I was wandering Home Depot yesterday and discovered they offer a new service: Installing safe rooms for your house.

From Consumer Reports review:
"The rooms, available in rectangular configurations with a maximum external footprint of 169 square feet, are reinforced with supertough Kevlar. The manufacturer claims they meet Federal Emergency Management Agency National Performance Criteria for hurricane and tornado shelters. (That means, for instance, that the shelter can withstand the impact from a 15-pound 2x4 moving at 100 mph, the speed that a 250-mph wind would carry a building timber.) DuPont estimates the cost to convert a room to a shelter or add one to a new home will be about $6,500 to $14,000. Custom versions will also be available, and all models are installed by authorized dealers."

This service is currently only available in Houston. Man, I'd love to redo the master closet into something like this.

-Blast

Home Depot sub contracts all these types of services, so you never know who is going to do the work. I've heard nothing but bad about their subs, from not returning phone calls to doing sub standard work to proposing inadequate materials. Buyer beware.

On the other hand, I have always been extremely happy with Home Depot's employees and products.

I have a related question I'd like to pose here.
I'm looking at one of these concrete tornado shelters that are made to partially bury in the ground.
Someone is telling me that isn't necessary to bury them. They say you can simply sit the whole shelter in the barn or outside for that matter.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Thoughts?

Jon

I"ve known friends who had the same experience. My advice is to find a local supplier of the service - whatever service - and go directly to them.

Ok, speaking as someone who does not live in a tornado zone, but who would not be remotely surprised if global warming changes that, one would be strongly inclined to revette the shelter with at least 2' of re-barred concrete overhead.
The reason for that is that you have no idea how strong the tornado is or how much debris it is going to be carrying.
Worse case is it picking your shelter up whole and dumping it elsewhere. And I don't mean in The Land of Oz either! Even a small lift and drop of oh, say 20', would be fatal to the occupants.

Thanks for your thoughts, they are the same as my own. I would hate to be inside a two ton concrete box flying into the air and (worse still) landing. (and I live so close to Kansas!!)

Jon

The word "coffin" comes to mind...

I would agree with KenK. I have had multiple sub par experiences with all the "Big Box" stores when it comes to product and advice. Because of that, I would never trust them with something important like a "safe house". I continue to use them, but only for purchasing products I'm familiar with. Duct Tape, electrical wire, simple switches, adhesives, tools, paint for small projects, garden materials, etc. I wouldn't purchase any big project materials (even lumber) or service from any of them. But that's just me. I'm not saying the big shops don't have their place. On the contrary, they provide a huge one-stop shop with a solid line of product for general projects. When you're looking for something more specific or important... find a local provider and go direct.

I'd both revet and anchor it well into the ground. I've seen pictures of tornadoes that have literally peeled the asphalt off of the road. Personally, I'd rather be underground AND in a good safe room...

I recently got several estimates for a reroofing job of a cabin in the mountains near here, including one from Home Depot. Their estimate was more than twice all the others I obtained, and I discovered later that one of the things it included was two nights room and board for the crew that would be driving up from San Bernadino to do the job. I went with a local outfit and saved a lot of money.

FEMA has a good source for related info at http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/to_saferoom.shtm

My understanding is that the primary focus is on protection from flying projectiles, and protection from falling structures is somewhat secondary.

If I understand the power of hurricanes and tornadoes properly, the winds will grab anything that is protruding, and can shove or lift things that aren't anchored down.

IMHO, if you didn't want to totally bury the concrete box, you could bury it halfway, then mound a fairly thick (2 feet?) layer of soil over it, and then plant the mound with something that has a good rooting system, like clover. But I think you would have to have a smooth plate or something for the access hole, something that provided no edge for the wind to grab.

A guy I was talking to a few years ago used to live in OK, and he mentioned that Grade 5 tornado that peeled up the road asphalt: "I wasn't there, but I would bet some money that the wind was able to grab an edge of that asphalt and peel it up like a roof shingle".

Re: safe room in a house -- what would that help if the wind grabbed the house itself? It's just my opinion, but Kevlar is good for some things and not for others. I'll bet that Kevlar grabbed by wind would act just like Tyvek. It MIGHT stay together, but you and your family might be 'mailed' to Oz by TEx (Tornado Express). <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Shelters that are designed to be buried, even partially, are designed (or should be designed) to withstand different stresses than an above ground shelter. A buried shelter needs to withstand stresses like ground freezing and shifts in the water table, while an above ground shelter would put an emphasis on wind and projectile protection. Installing a shelter in a way that the manufacturer did not intend could put your safety in jeopordy when you really need it. Could have a problem with an insurance claim, too. So, unless this "someone" is an engineer and knows the specs on this particular shelter, I would stick with what the manufacturer recommends. If you're going to go to the trouble of purchasing a tornado shelter, and you want it above ground, then get a good above ground tornado shelter. But all things being equal, I would much rather be below ground if a tornado hits.

Pardon me while I dig up a post from October. Ok October 2006.

Blast,

There is a shelter designed at the wind lab of Texas Tech, that is really what you are looking for. Generally they are built at the time of new construction because they are tied into the foundation beams and piers of the slab on grade foundation.

I am a custom homebuilder in DFW area, and have put one in almost every home I build. They are MUCH less expensive than DuPont's offering and secured by more than 1/2 inch drop-in anchors drilled and epoxy'd into the concrete slab 6 inches.

As a recent retrofit to a home, I built an "out building" that looked like a pool equipment room / storage for a customer. The damn thing should withstand even close 105mm HE rounds much less a cat5 tornado. (he really had this one over engineered).

Susan,

The May 9 1999 tornado is the one in Oklahoma you referred to hearing about. It is the reason the Fujita scale (F1 - F5) was changed. There was no Fujita F6 so it is now the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF1-EF5). All tornados are now measured against this one which is EF5. The only other EF5 since then was Greensburg, Kansas.

We were visiting my DW's family in that area when it hit. I was the last into the underground shelter as I wanted one more look. For the rest of my days on this earth, I shall never forget what was to be seen.

Two of the aforementioned (From Texas Tech) shelters were directly hit by that tornado. When it was over, the occupants opened the door to find their shelters were the only things standing from horizon to horizon.

Blast PM me for any questions, the really aren't that hard / expensive and perfect for your area.