Technical > Home Improvement > Safe Room - Costs/Benefits?

Safe Room - Costs/Benefits?

How can anyone compare the cost to benefit, before you put a dollar value on each member of your family's life. . Then what percentage is each member present to use the room? Once you determine what your poetical loss is then we can think about the likelihood of the event at your home. be warned the people who do this math don't often get out of their bed.

Walta

reply to Hazy Arc
For something like that, I'd want a local contractor. One that can provide references and I'm able to inspect the work he has done, ask his customers.

At first, I thought this was going to be about a safe room against armed robbers breaking into your home.

But against a tornado, I'd think a concert and steel box sunk in the ground would be the safest way to go. Maybe with a generator buried along side to provide power for ventilation, heating, or cooling. And some type of water supply and chemical camp toilet. In case you get buried in there for a few days. Might as well be comfortable. Add in maybe a video system with a game system.

But that might be going a tad over board.

I dunno, never been in a long term survival situation. But I'd think a source of fresh water, air, light would be the first priorities. After the actual shelter.

Edit:
Hmm I forgot an important part. Make sure your land line has an extension to the shelter, and you either carry your cell phone or have a back up cell phone with it's charger in the shelter. Maybe even add a CB radio to that mix as well. Phone lines and cell towers could go down. But CB/Ham radios seem to just "work".
Also let friends and family know where to find the shelter. In case the world ends up on top of your shelter and no body is looking there because it's just a pile of rubble.

I guess first question before doing anything is:

Do you own the land you are about to put this shelter on or under?

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reply to Hazy Arc
What about a fraidy hole? No mods to building structure, and often don't even require a permit.
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reply to walta
Yeesh I think the guy is set on building one, he's just looking at cost options.

After all, safe rooms can be built to the extreme of cheap and expensive.
He doesn't need a nuclear shelter.
He doesn't need a kitchen or shower, or possibly even running water in there.

I don't know anything about safe rooms, but I'd say: get the shell built by a contractor, then the inside is up to what you want.

reply to Hazy Arc
»www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/safero···320.shtm

reply to Hazy Arc
Simply picking an interior room and reenforcing the structure would provided protection. Examples would be creating secondary wall strapped and lagged to the foundation, use double overlapping 3/4" plywood for walls and ceiling, a steel door with deadbolts. I have read it common to do this to a closet.

reply to Hazy Arc
In our old place I did this to a walk-in closet. I gutted the room then changed it from 16" OC to 8" OC, added metal support to the bottom of each into the foundation, then foam insulated everything followed by drywall. We reinforced the door frame and installed a solid fiberglass door. We also put in a double key deadbolt lock in the door. We mainly did that for a 'safe' room from a break in to give us enough time to call the police and grab a gun. We never anticipated being in that room more then an hour so we never did anything else like keep food/water/etc. in there just in case. Now we have a dog instead of a 'safe' room.

reply to cowboyro

reply to cowboyro
FEMA 320 - Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room For Your Home or Small Business

Having a safe room in your home or small business can help provide "near-absolute protection" for you and your family or your employees from injury or death caused by the dangerous forces of extreme winds. Near-absolute protection means that, based on our current knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes, there is a very high probability that the occupants of a safe room built according to this guidance will avoid injury or death. A safe room can also relieve some of the anxiety created by the threat of an incoming tornado or hurricane. Our knowledge of tornadoes and hurricanes and their effects is based on substantial meteorological records as well as extensive investigation of damage to buildings from extreme winds. All information contained in this publication is applicable to safe rooms for use in homes as well as in small businesses.

reply to Hazy Arc
I haven't yet looked at the FEMA link posted by UHF , but I would think about the only thing that would effectively be safe would be something underground. For convenience sake I would definitely not want to go outside to the shelter then run through the rain back, at least here where we have tornado warning about once every couple of weeks. My grandad actually had one he dug himself, my mom was always telling "horror" stories of that shelter i.e. it wasn't fully built and was basically a supported hole in the ground with the usual assortment of bugs etc.

It might behoove you to research the percentages of injury in homes versus the cost of an underground construction which sounds to me fairly high considering what it would entail to build. I would say if you wanted 100% insurance of safely during a severe storm, that is the way to go...yet at the same time be careful crossing a street, you may be more likely to have injuries then a storm. Just throwing out my thoughts since I have thought about this also.
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reply to Hazy Arc
How many tornados have you been in? How many have hit your area, ever?

My whole life I've lived in St. Louis and I've never seen one or been through one. I've seen nasty clouds. It's gotten very windy, especially when I was about seven (I turn 60 next week), and I know they've hit fairly close to where I live, but I've never experienced it myself.

We have basements here but, like nunya said, most people who live on farms in our area just have a storm cellar a few feet from the house. It ranges from a hole dug in the ground with a door on it where they store canned goods to something more upgrade with concrete.

Remember that tornadoes generally only last a minute or two as they pass through. You don't need electric, ventilation, heating, cooling, refrigeration or any of that. Yes, you see huge disasters like in Joplin, MO but those are very, very rare. Like tornadoes.

reply to alkizmo

reply to Hazy Arc
My dad had one that was installed in about 3 hours. It was a fiberglass "space capsule" that is buried in the ground. There was a small pipe for ventilation and a solar panel that stuck out of the top. The panel kept a small lead acid battery charged for a dome light and a small vent fan.
It was always clean and dry on the inside.
I wish I could find a picture or manufacturer website.

Edit: It was very similar to this - »www.shelterplus.com/groundsafe.html
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Here is a link where they actually post prices for their interior safe rooms.
»www.tennesseestormshelters.us/
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reply to Hazy Arc
Make it big enough so it can be enjoyed other times of the year. Trick it out to be a true man cave AND hopefully it can with stand the wrath of angry wives and girlfriends.
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reply to Hazy Arc
»www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/0···200.html

Picture 17 is the perfect example of why I'm interested in a safe room. The National Weather Service states that the safest place to be during a tornado is an interior room (if you don't have a basement), but when you're dealing with EF3+ strength tornadoes, it doesn't matter - you're just left with a foundation.

Asking the question "well when was the last time you've been hit by a tornado" is meaningless. It only takes once.

reply to Hazy Arc
Here ya go!

»itmaysaveyourlife.com/tornado-shelter/