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How To Build A Safe Room

Principal Author / Publisher:Safetyhow Admin
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If you live in a part of the country that has extreme weather such as windstorms, including tornadoes and/or hurricanes, you may need to know how to build a safe room in your home or in your business. These safe rooms can offer you protection and refuge in the event of a storm, and you can build one in one of many different locations in your home or office.


1.Know the best place to build or create a safe room. These locations can include in the basement of a building, on

 a concrete slab foundation such as in your garage, or in a room that is on the first floor interior of a building.

2.Make sure that your room can not only take high winds but also debris that may be flying around.
  • Make sure that your safe room is anchored to ensure that it does not lift or overturn.
  • You will need to design the walls, your door and your ceiling to be able to stand up to high wind pressures as well as resist penetration or crushing from flying or falling debris.
  • You need to make sure that the spaces where the room is connected are also designed to withstand wind.
3.Design a below-ground safe room to be able to withstand any water accumulation if you live in an area that not only has high winds but also heavy rain.

4.Think about what specific kind of safe room you want built.

A yard bunker safe room is designed to be dug into and installed underground. One outside door opens to above ground, and you can purchase units to fit any number of people. Steel is your best choice because concrete shelters and fiberglass shelters can be at risk of cracking.

Above-ground shelters can be attached to the outside of a home, or they can be situated within the interior. Some can be designed so that to the untrained eye they are indiscernible, and other rooms are large enough to accommodate all of the people from businesses or churches.

5.Find safe room construction plans and specifics

6.Check out the design and construction guidelines for community shelters. This will be useful for safe rooms designed to protect more than 12 people.

7.Purchase ICC 500: 2008 Standard for the Design and Construction of Storm Shelters in a downloadable format at http://www.iccsafe.org/Store/Pages/Product.aspx?id=8850P08_PD-X-SS-P-2008-000001 to help you plan to build your storm safe room to code. The ICC is the International Code Council, and it sets code standards worldwide.

8.Gather your supplies and begin the construction on your room. Consider the use of anchors that are power driven around the unit's wall perimeter to avoid horizontal movement. For vertical movement, look into Simpson Strong Tie anchors.
Secure your ceiling and wall to the bottom plate of the structure.
Install two layers of plywood around the room interior. A layer of steel or kevlar can be considered behind the plywood layer.

9.Install a door with a 2-inch (5.08 cm) dead bolt lock.

10.Fill your safe room with supplies. Things like water (a gallon per person, per day), clothing, blankets, first aid kit, and nonperishable food items are great places to start.

11.Finished.
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