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.