA has plans available online for either building or reinforcing a closet as a safe room or shelter. On mobile otherwise I'd try to find them.
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Credible Source
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In reply to $240 Worth of Pudding • 4:20p, 1/16/17
AG
Gota De Limon said:
Texmid said:
The next house I build will have a basement that is as large as the first floor. It will be divided into two parts that are completely separated by a thick concrete wall. The main basement area will be a game room, bar, and theatre. The other part, located directly below the master bedroom will be a safe room and valuables storage area. To enter the safe room you would have to go through the master closet and find the hidden door.

You forgot the revolving bookshelf that Shaggy keeps going round and round on while Scooby is opening drawers looking for snacks.
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Wrighty
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5:08p, 1/16/17
AG
1 year ago, there were significant tornadoes in my area. The area near me was hit directly by an F3 or F4 tornado, which completely leveled houses. A picture from just down the road is below (the leveled houses), and a picture of 2 houses down (the lawn chair implanted in the wall).

Based on that tornado, I took it upon myself to build a FEMA 320 tornado shelter inside my house. FEMA 320 is the document that summarizes all the research done by FEMA and the Texas Tech Wind Lab, about what structures will survive an F5 tornado. In an F5 tornado, wind speeds will approach 250 mph, and debris within that wind speed will fly at up to 100 mph. In the FEMA and Texas Tech testing, they figured out that a 2x4, 8ft long, traveling at 100 mph, is a pretty good test. The structures specified within FEMA 320 will withstand the 2x4 going 100 mph as well as the structural wind load of 200mph+. One of the structures consisted of (3) layers of 3/4" plywood as well as a layer of 14 gauge sheet metal everywhere, which is what I built.

The FEMA 320 link is here:
FEMA 320

I built the structure inside of an existing closet. Now that i have built it, it jumps out that it is just as much of a safe-from-bad-guy room as it is a tornado room. The door weighs over 300 lb, and consists of several layers of 3/4" plywood as well as two layers of 14 gauge metal. Calling it solid is an understatement.

Some pictures documenting the process are below. The pictures don't show the carpet and closet shelving re-installed as final product.

The peace of mind for my kids and wife with the safe room at home, is priceless.

The sad thing, is now that I have finished the building process, I am about to list my house for sale.




















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coyote68
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5:16p, 1/16/17
Fresh air supply??
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Wrighty
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5:21p, 1/16/17
AG
There is a 1/4" gap around door on 3 sides.
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Yesterday
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6:35p, 1/16/17
AG
My fear of a safe room is the house collapsing around it and trapping you in there. I guess if that happened it would have worked.
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SharkinAg
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7:04p, 1/16/17
AG
Or a fire...
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Wrighty
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In reply to Yesterday • 7:06p, 1/16/17
AG

From experience, in the immediate aftermath of a tornado there will be emergency crews (and good neighbors) checking and clearing every house.

Besides that, have a strong door that opens in + large pry bar inside.
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Neches21
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8:11p, 1/16/17
You can also register your safe room or shelter with FEMA (and I believe even some local first responders) so they know where to look.
I'm a fan of shelters. There are pre-manufactured options that fit in a garage that could be moved from house to house
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Oogway
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8:39p, 1/16/17
That was some hard work you did there! I get what you mean about peace of mind though. I was nine when a tornado hit our neighborhood and then as an adult was living just south of Moore, Ok when it got hit with an F-5. That day was scary with storms popping up all over the place. We've sinced moved, but if we hadn't, your safe room seems pretty stout and just the thing for tornado alley.

Too bad you will be selling after finishing it; I hope your lil helper (w/ the boots) is excited about the move--it is always an adventure!
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MechAg
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7:04a, 1/17/17
AG
In our new house we're doing a small room w/ CMU walls, filled w/ steel/concrete & a 13" poured in place concrete ceiling. Will have ac supply & return ducted to it as well.
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metrag06
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In reply to Yesterday • 7:25a, 1/17/17
AG
In most places you register it with the EMs or Fire Department so they'll know to look for it (you) afterwards.

Worst case, I'll let you out when I'm doing the damage survey the next day.
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CE Lounge Lizzard
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In reply to $240 Worth of Pudding • 7:36a, 1/17/17
AG
Gota De Limon said:
Texmid said:
The next house I build will have a basement that is as large as the first floor. It will be divided into two parts that are completely separated by a thick concrete wall. The main basement area will be a game room, bar, and theatre. The other part, located directly below the master bedroom will be a safe room and valuables storage area. To enter the safe room you would have to go through the master closet and find the hidden door.

You forgot the revolving bookshelf that Shaggy keeps going round and round on while Scooby is opening drawers looking for snacks.


put zee candle beck.
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FiTxAg04
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In reply to Wrighty • 7:41a, 1/17/17
AG
Wow, the amount of fasteners! I hope you had an extra battery for your drill/driver.

Thanks for posting; fascinating.
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Agmechanic
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7:58a, 1/17/17
AG
My parents' master closet is a concrete-wallled room. They formed it up and poured it before the framing went in. They used a standard solid core steel exterior door and unless you really look, you would never know.
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Bazooka Joe
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8:40a, 1/17/17
AG
This is a safe room builder in East tx. I believe he can build the room inside s new construction home or add on to an existing house. May be what you're looking for.

http://www.foreversafeshelters.com
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FrontPorchAg
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In reply to SharkinAg • 11:15a, 1/17/17
SharkinAg said:
Or a fire...
See Ambassador Stevens. We have a 6ft tall crawl space under our master bedroom I would like to reinforce. But it has an exit to the outside of the house when it isn't buried in snow.
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FrontPorchAg
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In reply to Neches21 • 11:16a, 1/17/17
Neches21 said:
You can also register your safe room or shelter with FEMA (and I believe even some local first responders) so they know where to look.
I'm a fan of shelters. There are pre-manufactured options that fit in a garage that could be moved from house to house
It will go on a list on a computer somewhere and forgot about until about five days after the tornado.
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Neches21
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1:11p, 1/17/17
Quote:
It will go on a list on a computer somewhere and forgot about until about five days after the tornado.
You're right. It would be best not to tell anyone about your shelter....
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eric76
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In reply to jpb1999 • 4:09p, 1/17/17
AG
jpb1999 said:
I remember reading a thread a while back that had recs or links to someone that builds or installs safe room doors, but can't find it now. I did a search and found another thread about safe rooms but centered around a pier and beam house, while mine would be on slab. Can anyone link me to it or have recs on safe room doors or safe rooms in general?

At this point not sure what the end product will be... maybe just a hidden door/room with gun safe in it, reinforced room of some sort with entry key pad, or a prefab box sat in place and bolted down... trying to weigh all options at this point.

Goal is multipurpose to store a few survival supplies, guns and ammo, and protection from bad weather for a family of four.

Any help or recs would be muchly appreciate!!


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MasterAggie
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6:09p, 1/17/17
AG
Quote:

You forgot the revolving bookshelf that Shaggy keeps going round and round on while Scooby is opening drawers looking for snacks.
A buddy of mine has a cousin who something similar in his "weekend getaway house". There is a button behind one of the books that slides the bookcase out revealing a hidden door that goes into a basement that has his reloading presses gun safes survival crap and its own power and air supply. Pretty bad ass.
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Skillet Shot
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In reply to Wrighty • 7:00a, 8/3/20
Wrighty said:
1 year ago, there were significant tornadoes in my area. The area near me was hit directly by an F3 or F4 tornado, which completely leveled houses. A picture from just down the road is below (the leveled houses), and a picture of 2 houses down (the lawn chair implanted in the wall).

Based on that tornado, I took it upon myself to build a FEMA 320 tornado shelter inside my house. FEMA 320 is the document that summarizes all the research done by FEMA and the Texas Tech Wind Lab, about what structures will survive an F5 tornado. In an F5 tornado, wind speeds will approach 250 mph, and debris within that wind speed will fly at up to 100 mph. In the FEMA and Texas Tech testing, they figured out that a 2x4, 8ft long, traveling at 100 mph, is a pretty good test. The structures specified within FEMA 320 will withstand the 2x4 going 100 mph as well as the structural wind load of 200mph+. One of the structures consisted of (3) layers of 3/4" plywood as well as a layer of 14 gauge sheet metal everywhere, which is what I built.

The FEMA 320 link is here:
FEMA 320

I built the structure inside of an existing closet. Now that i have built it, it jumps out that it is just as much of a safe-from-bad-guy room as it is a tornado room. The door weighs over 300 lb, and consists of several layers of 3/4" plywood as well as two layers of 14 gauge metal. Calling it solid is an understatement.

Some pictures documenting the process are below. The pictures don't show the carpet and closet shelving re-installed as final product.

The peace of mind for my kids and wife with the safe room at home, is priceless.

The sad thing, is now that I have finished the building process, I am about to list my house for sale.






















Any way you can repost these pictures?
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